Cook, Kevin B.

Stephen Pearson has extensive experience in all types of commercial litigation, arbitration, and dispute resolution, most of it with an international element. He is dual qualified (England & Wales and New York).

Stephen has been featured regularly in The Legal 500 and Chambers (where he has been praised for "conducting complex litigation with aplomb"). Stephen also has been named in Legal Experts for his work in banking litigation.

In addition to his extensive court work, Stephen has handled a large number of international and domestic arbitrations for a variety of clients. Stephen has experience in arbitrations conducted under various rules, including those of the ICC, the LCIA, the SCC, the LME, Lloyd's, and UNCITRAL. He has conducted project/construction arbitrations on an ad hoc basis and under the rules of professional construction bodies as well. Reflecting this level of experience, Stephen was one of only 40 European lawyers invited by the ICC to participate in a recent "Young Arbitrators' Colloquium."

Stephen is a regular speaker and contributor on insurance issues (particularly D&O insurance) and has drafted several of the D&O policies sold on the London market. He has also advised on several leading D&O cases, both in England and overseas.

Examples of Stephen's experience include:

• advising on the litigation and dispute resolution aspects of the TNK-BP merger (the largest ever investment in Russia by a British company and the largest ever corporate transaction in Russian history); this included acting for one of the defendants in Astian v. TNK Industrial Holdings & Others (one of the leading judgments in the Eastern Caribbean Appeal Court on the doctrine of forum non conveniens and its application in an offshore context).

• acting for the Russian Standard Group in a dispute with BNP Paribas and Cetelem over a failed joint venture. The litigation arising from this dispute gave rise to the first English Court of Appeal decision on the proper meaning and effect of s.44 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Proceedings also took place in several other countries, including Russia and the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

• advising investment banks, hedge funds, and government entities in disputes centered around distressed corporate and sovereign debt. With respect to the latter, Stephen has acted in litigation involving the Democratic Republic of Congo, the People's Republic of Congo, Liberia, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Cameroon, Zambia, and Indonesia. As a result of this experience, Stephen was asked to contribute a chapter on "Sovereign Immunity under English Law" to a leading textbook on cross-border litigation (Trans-Atlantic Commercial Litigation & Arbitration, published by Oceana).

• acting for a major Russian consumer lending bank in ICC proceedings in Geneva relating to a failed joint venture with a French insurer. The $100m+ dispute also involved related proceedings in the Moscow Arbitrazh Court.

• acting for WestLB AG in Salomon Brothers Holdings Inc v. WestLB, 2002 (unreported), a dispute concerning repo trades concluded around the time of the devaluation of the Turkish Lira.

• acting for the liquidators of First Tokyo Index Trust (FTIT) in FTIT v. Morgan Stanley and Coopers & Lybrand (one of the first major "Maxwell cases").

• acting for international investment banks in recovery cases and restructuring disputes. This has involved coordinating proceedings not only in the U.K. and the U.S. but also in France, Switzerland, Canada, Russia, Romania, the Caymans, the BVI, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Brazil, Honduras, and Panama.

• acting for Magnet plc in GE Capital v. Bankers Trust & Others (litigation stemming from what was the then largest LBO in U.K. corporate history).

• acting for a BVI-registered energy company against a Turkish gas company in ICC proceedings in Geneva focusing on a failed joint venture in Ukraine.

• acting for a Russian commodities company against a Ukrainian company in an LME arbitration in London regarding failed manganese trades.

• acting for a U.S. satellite company in LCIA arbitration proceedings in London relating to a failed joint venture with a Russian telecoms company.

• acting for a Russian spirits manufacturer in a series of contested trademark revocation proceedings filed by a competitor in the U.S., France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Austria, Slovenia, and Israel.

• acting for a Russian company in ICANN proceedings against "cybersquatters" who had registered domain names linked to the company.

• acting for major insurers, Lloyd's syndicates, and managing agencies on financial sector insurance claims (in particular D&O, E&O, BBB, trade credit, and political risk).

• acting for a number of Lloyd's members' agents in court proceedings (including group actions connected with alleged mis-selling) and in arbitrations under the Lloyd's arbitration rules.

• acting in a number of major D&O claims (including the Queen's Moat Houses litigation, the RAC litigation, and a claim against two directors of an advertising company that became the longest civil fraud trial heard at the Old Bailey). Stephen also advised, in conjunction with French lawyers, on the first contested avoidance of a D&O policy in France.

• advising diamond brokers on the DTC's restructuring of the rough diamond market (Supplier of Choice) and on ad hoc diamond industry issues.

• advising property agents on disputes stemming from the $1bn+ transfer of all Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise properties to the private sector (STEPS).

• acting for Russian Standard in false advertising proceedings in U.S. federal court against the manufacturer and distributor of Stolichnaya vodka. Also acting for Russian Standard in the related National Advertising Division proceedings.

• advising an Isle of Man company in New York state court proceedings relating to an alleged share fraud. The proceedings were withdrawn by consent following a successful forum challenge.

• acting for the New York office of a major investment bank in a dispute with credit-linked noteholders over amendments made to the reference obligation.

• acting for a U.K. auction house in a U.S. federal court copyright dispute centering around statements made in an auction brochure.

• and advising U.S. investment banks on prelitigation strategies regarding problematic CDO transactions.