Emmanuel Sheppard

Emmanuel acts in commercial arbitrations and arbitration related court applications as well as advising on investor-state claims.

Emmanuel’s arbitration experience includes:

• Junior counsel in a hotel dispute concerning an alleged sham transaction in the DIFC (2023)
• Junior counsel in a dispute concerning breach of warranty under an SPA under LCIA rules (2022).
• Junior counsel in an arbitration under LCIA rules concerning allegations revenue suppression by a hotel operator in a long running dispute with the franchise owner (2021).
• Junior counsel in a three-day arbitration under LCIA rules to determine whether the claimant could imply a termination right into a series of long-running hotel franchise contracts (2019).
• Junior counsel for the claimant in a £33.7m claim for breach of contract – four day hearing under LCIA rules (2019).
• Junior counsel in a one-day preliminary hearing to determine the contractual rights of a party seeking to terminate under LCIA rules (2019).
• Advising on options for resisting enforcement of an investment treaty arbitral award allegedly obtained by fraud.
• Providing public international law advice for an environmentalist group in a West African state which was challenging a large infrastructure project on environmental grounds.
• Advising in several anti-suit injunctions.
• Advising on prospects in relation to investor state arbitrations.
• As a judicial assistant: Belhaj and another v Straw and others [2017] 2 W.L.R. 456 concerning the ambit of the foreign act of state doctrine and indirect impleader in state immunity.
• As a judicial assistant: Rahmatullah v Ministry of Defence and another [2017] 2 W.L.R. 287 concerning the doctrine of Crown act of state.

In 2018, Emmanuel was seconded to the litigation funder Augusta Ventures where he advised on bilateral investment treaty claims.

Emmanuel’s litigation practice includes:

• Junior counsel in a case concerning alleged fraudulent conduct and bribery in the classification of waste (2024-).
• Junior counsel acting for a major Middle East bank in a multi-billion dollar fraudulent trading claim arising from the NMC Healthcare insolvency (2023-4).
• Junior counsel in a challenge under SAMLA to sanctions imposed on a shipping company under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, before Johnson J (2024)
• Junior counsel in a claim for supply of defective PPE (2023-).
• Advising policyholders on business interruption claims arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic before and in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment in The Financial Conduct Authority v Arch [2021] A.C. 649.
• HMAG v BBC [2022] EWHC 380 (QB) – junior for the claimant in seeking an injunction for breach of confidence, led by James Eadie KC and Oliver Sanders KC.
• Skatteforvaltningen v Solo Capital Partners [2020] EWHC 2022 (Comm) – acting for a group of parties defending a £1.5bn claim brought by Danish authority, Skatteforvaltningen (‘SKAT’), against 38 defendants in the Commercial Court.
• Advising on the issue of legal privilege in regulatory investigations in the Vincent Tchenguiz & Ors v Grant Thornton litigation (2018).
• The Libyan Investment Authority v Société Générale & Ors (2017) – as a junior on the main counsel team led by Adrian Beltrami KC acting for Société Générale in one of The Lawyer’s ‘Top 10 Cases of 2017’. The Libyan sovereign wealth fund alleged that investments in structured products totalling circa USD 2bn were procured by bribery and the exertion of undue influence on its executives in Gaddafi-era Libya. The claim was settled in the first week of an eleven-week trial in the Commercial Court.
• Acting for the appellant in the Appeal of AHAB v SICL (Cayman Islands) regarding the first instance application of the illegality defence to the allegations of fraud post-Patel v Mirza.
• Instructed by Slaughter and May on the counsel team to the skeleton argument in a billion-dollar commercial dispute involving allegations of defamation, conspiracy and fraud.
• Assisting in an appeal to the Supreme Court in a PPI and consumer credit matter concerning undisclosed commission.
• As a judicial assistant: the Supreme Court decision of Belhaj and another v Straw and others [2017] 2 W.L.R. 456 concerning the ambit of the foreign act of state doctrine and indirect impleader in state immunity.
• As a judicial assistant: the Supreme Court decision of Rahmatullah v Ministry of Defence and another [2017] 2 W.L.R. 287 concerning the doctrine of Crown act of state.

As a Judicial Assistant to the Supreme Court, Emmanuel also worked on the following commercial law cases:

• Patel v Mirza [2016] 3 W.L.R. 399 which restated the test for the illegality defence.
• Willers v Joyce [2016] 3 W.L.R. 477 on the liability for maliciously prosecuting a civil claim.
• Versloot Deredfging v HDI Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG [2016] 3 W.L.R. 543 on the application of the fraudulent claim rule to a fraudulent device in an insurance claim.

Emmanuel is on the SFO’s B Panel and acts for the SFO in forfeiture proceedings. His civil fraud practice includes:

• Junior counsel in a case concerning alleged fraudulent conduct and bribery in the classification of waste (2024-).
• Junior counsel acting for a major Middle East bank in a multi-billion dollar fraudulent trading claim arising from the NMC Healthcare insolvency (2023-4).
• Acting for the defendant in a multi-million-pound claim concerning an alleged sham transaction (2022-3)
• Acting for the defendant in proceedings brought by the GFSC concerning a large-scale fraudulent investment scheme in Guernsey (2021-2).
• Skatteforvaltningen v Solo Capital Partners [2020] EWHC 2022 (Comm) – acting for a group of parties defending a £1.5bn claim brought by Danish authority, Skatteforvaltningen (‘SKAT’), against 38 defendants in the Commercial Court.
• The Libyan Investment Authority v Société Générale & Ors (2017) – as a junior on the main counsel team led by Adrian Beltrami KC acting for Société Générale in one of The Lawyer’s ‘Top 10 Cases of 2017’. The Libyan sovereign wealth fund alleged that investments in structured products totalling circa USD 2bn were procured by bribery and the exertion of undue influence on its executives in Gaddafi-era Libya. The claim was settled in the first week of an eleven-week trial in the Commercial Court.
• Acting for the appellant in the Appeal of AHAB v SICL (Cayman Islands) regarding the first instance application of the illegality defence to the allegations of fraud post-Patel v Mirza.
• Instructed by Slaughter and May on the counsel team to the skeleton argument in a billion-dollar commercial dispute involving allegations of defamation, conspiracy and fraud.

Emmanuel acts in financial regulatory matters. He was seconded to the PRA’s enforcement and litigation division in the Bank of England (2019) where he focused on various matters from money laundering and bribery regulations to regulatory reporting. He worked on the investigation which resulted in the PRA fining Citigroup Inc’s UK operations £44m for regulatory reporting failures.

His regulatory and financial services work includes:

• NCA v Hao [2024] EWHC 2240 (Admin) – junior counsel defending a disclosure order, led by Andrew Sutcliffe KC.
• Acting for the FCA and PRA in a large enforcement action concerning conduct which took place in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis (2022).
• Acting for the defendant in proceedings brought by the GFSC concerning a large-scale fraudulent investment scheme in Guernsey (2021-2).
• Frensham v The Financial Conduct Authority [2021] UKUT 0222 (TCC) concerning the topical question of regulatory action for conduct outside the professional sphere.
• Re Comet Group Ltd (In Liquidation) [2020] EWHC 131 (Ch) – acting for the Insolvency Service as intervener on an application to lift a confidentiality regime designed to protect those cooperating with investigators.
• Advising the Bank of England on the impact of Brexit on aspects of financial service regulations.
• Acting for the Insolvency Service in seeking to maintain the confidentiality of parts of a judgment and witness statement which cited an Investigation conducted by BIS under s447 of the Companies Act 2005.
• Assisting in an appeal to the Supreme Court in a PPI and consumer credit matter concerning undisclosed commission.

Emmanuel acts for claimants and defendants in human rights and public law matters. He is a member of the Attorney General’s C-Panel where his work covers national security and extremism:

• R(L1T FM Holdings UK) v Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office [2024] A.C.D. 22 – junior for the defendant in a judicial review of the decision to require LetterOne to divest all shareholding under the National Security and Investment Act 2021.
• Beth v Security Service [2024] UKIPTrib 3 – junior in ongoing matter before the IPT concerning alleged misconduct by an alleged MI5 CHIS (led by Neil Sheldon KC and Jennie Thelen).
• R (Craighead) v Defence Secretary [2023] EWHC 2413 (Admin) – junior for the defendant in a judicial review challenge brought by a former member of UKSF against a block on his memoir.
• R (Craighead) v Defence Secretary [2023] EWHC 1804 (Admin) – junior for the defendant, open justice and private hearings.
• Attorney General v BBC [2022] EWHC 826 (QB) – junior for the claimant seeking an injunction for breach of confidence in a national security/ extremism context and to protect the rights of an individual under Articles 2, 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (instructed by GLD, led by James Eadie KC and Oliver Sanders KC).
• Attorney General v BBC [2022] EWHC 380 (QB) and Attorney General v BBC [2022] 4 W.L.R. 74 (open justice and private hearings).
• HMAG v BBC [2022] EWHC 380 (QB) – junior for the claimant in seeking an injunction for breach of confidence in a national security/ extremism context and to protect the rights of an individual under Articles 2, 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (instructed by GLD, led by James Eadie KC and Oliver Sanders KC).
• Acting for the Home Office and Ministry of Justice in the Inquests arising out of the Fishmongers Hall Terrorist Attack (2021).
• Acting for the National Probation Service in the Inquests arising out of the Streatham High Street Terrorist Attack (2021).
• Pal v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2018] EWHC 2988 (QB) – acting on an appeal for the claimant in a dispute concerning the lawfulness of her arrest for harassment for online speech in light of Article 10 of the ECHR.
• Acting for GLD on the Lord Harris Review concerning self-inflicted deaths in prison.

As a Judicial Assistant to the Supreme Court, Emmanuel worked on the following public law cases:

• Belhaj and another v Straw and others [2017] 2 W.L.R. 456 concerning the ambit of the foreign act of state doctrine and indirect impleader in state immunity.
• Al-Waheed v Ministry of Defence [2017] UKSC 2 about the application of art. 5(1) of the ECHR to a power of detention in a non-international armed conflict.
• Rahmatullah v Ministry of Defence and another [2017] 2 W.L.R. 287 concerning the doctrine of Crown act of state.

Emmanuel is also instructed by GLD in employment related matters.