Professional practice

C&P 2024Leading Silk 2024

“Phenomenal in every sense: he is incredibly bright, he is fast, he is much better prepared than his opponents; he is an astonishingly good advocate…creative in his approach and super responsive”

With a “reputation for handling high-stakes cases”, “revered practitioner” David Craig KC has a rich and diverse practice leading teams in various jurisdictions. At home in court and in arbitration, David is instructed in high profile and heavyweight disputes, often at the intersection between commercial and employment law or involving the protection of confidential information and trade secrets, including large-scale multi-week litigation, substantive interim applications for injunctive relief and appeals (where David has acted at all levels, including on numerous occasions in the House of Lords and Supreme Court). David also appears in high-value whistleblowing and discrimination claims in the Employment Tribunal, frequently in a regulatory context and where important reputational issues arise. His practice has an international dimension, with cases often involving multiple jurisdictions, foreign law (where he works closely with foreign lawyers) and foundational jurisdictional questions, and he has appeared in numerous cases in the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts.

Described as an “outstanding advocate”, David is “renowned for his brilliance in the courtroom”, being “brilliant on his feet” with “devastating cross-examination skills” . “As good as it gets”, he works “ferociously hard” and “it’s a question of whether or not you can get him on something because he’s so popular…He is truly exceptional.” “His mastery of the detail in hugely complex litigation is without comparison.”

Having won both employment junior and employment silk of the year, David is included in the Chambers UK 100, identifying the top 100 juniors and silks at the Bar, described as having “a brilliant legal brain” who “inspires trust and confidence from clients and instructing solicitors alike.” 

David acts for individuals and institutions across a wide range of industries, including sport (e.g. Formula 1 and the Premier League), financial services (e.g. investment banks, algorithmic trading houses, inter-dealer brokers, hedge funds, private equity houses, asset managers), insurance (insurers/reinsurers and brokers), media (advertising, marketing, publishing, public relations) consulting, pharmaceuticals and the law (often instructed for solicitors’ firms).

 

What others say

David is identified in the leading legal directories, including Chambers, Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal. Quotations about his practice include the following:

  • “David is a pleasure to work with. He is extremely bright, phenomenally hard-working and always on top of things. He is an excellent strategist and tactician on team move cases.”
  • “His work ethic is matched with phenomenal intellectual firepower. He assimilates extraordinarily complex information at the speed of light. He fights with a great balance between measured aggression and commerciality. He knows how to win.”
  • “David can take the most complicated matters and make them seem straightforward, knowing the case law by heart. You can rely on him thinking things through from all angles. His drafting and written pleading is wonderful, impactful and confident, giving a lot of reassurance to clients.”
  • An outstanding silk.’
  • “David is intellectually terrific and an excellent employment lawyer in every way.”
  • “David is at the top of his game and definitely one of the leaders in the area of employee competition.”
  • “He is phenomenal in every sense: he is incredibly bright, he is fast, he is much better prepared than his opponents; he is an astonishingly good advocate, who is creative in his approach and super responsive.”
  • “David is the complete package – intelligent, commercial, hard-working, and with gravitas and great client skills…He never disappoints.”
  • “A phenomenal silk at the top of his game, he is the natural first choice for the most complex and high-value High Court employment claims and arbitrations. David is an outstanding advocate with devastating cross-examination skills, and his mastery of the detail in hugely complex litigation is without comparison.”
  • “Fantastic…Brilliant on his feet and a brilliant technician…A really good strategic thinker.”
  • “An incredible brain and a superb cross-examiner.”
  • “Reputation for handling high-stakes cases; exceptionally bright, totally dedicated.”
  • “Just brilliant in terms of reactivity and willingness to get involved. He is a real team player.”
  • “He is meticulous in everything he does and leaves no stone unturned.”
  • “Exceptional attention to detail.”
  • “Absolutely top-notch, he is incredibly user-friendly and works ferociously hard…you really feel he is fighting your corner in court.”
  • “His lawyering is phenomenal. It’s a question of whether or not you can get him on something because he’s so popular…He is truly exceptional.”
  • “Amongst the very best in the business. Frequently referred to as a ‘real superstar’ he is client-friendly, extremely responsive, very commercial and terrific on the strategy.”
  • “As good as it gets.”
Examples of recent cases

In addition to advisory work and arbitration claims that are confidential, David’s recent cases include:

BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited v Ceres Rural Ltd & Ors – defending Ceres Rural and 29 individuals in respect of their departure from Strutt & Parker after its acquisition by BNP Paribas, alleged to have involved an unlawful means conspiracy, breaches of contract and duties of confidence.

Azets Holdings Ltd v Redwood Wales Ltd & Ors – acting for Azets in respect of their claim alleging an unlawful team move involving the diversion of Azets’ employees and clients to Carr Jenkins & Hood

Citadel Securities (Europe) Ltd v GSA Capital Partners LLP & Ors – acting for Citadel in a US$40m claim for conspiracy, dishonest assistance, knowing receipt and breach of confidence in respect of the alleged unlawful solicitation of confidential information as to Citadel’s algorithmic trading strategies from a then serving Citadel employee. Please see here.

Red Bull Technology Ltd v Fallows – instructed by Red Bull in their litigation against Dan Fallows, formerly its Chief Engineer – Aerodynamic, in respect of his departure to Aston Martin Cognizant. Please see here.

Hodgkinson v Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Ltd – instructed by Ben Hodgkinson and then by Red Bull Racing, Technology and Powertrains in respect of Red Bull’s recruitment of Ben and a number of other employees from Mercedes. Please see here.

Guy Carpenter Ltd and Marsh Services Ltd v Howden Insurance Brokers & Ors – defending various Howden entities in respect of the recruitment of c.30 employees from Guy Carpenter, which was alleged to have involved an unlawful means conspiracy, breaches of contract and the theft of confidential information. Please see here.

Allen and Conti v Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen Boerenleenbank – acting for Rabobank in respect of the claims brought against it arising out of allegations concerning LIBOR fixing and the prosecution of its former employees by the Department of Justice in the USA. Please see here.

Banerjee v Royal Bank of Canada – David was brought into the case by the bank at the quantum stage, defending a claim for c.£13m in the Employment Tribunal (final award c.£1m), including in a successful appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Please see here.

Ankura Consulting (Europe) Limited v FTI Consulting LLP – acting for Ankura in respect of its recruitment from FTI of a number of employees (across multiple jurisdictions) into its technology and forensics division. Please see here.

BGC Brokers LP & Ors v Tradition (UK) Limited/Martin Brokers Group Limited v Bell & Ors acting for Paul Bell in claims arising out of a dispute between inter-dealer brokers involving claims for breach of confidence, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy and breach of contract. Please see here.

Alvarez & Marsal v FTI Consulting – acting for Alvarez & Marsal in its dispute with FTI over its recruitment of FTI’s European Head of Tax, Marvin Rust. Please see here.

Arthur J Gallagher & Ors v Ardonagh Group & Ors – acting for corporate defendants in respect of claim alleging a lawful and unlawful means conspiracy, misuse of confidential information and other contractual and tortious breaches in an asserted team move. Please see here.

AstraZeneca v Miels – acting for AstraZeneca in respect of its enforcement of garden leave against a senior employee seeking to take up a role as President of Global Pharmaceuticals for GSK. Please see here.

Brown & Ors v Neon Management Services – acting for a number of underwriters in their claims for breach of contract and wrongful dismissal. Please see here.

Tate and Daniels v Lloyds Banking Group – acting for former director of Lloyds in respect of Lloyds’ wrongful failure to award him shares. Please see here.

ED&F Man Capital Markets Ltd v Hussain & Ors – acting for ED&F Man in Dubai International Financial Centre Courts in respect of claims for breach of post-termination restraints and conspiracy. Please see here.

Faieta v ICAP – acting for ICAP defending claim that placing an employee on garden leave, and continuing that period of garden leave for 15 months, was irrational or perverse and in respect of damages claim for various bonus awards during notice period. Please see here. 

Capital Markets Company v Tarver & Ors – acting for principal defendant in conspiracy claim alleging the diversion of business opportunities arising in respect of blockchain technology in the FinTech sector. Please see here.

Elliston v Glencore – acting on behalf of Glencore in its bonus dispute with Xstrata’s former company secretary. Please see here.

Tata Consultancy Services v Sengar – acting for multinational IT consultancy business obtaining injunctive relief for the delivery up and non-use of its confidential information (High Court), and resisting discrimination claim in the Employment Tribunal. Please see here.

Willis v JLT & Ors – acting for individual defendants in respect of a “team move” case involving allegations of conspiracy, inducement of and breaches of contract, duties of confidence and fiduciary duties. Please see here.

Bradbury v BBC– acting for the BBC before the Pensions Ombudsman, High Court and Court of Appeal in respect of a claim concerning a cap on pensionable salary in a final salary pension scheme. Please see here.

Arthur J Gallagher v Ross et al – acting in the High Court for one of three defendants accused of conspiring and breaching various duties in respect of an alleged “team move”. Please see here.

Sunrise Brokers LLP v Rodgers – acting in the Court of Appeal for an inter-dealer broker enjoined by the High Court from joining a competitor in the USA. Please see here.

Elsevier Ltd v Munro– acting in the High Court for an employer restraining an employee from joining a competitor in the USA during his notice period

Clyde & Co LLP v Bates van Winkelhof – acting for former member of an LLP in her discrimination and whistleblowing claims (and establishing that LLP members could be workers), and in resisting an injunction seeking to restrain her from pursuing those claims. Please see here.

Anar & Ors v (1) Dresdner Kleinwort Limited and (2) Commerzbank AG – acting for 22 employees in their bonus claims based on the promise by the bank to distribute a €400m bonus pool. Please see here.

Sugar v BBC – acting for Steven Sugar in his attempts to obtain a copy of the Balen Report under the Freedom of Information Act. Please see here.

Jivraj v Hashwani – acting for the ICC, intervening in the Supreme Court, on the status of arbitrators as “employees/workers”. Please see here.

 

 

 

Appointments

In 2018, David was appointed as a Recorder (i.e. a part-time Judge) sitting in the Crown Courts of England and Wales (South-Eastern Circuit)

Publications
  • Contributor to International Employment Disputes (Sweet & Maxwell: 2019)
  • Co-author of The Law of Reinsurance (OUP: 2004)
  • Contributor to Violence, Culture and Censure (Taylor & Francis: 1997)
Education
  • Inns of Court School of Law (Outstanding – awarded Certificate of Honour)
  • City University – CPE (Commendation)
  • Cambridge University – Criminology M.Phil (Distinction – Manuel LopezRey Prize for Criminology)
  • Manchester University – Psychology BSc. Hons (First Class)
  • University College School
Awards
  • Winner Chambers’ Employment Silk of the Year 2018
  • Winner Chambers’ Employment Junior of the Year 2011
  • Nominated Legal 500 Employment Silk of the Year 2019
  • Inner Temple Major Scholar
  • Duke of Edinburgh Scholar