High Court confirms shareholder’s right to inspect privileged documents and clarifies its scope
In this article, 4 New Square’s Shail Patel and Ed Grigg consider…
Legal 500
“Forensic, very clever, strategic and knowledgeable.”
Shail Patel KC is a commercial litigator with a particular focus on financial services, investment claims, fraud, insurance, professional liability work and costs. He also advises in regulatory and disciplinary investigations and enforcement proceedings.
Shail prides himself on being able to quickly identify the heart of a dispute and provide strategic and commercial advice leading to its resolution. He is an experienced and tenacious advocate who will go the extra mile for his clients.
His commercial caseload spans multi-jurisdictional disputes in court and arbitration proceedings. It includes corporate and shareholder disputes and claims against officers, trustees and recipients of funds, particularly where those claims have an off-shore element. He is a leading specialist in securities actions under s.90 and s.90A of FSMA and has been instructed in 10 separate actions including Tesco, RBS and other confidential matters. He is also experienced at obtaining and defending applications for urgent injunctive relief, including freezing, evidence preservation and Norwich Pharmacal orders.
Shail is registered to practice in the Courts of the DIFC.
Shail is ranked as a leading silk by the directories in Commercial Litigation, Financial Services, Insurance, Professional Negligence and Costs. He is described as “one of the brightest talents for the future” who is “a genius in the courtroom” and “incredibly smooth with the most difficult judges.” “An excellent tactician” who “leaves no stone unturned”, “thinks outside the box. His written work is excellent and his advocacy is very persuasive.” Shail is also praised for having “a great way of explaining challenging concepts to clients and assisting them to assess risk in a pragmatic and commercial way”, “responsive and collaborative, and takes initiative to improve our clients’ position.”
Before taking Silk, Shail was shortlisted for Financial Services and Insurance Junior of the Year in the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2022 and for Professional Negligence Junior of the year in the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards 2020.
See the ‘Areas of Expertise’ below for more details of Shail’s experience and practice areas.
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“Leaves no stone unturned, an excellent trial lawyer.” – Legal 500
“Shail’s pleadings are beautifully crafted and a delight to read. A calm, authoritative and respectful advocate, who does not engage in unnecessary grandstanding or unprofessional tactics, and his manner and delivery are superb.”– Legal 500
“A star in the making. Incredibly smooth with the most difficult judges.”– Legal 500
Recognised as a leading Silk for Commercial Litigation, Shail is regularly instructed by top tier City firms in complex matters encompassing all areas of domestic and international commercial dispute resolution. Before taking Silk, Shail was nominated for the 2023 Commercial Litigation Junior of the Year Award by Legal 500. Shail’s practice includes:-
Featured Commercial Dispute Resolution cases
“Shail is a very intelligent and thorough counsel with a real ability to give clients clear commercial advice. A pleasure to work with, responsive and creative in his approach.”– Legal 500
“One of the brightest talents for the future.” – Legal 500
A substantial part of Shail’s case load involves litigation with a financial services, and financial services regulation aspect. He also has a significant advisory practice on FSMA related matters.
Shail’s experience in this area includes:
Featured Financial Services Regulation cases
“Shail is a genius in the courtroom. He gets stuck in as part of the team and gives very clear and excellent advice.”– Legal 500
“Superb on costs issues and incredibly quick on the uptake.” – Legal 500
“Masters the detail of costs cases without losing sight of the commercial purpose.”– Legal 500
Recognised as a Leading Costs Silk, Shail regularly appears in the SCCO and related appeals and advises on the interpretation of costs rules, and funding agreements. He also drafts and settles fresh and remedial retainer documentation, including CFAs and DBAs.
Shail’s commercial practice complements his costs work. He has been instructed on costs aspects of major pieces of High Court litigation and group actions, for example, the Mau Mau litigation, In Amenas Oil Refinery litigation, bank swap mis-selling claims and redress schemes.
Featured Costs & Litigation Funding cases
“Shail can explain complex things clearly and simply, and always has commercial tactics in mind, thinking one step ahead.” “He has a clear and measured advocacy style that wins favour with judges. Very user-friendly and a real asset to the team.”– Chambers & Partners
“Very good on the technical side, with the level of rigour on the details that you would expect. Works very well as part of a team, and is excellent with clients. A measured advocacy style, Shail’s ability to adapt his approach to reflect the difference preferences of the Bench is impressive.” – Legal 500
“Extremely good: he’s persuasive and succinct.” “A go-to barrister for professional negligence because of his manner and technical excellence.” – Chambers & Partners
“He has a tremendous ability to absorb a huge amount of detail and to bring it together in an incredibly concise and articulate manner.” – Legal 500
Shail acts for claimants and defendants in claims involving solicitors, surveyors/valuers, accountants, financial services professionals, insurance brokers, pensions trustees, construction professionals and others. He is regularly instructed in high profile professional liability disputes both on his own and with a team. Recent example cases are listed below.
Shail is co-editor (with David Halpern KC) of the “Accountants” chapter in Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability (7th ed.)
Featured Professional Negligence cases
“Shail is commercial, highly efficient and responsive with superb attention to detail.” “He is an excellent tactician and thinks outside the box. His written work is excellent and his advocacy is very persuasive.” – Chambers & Partners
“Shail is a very intelligent and thorough counsel with a real ability to give clients clear commercial advice. A pleasure to work with, responsive and creative in his approach.”– Legal 500
“Absolutely fantastic.” “Very user-friendly and great getting to grips with very complex matters.” – Chambers & Partners
Recognised as a leading insurance silk, Shail has experience of a wide range of insurance and reinsurance disputes including:-
Featured Insurance & Reinsurance cases
A number of members of Chambers have built up expertise as advocates and arbitrators in domestic and international arbitration and have appeared before a wide variety of tribunals and courts in jurisdictions around the world – including all the main arbitral centres: whether Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Mumbai, Geneva, Stockholm, London, Paris or The Hague. This expertise is recognised in profiles of members in both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.
The experience extends across the commercial spectrum, ranging from construction claims, insurance and reinsurance matters, energy and utilities, civil fraud, banking, commodities and international trade. Experience also includes acting in investment treaty arbitrations – whether under the auspices of ICSID or otherwise, both for or against investors and states.
Equally, we have experience of claims run under an extremely broad range of domestic and international institutions such as the AAA, HKIAC, LCIA, ICC, CIETAC, SIAC, ICSID or the UNCITRAL rules.
Shail’s experience includes insurance and commercial arbitrations in a domestic and international setting.
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Shail studied law at Merton College, Oxford, where he graduated with the second highest first in the university and was awarded the Martin Wronker and Field Fisher Waterhouse prizes for the highest marks in tort law and EC law. He obtained a distinction in law moderations, a college Scholarship from Merton and Fowler prizes in jurisprudence, contract law and trusts. Shail completed his LLM at Harvard Law School where he participated in the university’s intensive trial advocacy program. He is a member of Inner Temple, where he received the Peter Taylor Scholarship. During his BVC year Shail was a seminar leader and examiner in tort law at King’s College London.
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