SILAS TAYLOR Mediator Profile

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1 SILAS TAYLOR Mediator Profile I have not come across a better conduct of a mediation Excellent Understated but robustly effective! A leading mediator of international shipping disputes and one of the most experienced UK mediators having been trained and accredited by ADR Group in Has mediated over 200 cases. Chambers & Partners Directory: ranked as Senior Statesman and recommended in the practice area of Dispute Resolution: Mediators: UK Wide 2013/14 Taylor is a robust mediator with a fantastic grasp of the facts. Whilst his core area of expertise is domestic and international shipping mediations, he also handles general commercial disputes. He conveys a strong degree of wisdom and experience to all the parties involved say interviewees. Professional Background Silas was educated at Bedford Modern School after which he obtained a law degree at the University of Hull. He has remained in Hull ever since, commencing articles at the local firm of Andrew Jackson in 1975, the start of a career that has lasted over 35 years. Having studied maritime law as part of his degree course, Silas went on to specialise in shipping disputes. Initially he had a particular involvement with the fishing industries at Hull and Grimsby and, by special dispensation from the Law Society, spent six weeks of his articles working on a deep water trawler in the White Sea a formative experience! Under his leadership, Andrew Jackson grew a shipping law department from the small beginnings to become the largest UK shipping practice outside London with fifteen specialist lawyers and an international client base. Silas own practice covered a wide spectrum with emphasis on casualty related work. This included collisions, groundings, salvage and personal injury. He retained an involvement in the fishing industry and investigated a number of high profile total losses. He went on to develop a particular involvement in dock and harbour law with an emphasis on towage and pilotage issues. He also acquired a specialist involvement in the ferry industry and in later years this led to a considerable involvement with inland passenger vessels and general inland waterway issues. He also became an acknowledged expert on Limitation of Liability issues. Within his law practice Silas progressed from being the Head of the Shipping and Transport Department to Joint Senior Partner.

2 In 2008 Silas retired from the partnership so as to concentrate on his mediation practice, although he continued as a part time consultant for three years and still retains close links with the firm. In 2011 he was appointed a Non-Executive Director with Sunderland Marine Mutual Insurance Co. Ltd. (a major client during his practice) and continued in this role up to the time of the company merging with The North of England P&I Association in February During his legal career Silas was involved in a number of reported cases including: The Harcourt [1980] 2LLR 589 relating to criminal liability of a ship s master whilst off watch. The Ignition [1983] 1LLR 382 relating to the interpretation of an offer of pilotage The Vegaland [1991] 3ALLER73 [1992] 2LLER 470 relating to proximity issues in a claim for nervous shock following a shipboard accident. The Progress [1999] 2LLR 559 relating to the liability of a fishing vessel owner to provide self inflating life jackets. Clerk v- Perks [2001] 2LLR 4331 relating to whether a jack-up rig is a ship for statutory purposes. The Court of Appeal decision gave an entitlement to offshore workers (for whom Silas acted) to recover over 100mil in overpaid tax. Mediation Experience Whilst he has considerable experience of a wide range of general disputes, the vast majority of his work is marine related. Obviously with a casualty background, Silas is much in demand for cases involving collisions, salvage, groundings, shipboard accidents etc. However, Silas has mediated cases covering the whole range of maritime commerce and law and today the majority of his cases relate to dry shipping problems rather than wet ones. Silas has been involved in many charter party disputes, especially those involving unseaworthiness and the whole spectrum of cargo claims and bunker disputes. He continues to mediate a significant volume of port related cases such as bad berth claims, collisions and allisions in enclosed waters and pilotage and tug problems. Ship repair cases also figure to include several dry docking accidents. Some mediations have simply focused on the interpretation of commercial documents (including nonmarine) or insurance policy coverage wording. Typically his mediations involve foreign parties brought together by litigation or arbitration in London. His scope of experience in such matters includes, for instance, several cases involving incidents on the river Parana in South America and a number involving ice problems in the Baltic.

3 He successfully mediated the largest ever Scopic LOF claim and has dealt with claims of over $50mil and disputes involving up to seven parties. Silas has presented numerous lectures and seminars, particularly to marine insurers, on the subject of mediation. He spoke about mediation at the annual shipping law lecture at the University of Hull, sharing the platform with the then Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke. He has also lectured on mediation in India and has participated in mock mediations as far afield as Oslo and Pireaus. Mediation Style and Feedback Silas is an enthusiastic mediator who invests considerable energy into each case. At the same time he is a facilitator, adopting a conciliatory approach and seeking to establish a genuine rapport with the parties and an understanding of their real worth and needs: Very professional Direct, determined, energetic, careful Down to earth, accessible, effective Steady and controlled; shows a genuine wish to achieve settlement Whilst in practice Silas was rated for many years as a top practitioner by both Legal 500 and Chambers Directory. Chambers described him as: An astute maritime lawyer, he s a realist but not afraid to knock heads together. A litigator with a fearsome reputation. As soon as his name is dropped into the hat people shudder a bit. Six years after leaving private practice he is still rated as a Senior Statesman by Chambers as a shipping lawyer. Silas has also been listed by Chambers Directory for many years as a Senior Statesman and leading practitioner in respect of his work as a mediator. The Directory recently described him as having a Down to earth approach, coupled with sage guidance and a hard working attitude which means he is happy to continue his involvement with parties beyond the current mediation if necessary. Interests In his spare time Silas is a keen fisherman, vegetable gardener and a devoted supporter of Hull City AFC. Contact: for bookings clerks@seamediation.com or ongoing matters: silas.taylor@seamediation.com Tel: +44 (0) (0)

4 Additional information regarding cases and feedback More client feedback Commercial and accommodating. Probably first choice for shipping matters. Down to earth, attentive, diligent listener. Strikes a perfect balance between letting the parties stay in control of the process and maintaining a positive momentum towards settlement. Clear thinking, firm but sympathetic. A light touch. Helpful. A good judge of mood. Flexible. Deflected animosity / personal involvement on one side and frustration of lawyers on both sides. Allowed parties to vent properly. Elicited sensible offers / counter offers. Grasped the issues in dispute quickly and well but saw the need to move the mediation into discussions on settlements quickly before it became bogged down. Well prepared good grasp of the issues. Put the parties at their ease. Interrogated us when appropriate. Highlighted the cases at risk when appropriate. Understated but robustly effective! Kept things moving. Dealt with experts, parties and lawyers. Explained procedure to lay clients and kept negotiations amicable when they were in danger of breaking down. Calm and assured. Very professional. Effective. Prepared to highlight strengths and weaknesses of the party s case when appropriate. Commercially pragmatic. Easy to deal with. Allowed the parties to argue their cases and then persuaded them to be sensible. Interacted well with our clients. Through pre-reading had a good grasp of the facts and issues and facilitated settlement. Ensured that the parties focussed on the weaknesses. Engaged with client / party. Played devil s advocate. Managed the exchange of information / arguments between the participants. Kept the pressure on to consider sensible offers of settlement. Direct, determined, energetic, careful. I have not come across a better conduct of a mediation and have no criticisms or suggestions to make at all. Excellent.

5 Mediation Cases - examples Charterparty general Charterparty dispute as to cargo damage / seaworthiness of vessel. Charterparty dispute between Owners and Charterers following explosion on ship damaging ship and cargo allegedly due to improper welding hotwork by Owners. Charterparty dispute between Owners and Charterers following grounding of ship in Suez Canal leading to repair and transhipment costs of oil cargo. Alleged grounding due to pre-existing steering failure amounting to unseaworthiness. Charterparty dispute as to general average claim following steering failure of vessel in ice. Argued that fixed deflection of rudder that developed was due to pre-existing damage rendering vessel unseaworthy. Charterparty dispute following grounding of vessel following steering failure. Alleged pre-existing damage and failure to provide proper manuals rendered vessel unseaworthy. Charterparty dispute following grounding of vessel in river Weser. Entitlement to claim general average disputed on basis that grounding due to vessel s unseaworthiness attributable to defects in CPP system and vessel not in such danger as to justify salvage claims. Charterparty dispute in respect of seizure of vessel by Somali pirates. Alleged that vessel should have taken a longer route to avoid risk area and negotiations for vessel s release not properly undertaken. Charterparty dispute as to reasonableness of vessel s passage plan, improper deviation and alleged unseaworthiness following vessel s grounding on uncharted rocks off Madagascar. Personal Injury Professional negligence claim against solicitor for failing to act properly in conducting claim for widow after ship-board fatality. Personal injury claim arising on fishing boat. Multi-million quantum dispute in respect of personal injury claim of seaman injured on board drill ship. Serious accident to crew member on racing yacht. Dispute as to entitlement of Owners to limit liability on basis Claimant was there for pleasure and not engaged under a contract of service. Collisions / allisions / groundings / general accident Collision between cross channel ferry and underwater chains of local chain ferry.

6 Collision at Le Havre. Dispute as to liability and quantum. Collision dispute as to quantum ($22m) on River Thames. Allision between ship and crane on jetty. Dispute as to liability of port operator for safety of navigation of approaches to port in South American river and arguments as to negligent navigation in respect of vessel s allision with terminal. Allision between ship and panamax crane in Thailand. Issues as to liability and also appropriate quantum given that damaged crane technically obsolete and was in fact replaced with a post panamax model. Dispute as to the grounding of a ship at port. Issues as to whether pre-existing damage and if not whether negligence in management of berth. Grounding of ship in river Pirana, Argentina. Alleged Owners at fault as vessel not carrying appropriate charts. Multiple claims against land based storage facility following serious damage to 26 yachts in a storm. Issues as to whether Act of God or attributable to defective cradles. Claim in respect of damage to tug falling off blocks in dry dock. Dispute as to both liability and quantum. Insurance coverage dispute in respect of Greek ferry which caught fire and became total loss on delivery voyage to Central America involving alleged non-disclosure / misrepresentation. Insurance coverage dispute in respect of alleged turbo-charger explosion on board ship. Issues as to possible fraud / negligence on part of claimants. Dispute following loss of fishing boat with all hands. Alleged failure by licensing authorities with regards to certification of vessel s stability without full inclining test. Counter alleged Owners had failed to heed warnings as regards vessel s stability. Yacht general Negligence claim against surveyor who had overseen construction of a yacht subsequently found to have major defects. Also dispute as to residual costs. Dispute following sinking of charter yacht. Allegedly due to defects of vessel but counter argument that yacht prematurely abandoned. Disputed claim by Owner of specialist racing yacht who alleged under performance of vessel was due to design defects and that the vessel he had had built was not fit for purpose.

7 Insurance dispute as to loss of yacht. Allegation of misrepresentation / breach of warranty, as skipper not properly qualified and vessel sailing outside permitted area. Salvage / Towage $41 million scopic salvage claim following grounding of vessel on the Island of Sakhalin. Dispute between American tug owner and Italian construction company as to interpretation of towcon towage contract following abandonment and subsequent salvage of tug and barges in tow. Goods / supply issues Dispute arising out of alleged late delivery of a jack up rig to South America. Dispute as to liability and quantum as to alleged shortfall upon delivery of bagged rice to Iraq and also rejection of part of cargo due to alleged moisture damage and fungus. Dispute as to exercise of lien of over cargo of steel products in storage due to insolvency of intermediary party. Dispute as to supply of bunker fuel to vessel. Alleged fuel off spec but countered that breakdown in fact due to pre-existing defective condition of vessel. Dispute as to liability between cargo owner and terminal operator following damage caused by leaking acetic acid. Other mediation experience Dispute as to entitlement of Devon and Scottish fisherman to exploit fishing grounds using different fishing methods. Settlement included an agreement to avoid any such further problems. Boundary dispute between farmer and garden centre operator. Probate dispute as to interpretation of will. Other experience in general legal practice Personal Injury shipboard accidents acting primarily for Defendant Insurers. Collisions, salvage, groundings, total losses and all maritime casualties. All aspects of fishing vessel operation and issues. Specialist advice on limitation of liability issues and involved in a number of cases.

8 Prosecution and defence of criminal cases including oil pollution, rabies and in particular offences arising under the Merchant Shipping Acts and subordinate legislation. Marine insurance disputes and particular involvement with issues relating to Protection and Indemnity Associations and their rules. Major involvement with towage and pilotage law and issues both on the Humber and elsewhere. Particular involvement with Ports and Harbours to include issues arising from Harbour Docks and Piers Clauses Act and Port Marine Safety Code and the Guide to Good Practice. Dealt with many cases involving accidents and incidents in Dock Waters. Close involvement with ferry industry acted for many years for North Sea Ferries Limited and also inland passenger vessel operation and accidents. Close involvement with Marine Accident Investigation Branch and in depth knowledge and advice given regarding their investigation rules and procedures. Close involvement with Marine Coastguard Agency, it s predecessors and successors. Specialist knowledge of MCA vessel certification to include safety and stability issues. Directly involved with implementation of Risk Assessment requirements with particular regard to fishing vessel, tug and passenger boat industries. Ship arrest work routinely undertaken. Has acted as arbitrator of collision cases. Has chaired Panels of Enquiry in respect of vessel casualties and claims against Mutual Insurers. Marine Debt Recovery work. Involved with technical disputes as to vessel construction and repair. For over 20 years an active member representing his firm at the London Admiralty Solicitors Group.