Privy Council

Blake Morgan has a long and distinguished record of acting as Privy Council agent, conducting appeals and applications to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Privy Council is the court of final appeal for UK overseas territories and Crown dependencies as well as certain Commonwealth countries and republics.

The team has unparalleled experience and expertise of helping law firms and their clients bring their appeals to the Privy Council. The team are experts at the rules and procedures specific to the Privy Council. They will guide you seamlessly through the process with strategic advice, allowing local attorneys and Counsel to focus on the substance of the appeal.

The Blake Morgan Privy Council team has acted as Privy Council agent for appeals from a multitude of jurisdictions in recent years including British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla, St Kitts & Nevis, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and Mauritius.

The team offers vast experience in Privy Council appeals. The team includes specialist Privy Council agents, international commercial litigators, the former Registrar of the Privy Council and UK Supreme Court and those admitted in both the BVI and Trinidad & Tobago.

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Main Areas Of Practice

Full appeals to the Privy Council

Blake Morgan is regularly instructed by leading offshore law firms and overseas attorneys on appeals to the Privy Council where permission has already been granted by the local court or you have an appeal “as of right”. We help you take the case forward from Notice of Appeal through to the final hearing, masterminding the process and providing strategic and commercial guidance throughout.

Applications for Permission to Appeal

Blake Morgan is also regularly instructed to advise on appeals where you do not have permission from your local court of appeal already. We provide overseas attorneys with the process, procedure and strategy to assist your application for permission to appeal to be heard promptly and, if permission is granted, we can then support you seamlessly with moving on to the full appeal process.

Costs Recovery in Privy Council appeals

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council regularly awards costs to the successful party, whether in full appeals or applications for permission to appeal. We have a plethora of experience supporting overseas attorneys law firms and clients with the costs recovery process including preparing Bills of Costs, negotiating settlement and/or proceeding to a full costs assessment hearing. We work, working with our recommended specialist costs lawyers as appropriate. We have recently obtained some very substantial orders for costs as well as interim payment orders.

Our clients and cases

Our clients are mostly overseas attorneys/law firms operating in Privy Council jurisdictions across the world. We also accept direct instructions for appropriate cases. We regularly work with several leading international and offshore law firms who have appeals to the Privy Council. We also work with smaller law firms handling their first appeal to the Privy Council. Our end clients range from individuals to multinational corporations.

We deal with all types of civil appeals to the Privy Council including commercial and corporate claims, trust and insolvency disputes, judicial review, employment claims, property disputes, even matrimonial disputes.

Highlights

Acting for Mr Chad Holm in successfully defending a multi-million dollar appeal by Sancus Financial Holdings in the British Virgin Islands regarding an alleged oral contract to obtain a corporate interest and thereafter obtaining an order for an interim payment for costs and a substantial order for costs.

Acting for Global Skynet in obtaining an order dismissing appeal from the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Anguilla) regarding ownership of an Anguillan company and a plot of land in Israel owned by it.

Acting for the successful appellant Kwok Kin Kwok in an appeal from the British Virgin Islands regarding a petition for Unfair Prejudice, and thereafter obtaining an order for an interim payment for costs and a substantial order for costs.

Acting for Multibank FX in a successful application for permission to appeal to the Privy Council in its long running dispute with Von der Heydt Invest SA.

Acting for Aareal Bank in its successful defence of an application for permission to appeal from Guernsey.

Acting for Mauritius Commercial Bank in an appeal from the Supreme Court of Mauritius by Robert Lesage.

Acting for Broad Idea International in successfully defending an appeal by Convoy Collateral from the British Virgin Islands: the landmark “Black Swan” appeal was heard by a full board of 7 Justices and heralded a new test for granting injunctions.