HKA joined this UCL Faculty of Laws event to discuss damages calculation issues that lawyers may decide on in a case, from who the parties are onwards, and how these can dramatically change the result of damages calculation.
The session was chaired by UCL Faculty of Laws’ Martins Paparinskis with HKA’s Colin Johnson, Michael Laming and Rebecca Ruthven providing the main presentation, followed by commentary provided by Sebastian Blomeier of Munich Re.
Colin Johnson is a partner in HKA’s Forensic Accounting and Commercial Damages practice. He has over 30 years experience, initially in relation to major projects as legal and financial advisor, investment manager, board director and project director. He has acted in over 50 cases in investment treaty and commercial arbitration and national courts ranging up to US$50 billion in size and has given evidence 20 times across a range of sectors including oil and gas, power, telecoms, mining, transportation, construction, infrastructure and agriculture. His expert witness work is in relation to valuation, loss of profit, project finance and principally project viability.
Michael Laming is an Associate Director in HKA’s Forensic Accounting and Commercial Damages practice, and a Fellow of the ICAEW. He has over 10 years’ experience in forensic accounting and has acted as an expert in both national and international litigation and in commercial and investment treaty arbitration proceedings, giving evidence in national Courts and arbitration Tribunals both in the English and Spanish language. Michael specialises in valuations, the assessment/ quantification of damages and the analysis of complex accounting information. He has worked across a range of sectors, including transportation infrastructure and logistics, renewables, construction, manufacturing, finance, sports entertainment and TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications), amongst others.
Rebecca Ruthven is a qualified ICAEW chartered accountant and Senior Managing Consultant in HKA’s Forensic Accounting and Commercial Damages practice. She has over seven years’ experience in the financial industry advising on a range of cases including commercial disputes, including cross border disputes and arbitrations, investigations and valuations across several sectors. Her experience includes preparing expert witness reports and performing analysis and she has attended mediations and court and arbitration proceedings. Rebecca’s previous work experience includes working in audit at one of the big four accounting firms, gaining exposure to the technology, media and telecommunication industry sectors. Prior to this, she completed an industrial placement with the same firm as part of her degree within the Fraud Investigations and Dispute Services (FIDS) department. Sebastian Blomeier is a qualified English Solicitor who trained at Clyde & Co. Prior to starting his Training Contract, Sebastian read law at St Mary´s University and graduated from UCL with a LL.M degree. Since qualification, he has joined Munich Re as a claims manager, where he monitors and manages financial lines and property claims in Europe and Latin America. Further, Sebastian is a Visiting Fellow for insurance and arbitration law at St Mary´s University and is the founder of the Disputes Europe Latinamerica (“DELA”) network.
