Jonathan Ward

Jonathan has appeared in several arbitrations and adjudications, as sole counsel and junior counsel in a larger team, covering various commercial, construction and sports matters.

Jonathan also appears regularly on arbitration and adjudication related business in the High Court, such as applications for stays, injunctions, challenges to awards, and enforcement of awards (including the enforcement of foreign awards under the New York Convention).

Jonathan has been instructed by various national and international banking organisations on a variety of matters, including disputes on guarantees and indemnities, bills of exchange, hire purchase agreements, mortgages, and hedge fund disputes. Jonathan has been published in The Hedge Fund Journal.

Various applications for urgent injunctive relief; junior counsel in a five-week trial (BVI Commercial Court) concerning the misappropriation of the $75m proceeds of a sale of oil assets in Eastern Europe.

Jonathan regularly conducts trials, applications and appeals on a variety of commercial and contractual matters, and has acted for numerous blue chip companies (many of the larger British and international banks and insurers, BT, National Grid, BskyB, the BBC). Jonathan has gained a vast experience across the range of commercial disputes, having practised at the English bar since 2007, as well as in employed practice in the British Virgin Islands for two years, where he conducted substantial international litigation of significant value.

Recently appeared in Amey v Cumbria County Council ([2016] EWHC 2856 (TCC)), a four-month trial in the TCC

Broad experience of shareholder disputes, including international matters; unfair prejudice, just and equitable winding up; ex parte injunctions for freezing orders and appointment of receivers.

Jonathan has been instructed in relation to all manner of subrogated recovery actions resulting from fire, flood, cable and pipeline strikes, construction accidents, death in care, shipping etc. Regularly advises on policy coverage.

Jonathan spent two years (2013-2015) at one of the leading offshore law firms, as in-house counsel in the British Virgin Islands. He developed expertise in private international law across a range of cross-border disputes, with an emphasis on shareholder and fraud work. He acted for the liquidators and provisional liquidators of, amongst other things, international hotel chains and airlines; appeared weekly in the BVI Commercial Court as sole counsel, often on heavy applications, and appeared regularly in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal (including the successful appeal on a significant BVI case on forum non conveniens).

Other experience: freezing injunctions, anti-suit and anti-enforcement injunctions, forum challenges, arbitral enforcement under the New York Convention, cross-border receiverships, and fund disputes.

Jonathan has derived experience of contracting and procurement processes through his technology and construction practice, including in relation to various term maintenance contracts between local authorities and private providers.

Experience includes representing (as junior counsel) a top four Premier League club in relation to a dispute with its sponsor; a dispute between boxing promoters concerning television rights and licensing fees; a professional negligence action by a professional footballer against a solicitor regarding the handling of a sports injury claim; acting for a top four club in relation to the enforcement of the Premier League ground regulations on conduct inside the stadium; litigation concerning the jerseys of two Championship clubs.
 

Recent cases:

Amey LG Ltd v Cumbria County Council - [2016] EWHC 2856 (TCC)

Company A v Company B (arbitration business) - [2017] EWHC 2319 (QB)

A One Distributon Ltd v Rotronic Instruments (UK) Ltd - [2017] EWHC 1813 (TCC)

Dynniq UK Ltd v Lancashire County Council - [2017] EWHC 3173 (TCC)

Keystone v Parr – [2018] EWHC 1509 (Ch)

An increasing proportion of Jonathan’s practice is concerned with tech law. Jonathan has a first-class degree in Artificial Intelligence and a good knowledge of a variety of computing languages and frameworks. He regularly acts in IT and tech disputes concerning defects, software licensing, and confidential information.

Jonathan regularly appears in construction adjudications, arbitrations and in the TCC on all aspects of construction and engineering disputes. He has conducted multi-day trials in the TCC as sole counsel, and multi-week trials as junior counsel. He maintains a busy advisory practice.