Ian McDonald contributes to book “The Common Law Jurisprudence of the Conflict of Laws”
The Common Law Jurisprudence of the Conflict of Laws (Bloomsbury) has just…
Ian has a broad practice – with a particular focus on commercial litigation, international arbitration, private international law, and public law and human rights – and is regularly instructed in cases with an international dimension.
He has considerable experience as an advocate, having been instructed as sole Counsel in a range of matters and regularly appearing in his own right at interim and final hearings in the High Court and County Court.
Examples of Ian’s recent work include:
Ian has particular expertise in private international law. He has worked as a teaching assistant on the Conflict of Laws module on the Bachelor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford and delivered tutorials in the same subject to visiting students at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.
Before coming to the Bar, Ian originally trained and worked as a journalist and then spent five years at Liberty, the human rights organisation. Accordingly, he has a strong interest in public law and human rights – and the rights to liberty and security and freedom of expression in particular.
Prior to commencing pupillage, Ian read law at Birkbeck, University of London, graduating with a First, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he achieved a Distinction on the Bachelor of Civil Law, before completing the BPTC (winning a number of academic scholarships and prizes along the way).
For more examples of Ian’s recent work, please see the individual practice areas below.
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Ian is regularly instructed, as both junior and sole Counsel, in a broad range of commercial proceedings. His experience ranges from high-value shareholder disputes to claims for breach of contract and restitution.
Featured Commercial Litigation cases
Ian is regularly instructed in international commercial and investment arbitrations, including under the UNCITRAL, ICC, and LCIA Rules and the ICSID Convention. His experience includes:
Ian has particular expertise in private international law. He has worked as a teaching assistant on the Conflict of Laws module on the BCL at the University of Oxford, and has delivered tutorials in the same subject to visiting students at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.
Ian has also taught BPTC Commercial Dispute Resolution classes on jurisdiction and foreign judgments at BPP University. In 2017 he won The Bar Council’s Law Reform Essay Competition, for his paper “One rule for all: An end to the Abouloff double standard on fraud and foreign judgments”.
Ian has also contributed a chapter (focusing on the “proper law” of a contract) to The Common Law Jurisprudence of the Conflict of Laws (edited by Sarah McKibbin and Anthony Kennedy), published in May 2023.
Featured Private International Law cases
Ian is regularly instructed in a range of civil fraud claims as part of his broader commercial practice, his experience of which includes:
Ian has a strong interest in public law and human rights – and the rights to liberty and security and freedom of expression, in particular. He has recently been instructed in applications to the European Court of Human Rights; petitions to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; and submissions to other Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council.
Ian is currently acting for the Moscow bureau of the international media group Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and its general director, Andrey Shary, in their Article 34 application to the European Court of Human Rights, challenging Russia’s use of “foreign agent” laws against them (instructed by the New York and Washington D.C. offices of Covington & Burling LLP).
Before coming to the Bar, Ian originally trained and worked as a journalist and then spent five years at Liberty, the human rights organisation, in senior media and campaigns roles. In 2015 he won the Law Society’s Graham Turnbull Human Rights Essay Competition, for his entry on human rights and the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
Ian is frequently instructed, as both junior and sole Counsel, in a wide variety of professional liability disputes, including actions against solicitors and barristers – in particular, “lost litigation” claims invoking “loss of a chance” principles – involving a range of underlying matters (such as property and partnership disputes, personal injury claims, and criminal proceedings).
Featured Professional Liability cases
Ian is also an editor of Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability (9th edition, Sweet & Maxwell 2021).
The Moscow bureau of the international media group Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty…
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Education: LLB, University of London (First Class Honours); Bachelor of Civil Law, University of Oxford (Distinction); BPTC, BPP University (Very Competent).
Academic Scholarships & Prizes: Bar Council 2017 Law Reform Essay Competition (First Prize); BPP University: Excellence Award (2016); Birkbeck, University of London: Prize for Outstanding Achievement on the LLB (2015); University of Oxford: 4 New Square Chambers Scholarship (2015); Middle Temple: Cunningham Award (2015); The Law Society: Graham Turnbull Human Rights Essay Competition 2015 (First Prize); One Essex Court/The Times Law Awards 2015 (Second Prize).
Memberships: BIICL; CFLA; COMBAR; IBA; LCIA; Liberty; PNBA.
The Common Law Jurisprudence of the Conflict of Laws (Bloomsbury) has just…
Overview By far the most significant number of professional liability cases…
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