David specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration and is Head of the Commercial Disputes & Class Actions department.

He became Edwin Coe’s Senior Partner in April 2011.  He is one of the UK’s foremost litigators. He was the 176th President of the Law Society of England & Wales, former President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association and is currently Chair of the Human Rights Committee of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and co-Chair of the Collective Redress Lawyers Association.

 

David advises individuals, businesses and governments:

 

  • Commercial Disputes: David is recognised by his peers as one of the foremost litigators in the UK. He brings a wealth of experience to the table for the most complex litigation. David has worked in courts and arbitration institutions across the World including USA, Jordan, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, BVI, Barbados and South Africa.
  • Competition/Class Action litigation: He has developed a strong following in contentious competition work being involved in cases in front of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), High Court and Competition Markets Authority. This work has led to the development of Edwin Coe as one of the UK’s leading practises in class actions.
  • International arbitration: David is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has acted in many international and domestic arbitrations. This has included arbitrations in the main international institutions, LCIA, ICC and the SCCIA.
  • Judicial Review and public litigation: During his practice David has been involved for parties in some of the most important, weighty and headlining public litigation and arbitration over many years including disputes between states and for and against governments including the UK government in the Railtrack, Northern Rock judicial review, the Article 50 litigation and judicial review for UK’s sub-postmasters’ compensation scheme. In addition, David has for many years advised sovereign states on disputes in international tribunals and particularly specialises in work involving governments in sub-Saharan Africa.
Expertise
Dispute Resolution Commercial Disputes Class Actions Arbitration Civil Fraud & Asset Recovery Financial Services Disputes
Credentials
President of the Law Society of England & Wales 2020-2021
Former President London Solicitors Litigation Association
Co-President of Collective Redress Lawyers Association
Chair Human Rights Committee Commonwealth Lawyers Association
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Winner Solicitors’ Journal Rule of Law Award
Law Society’s Legal Personality of the Year Award
Legal 500 Hall of Fame Commercial Litigation: mid-market
Legal 500 Hall of Fame Group Litigation: Claimant
Chambers UK 2026 Senior Statesperson; Group Litigation: Claimant
Former member of Civil Justice Council; Chair of Housing Law Committee
Former member Civil Procedure Rules Committee
Consultant Editor New Law Journal
Lectures widely on civil justice and human rights
Author of several books and publications on civil justice
EXPERIENCE
David’s experience includes:
Acting for claimants in £200 million claim arising from the European Truck cartel.
Acting for South American claimants in the actions against Air Cargo cartelists.
Acting and appearing for Only Fans (the social media platform) in the European Court of Justice on the question of the incidence of liability for VAT
Acting and advocacy in the European Court for Human Rights on Article 6 rights
Acting for claimants in Railtrack nationalisation litigation
Acting for Applicants in judicial review of Northern Rock nationalisation
Harrken fraud; acting for claimants on a worldwide Ponzi scheme centred in Germany and South Africa
Madoff fraud, acting for creditors across the World.
Acting for the claimant group in a £1.3 billion claim in deceit, conspiracy and dishonest assistance against HSBC for its part in structuring partnerships to invest in Disney films.
Acting for a claimant group arising from the mis-selling of timeshares and pursuing claims for misrepresentation and under consumer credit legislation.
ICC Arbitration – acting for a Dubai claimant in a €8,000,000 joint venture action raising issues of contractual interpretation on the share purchase agreement.
LCIA Arbitration – advising a Dutch claimant in its claim for pre-emption.