Richard Butt

Full Profile

Richard regularly advises on insurance and reinsurance issues including coverage, liability defence and subrogated recoveries and has acted in numerous major international insurance disputes in court and arbitration in the UK and in foreign jurisdictions. 

Richard is described as "first rate in his dedication and hard work" in the Legal 500 2017.

Richard has particular experience advising reinsurers in large-scale construction, engineering and energy disputes, including property damage, business interruption / delay in start-up claims, as well as more general commercial insurance and reinsurance matters.

A considerable part of Richard's work is of an international dimension, with a particular focus on South America, the US and the Middle East.

Richard acted for Brazilian insurers in SulAmérica v Enesa [2012] in their successful appeal to the Court of Appeal concerning anti-suit relief and the governing law of an arbitration agreement.

Experience

• Advising reinsurers on coverage and jurisdictional matters in respect of a $1 billion plus claim for physical damage and business interruption arising from the collapse of a tailings dam in Brazil
• Acting for excess of loss liability insurers in claims arising from an explosion at a methane processing plant in Louisiana, including a US$25 million subrogated recovery action against co-venture partners
• Advising reinsurers on policy liability in respect of a US$50 million claim arising out of damage to a new-build construction project in Israel
• Advising financial investors of a construction project in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on their pursuit of claims in the Saudi courts and advising on potential recovery under ICSID
• Advising reinsurers in a coverage and jurisdictional dispute concerning material damage and delay in start-up claims, worth over £500 million, arising out of damage and delays to a hydro-electric facility in Brazil. Successfully obtained anti-suit relief relating to proceedings in Brazil and ARIAS arbitration in London
• Acting for liability insurers of a large UK construction company in various subrogated recoveries
• Advising reinsurers in defence of a £300 million material damage and delay claim proceeding in the courts of Qatar arising from the failure of a newly constructed highway, and advising on coverage
• Advising reinsurers on coverage with regards to a high value claim arising from the failure of fire-retardant material at an oil-refinery expansion project in Texas, USA
• Acting for insurers in a coverage dispute following damage and business interruption losses of at a nuclear reprocessing plant in the UK
• Advising insurers on coverage in respect of significant physical damage and business interruption claims following a break-out at a blast furnace in Mexico
• Acting for liability insurers of a manufacturer implicated in US proceedings following the catastrophic explosion of a crystal-producing factory in Illinois, USA
• Advising liability insurers of a groundworks contractor in a coverage dispute following the collapse of a tower crane in Liverpool, UK
• Advising insurers on coverage in respect of a USD 100 million material damage and business interruption claim arising out of a generator failure at a nuclear power plant in Canada
• Acting for excess of loss insurers in the Bermuda market in a two-week arbitration in respect of the settlement of a large underlying loss following wide-scale pollution from an oil refinery in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina