Jonathan Nash QC

Call 1986; QC 2006; BA (Oxon)
Email: jnash@3vb.com

Jonathan Nash has a commercial practice specialising in banking and financial services law; insurance and reinsurance; professional negligence; and arbitration (both as counsel and arbitrator). He has considerable experience of conducting litigation in the Commercial Court in London and abroad, and acts regularly for clients from Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia.

Jonathan took silk in 2006 and was quickly identified as one of the leading new QCs in Banking and Finance and Commercial Litigation. He is described as "technically excellent" (Chambers & Partners 2011) "a really solid banking lawyer"; "cool as ice in court"; he "never misses a trick"; and clients appreciate "his bullet-proof defences"(Chambers & Partners 2009).

In recent months Jonathan has been advising clients in relation to a wide range of issues arising out of the "Credit Crunch" and associated banking collapses. These have included the recovery of margin security under repo agreements following the administration of Kaupthing in London and the Isle of Man; the setting up of multilateral netting arrangements in the forward freight swap market; and the closing out of positions in many different derivative instruments under the ISDA Master Agreement terms, including "sleeve trades" in the energy derivatives market; "reverse knock-out options" in forex trades; and numerous credit default swaps.

Main Practice Areas

• Commercial litigation and arbitration, including experience of the gas and electricity industries, pharmaceuticals, railways, telecommunications, and the television industry, with specialist expertise in commercial agency disputes.

   

• Banking and Financial Services, including all aspects of domestic and international banking, securities, derivatives (futures, options and swaps) and structured products, (with specialist expertise in the ISDA Master Agreement and Definitions) and regulatory issues relating to them.  

   

• Insurance and reinsurance, acting for insureds, insurers, retrocessionaires and brokers, with experience of all types of quota share and excess of loss programmes and profit-share arrangements.

   

• Professional Negligence, including in particular acting for solicitors, barristers, accountants, insurance brokers, fund managers, and their PI insurers.

Recent Talks and Lectures

• Jurisdiction in a Credit Crunch World
• Recent Developments in Derivatives Litigation
• Claims for "Loss of a Chance" 
• Indemnity Insurance: the Lessons from Enterprise Oil v Strand Insurance Company Limited [2006]  
• The privilege against Self-Incrimination 
• Contributory Negligence in claims against insurance brokers 
• Directors' Disqualification

Academic and Professional

• 1981-1984: Scholar of St John's College, Oxford; BA (Hons) (1984). - 1986: Goldie Award (Gray's Inn); called to the Bar. 
• 1987: Karmel prizewinner (Common Law) - Gray's Inn. Tenant at Chambers of Neville Thomas QC (now 3 Verulam Buildings). 
• 2006: appointed Queen's Counsel.

Languages

French (fluent); Spanish (reading).