Henk Soede

Commercial

Henk has experience of a range of commercial disputes, including those arising from the sale of goods and services (b2b and b2c), agency agreements, indemnity agreements, force majeure, unjust enrichment and contribution claims. He also has experience of freezing injunctions, disputed charging orders, Part 71 applications and other matters relating to enforcement of debts (including where there are issues of insolvency). Henk is very familiar with the conflict of laws (including jurisdictional and applicable law issues) and he is well-equipped to act in claims which have an international dimension. Henk authored chapter 1 (“regulated travel arrangements’) and chapter 11 (“security and insolvency”) of Saggerson on Travel Law and Litigation (7^th Ed) and he is often instructed in cases which have a travel regulatory angle.

Selected Cases

• Acting for the defendant in a claim involving an alleged assumption of responsibility for a valuable consignment of branded sportswear and an allegedly negligent failure to safeguard those goods following the arrest of the freight forwarder’s agent (claim dismissed following a seven-day trial, led by Laura Johnson KC).
• Acting for an aircraft charterer in a contractual dispute with a major airline operator (c.$300k) arising from a failure to perform commercial flights and alleged force majeure.
• Acting for the claimant in arbitral proceedings (c. €360k) relating to the proper construction of an agency agreement (sole counsel).
• Acting for a well-known luxury travel business in a contractual dispute (c. $850k) relating to the Titanic submersible expedition operated by OceanGate Inc (sole counsel).
• Acting for a tour operator in a claim for an indemnity (c. £8m) under an agency agreement entered with a foreign supplier of accommodation services.
• Acting for the defendant in a group action relating to alleged service failures at a resort developed by entities associated with David Ames (sole counsel).
• Acting for an insurer in a group action (c. £10m) relating to the termination of holiday contracts during the covid-19 pandemic (led by Sarah Prager KC).
• Acting for a judgment creditor in the enforcement of an adjudication award (c.£800k) (full recovery achieved shortly before the hearing of a freezing order) (sole counsel).
• Acting for a boiler manufacturer in proceedings relating to the enforcement of an arbitration award under the Arbitration Act 1996 and whether the order for recovery should be set aside.

Awards

• Lord Brougham Scholar, Lincoln’s Inn (2017)
• Lord Denning Scholar, Lincoln’s Inn (2018)

Articles

• Blurred lines: relating back in foreign law

News

• Crown Office Chambers welcomes Henk Soede

Qualifications

• BSc. Politics & Philosophy, First Class, London School of Economics
• GDL, City University
• BPTC, City University

Memberships

• PIBA
• SCL
• COMBAR
• LCLCBA