Dr Christopher Harris Call 2002 Lincoln's Inn; LL.B. Law and French Law (Bris.); LL.M. (Leiden), Ph.D. (St. Gallen); MCIArb E-mail: charris@3vb.com

Introduction

Main Practice Areas

• Commercial Litigation, Arbitration and Mediation
  
• Banking
• Company, Insolvency and Restructuring
  
• Financial Services
  
• Commercial Fraud
  
• Professional Negligence
  
• Insurance and Reinsurance

• Advising a major foreign bank on the merits of bringing a claim in England against persons domiciled in England in relation to lending procured by fraudulent misrepresentation in Switzerland. Led by Jeffrey Gruder Q.C.
  
  
• Advising an Italian State corporation on the merits of bringing a claim in relation to complex financial derivatives with a notional value of several hundred million euros entered into in excess of authority by a senior employee. Led by Richard Salter Q.C.
  
  
• Acting for the Defendant State in a long-running ICSID arbitration due for hearing in October 2007. The issues include jurisdiction of ICSID Centre under bilateral investment treaties where the investment was part of a fraud, denial of justice, expropriation and fair market value of an investment. Led by Ali Malek Q.C.
  
  
• Christopher is also acting for the Defendant State in another substantial ICSID arbitration which is based on the Energy Charter Treaty and relates to the alleged confiscation of an oil exploration concession in the Caspian Sea. Led by Ali Malek Q.C.
  
  
• Acting unled for the Sixth Defendant in significant Chancery Division litigation relating to share transfers and the flotation of an international steel company. Five-week trial beginning in late January 2008.
  
  
• Acting unled in a significant ICC arbitration relating to the supply of defence equipment.
  
  
• Acting for the Defendant in an ad hoc arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1996 in relation to the sale of a yacht.

• Advising a major foreign bank on the merits of bringing a claim in England against persons domiciled in England in relation to lending procured by fraudulent misrepresentation in Switzerland. Led by Jeffrey Gruder Q.C.
  
  
• Advising an Italian State corporation on the merits of bringing a claim in relation to complex financial derivatives with a notional value of several hundred million euros entered into in excess of authority by a senior employee. Led by Richard Salter Q.C.
  
  
• Advising a fund management company on issues related to its conversion to an FSA approved bank and, in particular, the Client Money Rules;
  
  
• Acting for a clearing bank in defending a cheque case on the grounds of illegality of the underlying transaction on the basis of Barros Mattos;
  
  
• Regular involvement in the litigation arising out of the OFT investigation into bank charges;
  
  
• Regular instructions for a major clearing bank in claims relating to sales financing agreements;
  
  
• Acting in a range of unusual mortgage possession cases, specific examples of which can be found on the more detailed CV available at the link below.

For a CV specific to this area of Christopher's practice, please click here
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Company, Insolvency and Restructuring

Christopher's company law, insolvency and restructuring practice encompasses a wide range of disputes from advising on corporate restructurings to acting in s.459 petition cases. He has experience of both corporate and personal insolvency proceedings. Christopher regularly appears in the High Court as advocate in such matters.

Christopher's current or recent instructions include:

• Advising an investor in a collapsed hedge fund on its rights. Issues include the status of the offering memorandum, the status of the investor as shareholder or creditor, whether effective redemption has taken place, whether payment of the redemption proceeds can be made in specie or not and how the position is altered by the fund’s voluntary liquidation.
  
  
• Advising on the restructuring of a very large multinational corporation, involving consideration of syndicated lending, the insolvency of certain subsidiaries and the position of senior and mezzanine debt holders.
  
  
• Acting for the petitioner in a s. 459 petition in which the principal issues are the treatment of certain assets in the company accounts directors' transaction and dilution.
  
  
• Advising a listed company on whitewash procedures relating to a complex structure put in place when it was acquired by another company;
  
  
• In 2005, Christopher and Wiliam Blair QC were commissioned by The Times to write a piece on the Spectrum decision of the House of Lords and its implications.

Financial Services

Christopher's financial services practice encompasses both advisory and contentious matters. Christopher regularly advises national and international banks, financial services firms and insurers on matters arising out of the FSMA, pre-FSMA and FOS regimes. He has frequently been instructed in conjunction with Michael Blair QC on large matters.

Christopher is a regular member of the Financial Market Law Committee's working groups on, amongst others, the Hague Securities Convention and the proposed Rome I Regulation. In 2006, Christopher was instructed to assist the FSA with the implementation of the Capital Requirements Directive. In addition, Christopher has published several articles on financial services law, which are identified below.

Christopher's current or recent instructions include:

• Advising an individual on the merits of an action to recoup a large amount of undisclosed commission received and retained by his IFA without his knowledge;
  
  
• Advising a large Swiss multinational on the implications of a third party making a public offering of its securities within the EU, with particular reference to the Market Abuse Directive as implemented in the UK and France;
  
  
• Advising a non-EU company whose shares are traded in London on its obligations under UK on-market rules and potential developments in relation to the implementation of the Transparency Directive;
  
  
• Advising a company listed on the LSE in relation to its obligations under financial markets and company law on purchasing a valuable asset for substantial consideration;
  
  
• Acting for two claimants in an action against their former financial advisor and a large financial firm in relation to the sale to them of an investment scam. The case involves the use of the transitional provisions in the FOS scheme to found jurisdiction in relation to matters occurring under the old regime. It also relies upon the use of certain of the pre-existing strict liability rules under the SIB and PIA Rules, together with s.62 FSA 1986.

• Advising a major foreign bank on the merits of bringing a claim in England against persons domiciled in England in relation to lending procured by fraudulent misrepresentation in Switzerland. Led by Jeffrey Gruder Q.C.
  
  
• Advising an Italian State corporation on the merits of bringing a claim in relation to complex financial derivatives with a notional value of several hundred million Euros entered into in excess of authority and possibly fraudulently by a senior employee. Led by Richard Salter Q.C.
  
  
• Acting unled for a partner in relation to the dissolution of the partnership where the final account revealed significant fraudulent activities by another partner and members of her family. Listed for a three-week trial in the Chancery Division in early 2008. This matter has been ongoing since 2005 and has required Christopher to obtain a freezing injunction amongst other interlocutory matters.

• Acting for purchaser in a claim against surveyor and solicitor involved in a property development transaction;
  
  
• Acting for the claimant in a claim against a legal expenses insurer for wrongful refusal to provide cover and consequential losses;
  
  
• Acting for an insured in relation to a claim against its broker for negligent placement of the risk;
  
  
• Defending a magic circle law firm in a claim arising out of a private-equity corporate acquisition in Germany. The case settled four days into a three-week trial.

• Acting for the victim of a large fire in relation to a dispute with an insurer as to coverage and with a broker as to the original placing of the risk;
  
  
• Acting for an insured in a claim against its broker for negligent placement;
  
  
• Acting for a broker in relation to the Equitas litigation.

Lectures and Publications

• The Scope of Privilege in Investment Treaty Arbitration (Forthcoming)
  
  
• Banishing the Ghost of Primacom: The New Hague Convention on Jurisdiction Agreements (Forthcoming)
  
  
• Directors' Duties and the Company Law Reform Bill;
  
  
• Expert Witnesses in International Arbitration: what rules? (Forthcoming);
  
  
• Insolvency Aspects of Guarantees, in "The Modern Law of Guarantee" (R. Salter Q.C. Ed.) forthcoming;
  
  
• Piercing the Corporate Veil: Fact or Fiction?
  
  
• Implementation of the Financial Services Action Plan: The Current Position, in "Aktuelle Rechtsprobleme des Finanz- und Börsenplatzes Schweiz" 13 (2005) 145;
  
  
• Recent Developments in EU Financial Markets Law (3VB Newsletter 2006);
  
  
• "Short but sweet - 25 years and a verdict on book debts", The Times, 19 July 2005;
  
  
• Host State - Home State - Superstate, in "Wirtschaftsrecht zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts, Festschrift für Peter Nobel zum 60. Geburtstag" (Stämpfli, 2005);
  
  
• Informing Offeree Shareholders: A Comparative Analysis of the Circular Issued by the Offeree Board of Directors in Response to a Hostile Takeover Offer in England and Switzerland (Doctoral Thesis, 2005);
  
  
• Floating Charge Holders and Liquidators' Costs after Buchler v. Talbot (2004) ;
  
  
• Opting-up: A Practical Solution to the EU Mandatory Bid Rule? (2004) ;
  
  
• Directors' Fiduciary Duties - Solicitors Beware (2004) ;
  
  
• Member of COMBAR working party on electronic disclosure;
  
  
• Chapter 6 "European Union Financial Services Law", in: Swiss Finance Law and International Standards (P. Nobel, Kluwer 2002).

Awards and Scholarships

• Hardwicke Scholarship, Lincoln's Inn (2002)
  
• Thomas More Scholarship, Lincoln's Inn (2002)
  
• Megarry Scholarship, Lincoln's Inn (2003)
  
• Pegasus Scholar to the Cayman Islands, Inner Temple (2007)