Fred Sheppard

SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Fred Sheppard is Senior Associate in the Commercial Disputes & Class Actions department. 

As well as advising and assisting clients in the resolution of their disputes, he has successfully acted as advocate both in arbitration and in the High Court. He enjoys helping clients through both the legal and practical aspects of their disputes, with an eye to arriving at a successful and cost-effective resolutions.

 

Fred advises and represents a wide range of clients – from large corporations to individuals, based both in the United Kingdom and abroad – in all manner of commercial and business disputes.

 

His work includes:

 

Group claims: Acting for significant numbers of businesses and individuals who have all suffered the same loss. He has acted in some of the highest profile group claims of recent years, including acting for Northern Rock shareholders and survivors of the Hillsborough Stadium disaster. Such claims include both financial loss and personal injury.

 

Commercial disputes: Often involve a number of different aspects, Fred prides himself on working across different areas, including contractual disputes, shareholder claims, professional liability (including negligence), complex financial instruments and securities, sale of goods and property development.

 

Sectors with particular expertise: Financial services, professional services (particularly legal and accounting), mining and property development.

 

Advocate: Where appropriate, particularly with an eye to efficiency, Fred acts as advocate as well as preparing the case, particularly in arbitration proceedings.

 

International conferences: speaks regularly on various aspects of the law.

 

Fred joined the firm in 2018, after receiving a Masters degree in law from the London School of Economics, where he was awarded a prize. Before that, he practiced in commercial litigation and arbitration in Vancouver, Canada.

Expertise
Dispute Resolution Commercial Disputes Class Actions Arbitration Competition Disputes Civil Fraud & Asset Recovery Financial Services Disputes
Credentials
Recommended in the Legal 500 2026 for ‘Commercial Litigation: Mid-Market’, ‘Fraud Civil’ and ‘Group Litigation: Claimant’
As well as being the roll of English solicitors, called to the bar of British Columbia, Canada
Member of the London Court of International Arbitration
Member of the London-UK Chamber of Commerce
Member of the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee
Member of the Selden Society (legal history)
EXPERIENCE
Fred’s experience includes:
Acted successfully, including as advocate, in the London Court of International Arbitration, for a stone quarrier in a dispute with a customer, resulting in an award in excess of US$1 million.
Acting successfully (and continuing to act) for a group of survivors of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in their claims against the South Yorkshire and West Midlands police.
Acted successfully for a group of purchasers of holiday homes in an abortive development in Italy, resulting in recoveries from multiple sources in a cumulative multi-million pound amount.
Acted successfully (including as advocate in the High Court) for a major property developer, in disputes with purchasers and local authorities.
Acting for a group of shareholders of Northern Rock in matters arising from the expropriation of their shares following the bank’s nationalisation.
Acting for a partner in a dispute involving a major property development business, with in excess of £1 billion of assets under management.
Acting for a liquidator in respect of a litigation and other matters arising from the liquidation of a number of companies in the social care sector, with a total amount in dispute in excess of £60 million.
Acting for the purchaser of a large vessel in arbitration against the shipbuilder under the London Maritime Arbitrators Association rules.
Acted for customers of the Crown Currency foreign exchange business, which operated as a Ponzi scheme, in tracing assets.
Acted for a group of shareholders of the payday lender Amigo Loans, in opposing a scheme of arrangement being sought by the company.
They have a good diverse team of lawyers.
The Legal 500 UK 2026
I've had the pleasure of working with David Greene and Fred Sheppard on many cases, and their most outstanding quality is their ability to see through the most complex issues and to react quickly and provide advice when it is most needed.
The Legal 500 UK 2026
Fred Sheppard: ingenious, tenacious and tough.
The Legal 500 UK 2025
Fred Sheppard is a very hard worker and very reliable.
The Legal 500 UK 2025
Fred Sheppard is a scholarly lawyer with a great ability to keep the focus on what matters.
The Legal 500 UK 2025
I believe the individuals I’ve been working with represent the best qualities of the entire firm: broad competence, excellent analysis, short turnover time, and willingness to go the extra mile for the clients. I’ve had a pleasure of working for many years with David Greene and Fred Sheppard, and the qualities described above apply to them to the fullest.
The Legal 500 UK 2025
I’ve had the pleasure of working with David Greene and Fred Sheppard for several years. I was – and still am – particularly impressed by their ability to identify and address quickly the most pressing issues in very complex transactions involving multi-layer corporate structures. And one of the qualities that stands out most is their almost instant availability for discussion of urgent matters despite their significant workload.
The Legal 500 UK 2024
Fred Sheppard particularly impresses with his ability to identify and address quickly the most pressing aspects of very complex transactions involving multi-layer corporate structures.
The Legal 500 UK 2024
David Greene and senior associate Fred Sheppard are exemplary professionals, who are able to provide both practical and doctrinal perspective on very complex issues involving international commercial and financial litigation.
The Legal 500 UK 2023
David Greene and Fred Sheppard have vast international experience that allows them to see a particular case from various angles and offer the clients unexpected and clever solutions.
The Legal 500 UK 2023
Senior associate Fred Sheppard is clever, intuitive and tough; he never gives up and always puts the client first, no matter the circumstances.
The Legal 500 UK 2022
Fred Sheppard is diligent and intellectually very savvy, with a practical and user-friendly approach to boot.
The Legal 500 UK 2022
I have had a pleasure of working with David Greene (Senior Partner) and Fred Sheppard (Senior Associate). I was particularly impressed by their grasp of very complex issues involving international securities and their ability to deal with multijurisdictional problems that involved both continental and common law issues. Especially impressive was Mr Greene’s in-depth analysis of litigation perspectives and Mr Sheppard’s extraordinary research into the arcane issues of complex securities and related contractual and tort claims.
The Legal 500 UK 2022
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