At 2TG our people are hard-working, forward-thinking and approachable. We believe our supportive culture is one of our greatest strengths.
With the set comprising around 60 barristers, we know each other well and work effectively together. We often operate in large teams with clients. Our practice management team is modern and commercial, matching barrister experience thoughtfully to clients’ requirements.
At 2TG our barristers are expert in a broad range of complementary practice areas and we enjoy repeat instructions from a variety of loyal clients.
Practised advocates from the start, all our Silks and the vast majority of our Junior barristers are recognised as leaders in their chosen fields. Many of us are at the forefront of shaping the law in our specialist areas and we pride ourselves in having excellent industry knowledge.
At 2TG our barristers have excellent experience acting across a range of industry sectors and we are able to offer advice in an informed and commercial context.
Our combination of practice area excellence and industry expertise means we possess real insight into the commercial realities facing our clients operating in these areas. Secondment plays an important part of our commitment to developing our skills and understanding.
2TG is home to award-winning accredited mediators, arbitrators, adjudicators and experts with considerable experience of alternative dispute resolution.
Our barristers are also skilled as advocates in different alternative dispute resolution procedures and work strategically with clients to understand their commercial objectives, and then to resolve litigation as cost-effectively and expeditiously as possible.
Work with an international dimension forms a significant part of many barristers’ work at 2TG.
We appear in international courts and arbitral tribunals all over the world, frequently acting on complex multi-jurisdictional disputes. We are particularly well-known for managing cross border litigation on matters of jurisdiction and applicable law and appear regularly in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
At 2TG, in addition to our professional advice, we are recognised for our excellent contribution to education and development. We provide regular high-quality training.
Our reputation among the legal profession and other clients for our first-rate webinars and in-person conferences is very important to us. We also contribute frequently at industry events and as editors of leading texts and authors on topics of legal interest.
Insights
Charles Dougherty KC and Timothy Killen successful in DIFC Court of Appeal COVID-19 Business Interruption Insurance Dispute: Lals Holdings Limited & Others v Emirates Insurance Company (PSC) & Another [2024] DIFC CA 002 (2nd July 2024)
The DIFC Court of Appeal has handed down an important judgment in the first COVID-19 business interruption coverage dispute to come before the DIFC Courts.
On a trial of preliminary issues the judge at first instance (Sir Peter Gross) found for the policyholders that each of the three substantive coverage provisions in issue could, subject to proof, provide cover for COVID-19 related business interruption loss. The insurer appealed on the grounds that to provide cover under both a “loss of attraction” clause and a “closure” clause was uncommercial and – with reference to the Australian Federal Court decision in Marrickville v Swiss Re – caused “incoherence and incongruence”. Insurers also argued that the closure clause was “more specific” than the “more general” loss of attraction clause, and in such circumstances the loss of attraction clause should be read down so as not to provide cover for COVID-19 loss.
The Court disagreed, and dismissed the appeal finding that there was nothing uncommercial let alone absurd in two insuring clauses providing an indemnity in response to the same set of circumstances. The Court also found that in this case one clause could not be said to be “more specific” than the other, and so the suggestion that one ought to give way to the other was rejected.
The judgment also contains a detailed discussion of topics likely to be of wider interest to parties litigating in the DIFC Courts, including:
Charles Dougherty KC and Timothy Killen acted for the successful policyholders at both first instance and on appeal.
Lucas Fear-Segal (led by Neil Hext KC) appeared for the second defendant brokers at first instance (who played no part in the appeal).
The Judgment of the Court of Appeal is available here
The Judgment of the Court of First Instance is available here