A shipping and insurance lawyer with particular experience of marine environmental affairs, Colin is well known as leader in the field of international law and practice relating to pollution from ships.
Colin has advised on the consequences of serious oil spills since the 1970s, representing owners, insurers, oil companies and other interested parties in various branches of maritime commerce. He has acted in most major pollution incidents since the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, and he is an authority on all environmental aspects of shipping.
He has also become increasingly involved – particularly since the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010 – in the implications of pollution from offshore installations.
With his long experience and worldwide reputation, Colin spends much of his time on the political aspects of the subject, acting for leading industry organizations in the process of changes to international law. He has given papers at seminars, conferences and universities worldwide, and co-authors Shipping and the Environment, the leading textbook in the field.
“In a class of his own in the pollution field.” Legal 500, 2011
“The market expert on pollution.” Chambers & Partners, 2009
Colin was ranked as one of the Top Ten Law Personalities in the Lloyd’s List Top 100 2010 (a review of the most influential people in shipping).
In Colin’s specialist field of marine pollution, he has a wealth of knowledge of insurance and reinsurance.
He frequently represents shipowners and their liability insurers. He has also advised clients affected by the consequences of pollution in other branches of maritime commerce, including market underwriters.