David Scannell’s Commercial Law CV

Qualifications

LL.B (Hons) Law (First Class); LL.M (Cantab.) (First Class with Distinction, 1st place); Ph.D (Cantab.); Bar Vocational Course

Commercial Practice

David regularly appears, led and unled, in heavy commercial disputes. Recent work has included appearing in a £50m commercial (ICC) arbitration relating to an in-orbit satellite failure, a £500m conspiracy claim relating to oil concessions in Iraq and in Citibank's successfully-concluded litigation against Goldman Sachs relating to the short-selling of Venezuelan oil warrants.

He acted for Digicel (led by Charles Hollander QC) in its successful arbitral proceedings relating to sponsorship rights to the Stanford 20/20 cricket series in the West Indies; for Yorkshire Television in its successful defence of claims made in respect of royalties payable for broadcasts of The Darling Buds of May, A Touch of Frost and My Uncle Silas (Excelsior Group Productions v Yorkshire Television Limited [2009] EWHC 1751 (Comm))  and (again successfully) for the Islamic Republic of Iran (led by Sir Sydney Kentridge QC) in landmark proceedings relating to the recovery of national antiquities (Iran v the Barakat Gallery [2009] QB 22, [2008] 3 WLR 486). He appeared as junior counsel in the largest ever split capital investment funds case, with Simon Salzedo and led by Mark Howard QC (REO v Aberdeen Asset Managers).  David is also a member of the Bar of the British Virgin Islands and is a specialist in complex civil fraud proceedings. He regularly advises on all aspects of commercial law.

Important Cases

  • Iran v the Barakat Gallery [2009] QB 22, [2008] 3 WLR 486
  • Excelsior Group Productions v Yorkshire Television Limited [2009] EWHC 1751 (Comm)
  • Real Estate Opportunities Ltd v Aberdeen Asset Managers Jersey Ltd and others[2007] EWCA Civ 197, [2007] 2 All ER 791 (Court of Appeal) (professional negligence)
  • Real Estate Opportunities Ltd. v Aberdeen Asset Managers Jersey Ltd and Ors [2006] EWHC 3249 (professional negligence)
  • Eskom v Alstom (2008, Comm Ct.) (professional negligence subrogated insurance claim) (with Roger Masefield) (settled)
  • Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran v The Barakat Gallery Limited [2007] EWCA Civ 1374 (for Iran, with Sir Sydney Kentridge QC)
  • Petroval v Stainby and Others (2008) BVI HC 2007/291 (civil fraud, including worldwide freezing relief)
  • Mossel v West Indies Cricket Board (2008) (multi-million pound licensing dispute arising from the Stanford 20/20 tournament) (arbitration)

David Scannell regularly advises on all aspects of commercial law.

Career

Called to the Bar (Inner Temple) 2003

Pupillage (Brick Court Chambers) 2004-2005

Pupil Supervisors: Alan Maclean, Mark Hoskins, Roger Masefield, Aidan Robertson

Legal work experience before coming to the Bar

Senior Judicial Researcher (Clerk), Supreme Court, Ireland (2000 - 2001)

Judicial Researcher (Clerk), Supreme Court, Ireland (1999 - 2000)

Lecturer in common law legal systems, Institut de Droit Comparé, Universités de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) et II (Panthéon-Assas) (1998 - 1999)

Further information

Languages: French, Spanish, Irish

Called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the Territory of the British Virgin Islands (2008)

Appointed to the EU committee of the Union Internationale des Avocats