Gerald Cooke - Senior Partner
Gerald Cooke, senior founder member of Cooke, Young & Keidan, specialises in international and domestic commercial litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution. His wide-ranging expertise includes insurance, contract, trade, maritime and tort disputes. He has been recommended by 'The Legal 500' in both the commercial litigation and commodities disputes categories.
Gerald has acted for over 30 years for a diverse range of major commercial entities, Plcs, insurers and State entities. His expertise is in disputes ranging from insurance coverage (particularly political risk, contract frustration and trade credit), the sale, purchase and carriage of a broad range of commodities, maritime and trade disputes, ship-building and derivative disputes involving metals and freight futures to company, general commercial and shareholder disputes. He has acted on and managed a variety of cases relating to sovereign debt trading.
Gerald represents insurers in the London market especially in the area of political risk and trade credit. He has acted in reinsurance disputes for ceding underwriters on marine cargo and bankers blanket bond policies.
He has acted (and continues to act) in a variety of high-value LCIA, LMAA and other arbitrations. These range from disputed insurance claims to disputes between traders, carriers and manufacturers in relation to the export and import of commodities, bulk components and in acting in arbitrations under trade organization terms (e.g. GAFTA) and cargo claims.
Gerald’s non-contentious assignments include ship sale and purchase, drafting standard wordings for contracts of affreightment and the drafting of the first fixed premium rules for a P&I and Defence insurer in the London market. He advised on the establishment of a new maritime code for a CIS republic and on a variety of issues relating to the transformation and privatisation of the former state fleet of that country.
Background
Gerald graduated from the Universities of Natal (BA) and Witwatersrand (LLB). He qualified in South Africa in 1975 and in England and Wales in 1980. He became a partner specialising in maritime law at Hill Dickinson & Co and thereafter joined Baker & McKenzie where he was a partner for 18 years. He founded Masseys in 2004 and co-founded Cooke, Young & Keidan at the beginning of 2009. Gerald has lectured on all aspects of international sales and trade and has spoken at various seminars and conferences on several aspects of shipping and trade.
Professional Groups
Gerald is a member of the London Maritime Arbitration Association, the Law Society and is a freeman of the City of London Solicitors Company.
