Laurence Harris

Laurence Harris acts for public and private companies, governments, public sector bodies and individuals in complex commercial, public law, fraud and asset tracing disputes. He has extensive experience of both English High Court and international arbitration proceedings under ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ad hoc rules. Laurence has had wide involvement in cross-border disputes, frequently involving fraud and asset tracing.

Laurence has been a solicitor-advocate since 2001, able to undertake advocacy in all English civil courts. He is admitted to the Turks & Caicos Islands bar for limited purposes. In October 2020 he was appointed by the Queen as a Recorder, a part time judicial appointment authorizing him to sit in criminal cases in the Crown Courts of England & Wales. 

He has been described variously by directories as 'outstanding', combining a 'relaxed style with terrier-like determination' and with ‘interviewees hailing his tenacity and intelligence – he gives clear, thoughtful advice.'

Laurence's recent work has included:

• Leading the team in one of the largest civil recovery programmes in the world in the Turks & Caicos Islands, involving an extensive number of cases, recovering thousands of acres of land and millions of dollars. The programme has included cases up to Privy Council level
• Advising a UK public company on a claim against a Contract Research Organisation involving a failed trial involving an allergy drug, with the case settling just before trial with a substantial payment to the client along with its costs of pursuing the litigation
• Advising clients in respect of issues arising out of a number of major product compliance cases, including two major rail crashes (one of which involved loss of life), and several other failures in respect of significant engineering and automotive products
• Advising a US public company on a dispute arising out of the termination of an international licensing and collaboration agreement of the development of a drug including a Phase 2 trial. The case involved obtaining a mandatory injunction in support of arbitration proceedings and obtaining a substantial judgment and damages for the client
• Leading teams on a number of international arbitrations under ICC, LCIA and UNCITRAL rules, involving complex contractual and commercial issues and very large claims for damages
• Carrying out a number of investigations and enquiries for clients. Those have recently included a detailed review of significant financial irregularities occurring in a business owned by a major publicly listed company; reviews of irregular overseas commission payments and advising a client on self-reporting to the Serious Fraud Office and managing the process of so-doing
• Leading a team assisting a major corporate client with the implementation of its FCPA compliance programme in Europe