Alec moved into the shipping and insurance legal sector on joining Clyde & Co in 1977, having previously spent five years with another city law firm handling corporate insolvencies. Both these specialties were put to good use when he managed the Hong Kong office from 1984 onwards. This heralded an era of major shipping insolvencies, the Carrian fraud and insolvency (on which Alec worked for nine years) as well as a host of major marine casualties and the infamous "phantom ship" frauds.
Before returning to London in 1996, Alec also handled numerous arbitrations (including sitting occasionally as an Arbitrator), investment dispute, disaster, commercial contract and employment litigation, and was well-known in most areas of insurance dispute resolution including CAR, jewellers block, bankers blanket bond, credit and political risk, property and business interruption, e&o, marine and aviation.
He moved to the Dubai office in 1999, where he continues to practice in the same area of commercial dispute resolution. Alec has spoken widely and written numerous articles, mainly for trade publications, on international trade, shipping, transportation law, insurance and dispute resolution topics.