Jonathan Dawid's Full CV

Legal Directory recommendations:  

Chambers & Partners (2012 edition) "Jonathan Dawid is developing a first-class reputation for his professional negligence work."

Chambers & Partners (2012 edition) "Jonathan Dawid stands out as a "no-nonsense" junior who is "'quick to grasp complex issues.'"

Legal 500 (2011 edition) - named as a leading junior in Banking & Finance and Professional Negligence. "Jonathan Dawid is ‘top notch'"

Chambers & Partners (2012 edition): - recommended for Banking & Finance, Professional Negligence

Legal Week - "future star of the bar", 2009

Commercial litigation, banking and professional negligence

Jonathan Dawid has a broad practice covering a wide range of commercial law, including banking, professional negligence, contractual disputes, shipping and insurance. He appears regularly before the High Court as well as advising in relation to disputes in a number of European and common-law overseas jurisdictions.

He is recognised as a leading junior in banking, financial services and professional negligence, being ranked in these fields by Chambers & Partners 2012 as well as by the Legal 500 in professional negligence. In 2009, Legal Week named him a future "star of the bar".

Major commercial cases he has acted or advised in include:

  • Re Sigma [2009] UKSC 2, now the leading case on the interpretation of commercial contracts, concerning the application of the security trust deed governing the distribution of assets of Sigma Finance Corporation following its collapse in 2008
  • Baxendale Walker v Law Society & ors [2011] EWHC 998 (QB), concerning the liability of an expert witness in disciplinary proceedings before the Law Society
  • Lehman Brothers International (Europe) v Lehman Brothers Bankhaus (Frankfurt Higher Regional Court), concerning the cross-border application of the FSA CASS rules on the treatment of client money.
  • Atrium European Real Estate Ltd v Meinl Bank & ors (Commercial Court), a multibillion euro fraud claim arising out of underwriting and market making activities carried out in Austria on behalf of a Jersey investment fund and raising complex issues of jurisdiction involving the Judgments Regulation, common law rules and arbitration provisions (settled 2011).
  •  Lacrosse v Royal Bank of Scotland (Chancery Division), concerning the interpretation of the termination provisions of the 1999 ISDA Master Agreement (settled 2010).
  • Akai Holdings Ltd v Ernst & Young Hong Kong (Hong Kong High Court), a US$1 billion audit negligence claim arising out of the collapse of the Akai Group (settled 2009).
  • Natixis v. (1) WestLB (2) CIBC (3) Terra Firma (Commercial Court), £100m claim for fraud and negligence in connection with the securitisation of the Box Clever TV rental business (settled 2008).

European, regulatory and public law

A former stagiaire at the European Court of Justice, Jonathan Dawid has advised and acted on a number of matters involving European law and its interaction with English public and regulatory law. He is experienced in advising on rights relating to free movement of persons and goods within the EU, including in relation to pharmaceutical disputes. Major cases include:

  • Harbinger Capital Partners v (1) Andrew Caldwell (2) HM Treasury (Upper Tribunal), concerning the interpretation of the statutory compensation provisions for shareholders of banks nationalised under the Banking (Special Provision) Act 2008 and their compatibility with European law and Convention rights (judgment awaited).
  • GlaxoSmithKline Ltd v Department of Health [2007] EWHC 1470 (Comm), which established that the quasi-statutory 1999 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme was enforceable as a contract between participating companies and the government.

Career

  • 2005 Call (Lincoln's Inn)
  • Pupillage at Brick Court Chambers, 2005-2006.
  • Stagiaire in the cabinet of Judge Forwood, Court of First Instance, European Court of Justice, 2005.
  • Macmillan publishers, 2001-2004.

Further information

  • Languages: French (fluent), Polish (fluent), Italian (conversational).
  • Semi-finalist, University Challenge (2003-2004 series).

Education

Cambridge University (Trinity College) (BA 1997; MA 2005; MMath 2011)

Harvard University (MA 2000)

London Metropolitan University (G. Dip. Law 2004)

Inns of Court School of Law (Bar Vocation Course 2005)

Scholarships & Prizes

Junior & Senior Scholar, Trinity College Cambridge

Frank Knox Memorial Fellow, Harvard

Hardwicke Award, Haldane and Denning Scholarships, Lincoln's Inn

CPE Award for best mark in year, London Metropolitan University

Charles Grant Tennant Prize for Light Verse, Trinity College Cambridge