Neil Beresford

Full Profile

Neil heads the firm's Global Product Liability and Recall practice. He specialises in:

• product liability and recall;
• environmental liability; and
• professional liability.

Neil is a first port of call for complex and cross-border product liability claims and he acts as coverage, defence and monitoring counsel in all parts of the world.  Neil's current caseload includes: the Grenfell Tower fire; the fire at the Liverpool Echo Arena in December 2017; and claims for financial loss arising from products supplied for the redevelopment of the London Olympic Stadium. 

Neil is a market leader in environmental liability claims, particularly those which arise from the sale of products.  His current caseload includes: an oil pollution claim in Canada valued in excess of USD $1 billion; multiple claims arising from the sale of PFOA and PFOS firefighting products; and existential claims against the oil industry seeking damages for the remediation of climate change.

Neil has particular experience of litigating in Colombia, where he has represented the London market for almost twenty years.  He is involved in some of Colombia's most significant professional liability claims, including: a USD 300 million professional liability claim arising from the collapse of the UPAC lending system in 1999; claims arising from the Contraloria's investigation into the Reficar refinery project; multiple civil and criminal actions arising from the demise of the Interbolsa Group; and competition investigations led by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio.  Neil is also working with a leading Colombian insurer on the development of its multinational programmes.

Before entering practice Neil was a Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge and a speechwriter to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg. He maintains active ties with Cambridge and teaches there regularly during term time.

Experience

Representing General Liability and Environmental Liability insurers in relation to:

• the Grenfell Tower fire;
• the fire at the Liverpool Echo Arena
• the British Airways data outage;
• financial loss claims arising from products supplied for the redevelopment of the London Olympic Stadium;
• financial loss claims arising from the supply of defective turbine parts to a Russian energy company;
• a Canadian oil pollution claim valued in excess of USD 1 billion;
• the morphine poisoning of the Queen's racehorse;
• a claim from one of the world's leading restaurants following a food poisoning outbreak;
• multiple PFOS/PFOA claims in the United States; and
• existential claims against the oil industry seeking damages for the costs of climate change.

Representing Professional Liability and D&O insurers in Colombia, including:

• a USD 300 million professional liability claim arising from the collapse of the UPAC lending system;
• tutela actions before the Council of State and Constitutional Court;
• multiple civil, criminal and administrative proceedings arising from the demise of the Interbolsa Group;
• the Contraloria's investigation into the Reficar refinery project;
• a major competition investigation led by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio

Working with insurers on new products and programmes, including the creation and development of:

• multinational programmes issued by a leading Colombian insurer;
• a pan-European liability programme for one of the world's largest ridesharing, food delivery, and transportation network companies;
• parametric products for the UK's leading agricultural insurer;
• combined employers/public/product/professional liability policies for specialised industry sectors.