OUR PEOPLE / KEVIN COOPER

Kevin CooperPartner, London
kevin.cooper@incelaw.com
+44 (0) 20 7481 0010

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Kevin studied law at Oxford University and qualified as a barrister before serving in the British Navy for nine years, much of that time at sea. After leaving the Navy in the rank of Lieutenant Commander, he worked for the United States Department of Justice before joining Ince & Co's London office in 2000.

Having spent roughly six years in the firm's Shanghai office, Kevin returned to the London office in 2009, where he practices in all aspects of shipping, with an emphasis on Admiralty disputes: collisions, groundings and salvage. He retains a strong interest in China and has industry contacts in Latin America and Denmark.

Dual-qualified as a solicitor and a barrister, he speaks French, German, Swedish and Mandarin and is a keen sailor.


With his seagoing background, the majority of Kevin's practice relates to Admiralty disputes. Previously acting as a casualty investigator when based in Shanghai, he often collected evidence for collisions, groundings, cargo damage and salvage cases. He regularly handles high-value multi-jurisdictional cases, such as the collision between MSC Joanna and the dredger W D Fairway in China in 2007 and the grounding and subsequent collision of the Khalijia 3 in Mumbai in 2010.

Kevin’s Admiralty expertise is complemented by his experience in handling cargo claims and charterparty disputes and Kevin’s criminal law experience gained when acting as a criminal court advocate in the Navy has been useful in advising clients whose employees become the subject of criminal investigations and in handling the prosecution of shipowners and managers.
 
Kevin acts mainly for major international shipowners and their insurers but also numbers major charterers and cargo owners amongst his clients. Reported cases include The Nore Challenger and The Nore Commander, a case concerning the Admiralty jurisdiction of the English Courts.


Kevin has broad experience of handling commercial disputes, including shipyard disputes, acting both for yards and their customers. He lists major Chinese banks and trading companies amongst his clients.

Kevin handles and has acted as an advocate in arbitration proceedings in the United Kingdom and China, as well as pursuing the enforcement of foreign arbitration awards in China. Before joining Ince & Co, he acted as junior counsel before the English House of Lords in Holland v Lampen-Wolfe, a leading case on state immunity.


Complementing his expertise in handling shipping (particularly Admiralty) disputes, Kevin is also regularly instructed by hull underwriters and P&I insurers in respect of marine insurance disputes.