Mike Phillips is a partner in the Dispute Resolution group.

Mike specialises in shipping, contentious ship finance and ship and offshore vessel construction. His clients include shipowners, charterers, P&I Clubs, insurers, funds, banks, commodity traders and shipyards.

With more than 25 years’ experience in the marine and international trade sector, Mike brings deep technical knowledge and strategic insight to the resolution of complex and high‑value disputes. He is known for his ability to distil difficult issues quickly and deliver commercially focussed solutions. He acts regularly in London arbitration and Commercial Court proceedings, as well as coordinating multi‑jurisdictional litigation involving Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.

Mike represents clients in a broad range of matters, from charterparty and cargo disputes to complex casualty and general average issues, shipbuilding and refund guarantee claims, sanctions‑driven defaults, fleet‑level finance enforcement and multi‑contract construction disputes involving multiple yards and builders.

He regularly provides training to industry professionals on a bespoke basis and through BIMCO’s Time Charterparty, Voyage Charterparty and Shipping Masterclass programmes.

Mike is consistently recognised by the directories. Chambers UK describes him as having “extensive knowledge and great experience” and being “very commercially focussed”, while The Legal 500 has described him as “outstanding”. He has been listed in Lloyd’s List’s “Top 10 Maritime Lawyers” and is regularly quoted in Lloyd’s List, Insurance Day and Tradewinds on issues including sanctions, maritime risk and underwater infrastructure.

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  • Acting for a major North American shipowner on a casualty, stow collapse, collision and general average dispute, including London arbitration and a successful mediation‑based settlement.
  • Acting for a global liner operator in a high‑value, multi‑vessel patent infringement dispute brought by a major Korean shipyard concerning LNG‑fuel integration technology on Chinese‑built vessels. The matter spanned multiple jurisdictions, complex contractual rights of recourse against shipyards, parallel proceedings in Europe and Asia and the analysis of global settlement structures. Multi‑million‑dollar settlement value.
  • Advising shipowners in relation to rights and liabilities under multiple time charterparties following terrorist attacks in the Red Sea.
  • Advising commodities traders on long‑term COA terms and on a major long‑term commodity sale contract dispute with a government agency.
  • Advising mortgagee banks on multi‑vessel enforcement across several facilities affected by sanctions, including acceleration, arrest and recovery of all outstanding amounts, interest and costs. Matter value in excess of US$1.2bn.
  • Acting for shipowners and their P&I Club in a multi‑jurisdictional soybean quality dispute involving PRC litigation, a Singapore arrest, extensive SGS sampling and expert causation analysis.
  • Advising disponent shipowners on wrongful delivery claims involving delivery without bills of lading, including LOI insolvency issues and the successful defence of claims brought by bill of lading holders.
  • Advising a major fund on a four‑vessel enforcement and sale programme, including creditor‑claim management, vessel arrest, sanctions‑sensitive payment mechanics and confidential delivery arrangements in the Eastern Mediterranean.
  • Advising a shipowner in relation to main engine failure and consequences arising from defective bunkers supplied by a pool manager, including strategy for recovery under pool terms.
  • Advising charterer clients on a JV Partnership Agreement with long‑standing inter‑partner accounting issues, including a preliminary issues hearing resulting in a favourable settlement.
  • Advising a charterer on the grounding of a bulk carrier in South America. The matter proceeded to a full LMAA hearing involving Master and expert evidence.
  • Advising a charterer in relation to the grounding and total loss of a bulk carrier, including urgent incident response, salvage operations and recovery of salved cargo.
  • Advising buyers and financiers on shipbuilding contracts for advanced offshore support vessels, including termination following non‑performance by the yard and successful arbitration through to award.
  • Advising buyers on dredger construction disputes, including termination and enforcement of refund guarantee security.
  • Advising a mortgagee fund on a Mortgagee Interest Insurance claim arising from the seizure of a vessel in the Middle East.

Education

  1. 1995 – 1996 · College of Law, Store Street, London – Postgraduate ‘Common Professional Examination’ and Solicitor’s ‘Legal Practitioner’s Course’
  2. 1991 – 1994 · University of London, BA (Hons) History

Memberships and associations

  1. Law Society of England & Wales