Gopi Binning – Director

PROFILE

Gopi is a dispute resolution lawyer with experience of advising clients through all stages of the dispute resolution process and on the use of ADR, typically mediation. He frequently acts for corporate clients and high net worth individuals in High Court proceedings and arbitrations, often with an international focus.

Gopi has acted on a wide range of complex and multi-jurisdictional contentious matters, including banking and finance disputes, director’s duties and shareholder disputes and general commercial litigation. His practice has a particular focus on commercial fraud, from which he has gained extensive experience of advising clients on freezing orders and other forms of interim relief, including most recently an application for a Norwich Pharmacal Order in relation to a major cryptocurrency fraud.  He has also been actively involved with advising clients on pursuing claims in relation to the much publicised HBOS Reading Fraud.

Gopi read law at Manchester University and completed his LPC at Kaplan Law School in 2011. Prior to joining DS Law in 2015, Gopi trained and qualified at Ince & Co LLP, where his practice encompassed commercial fraud, shipping and offshore energy litigation.

Gopi is a member of the LCIA’s Young International Arbitration Group,the Young Fraud Lawyers Association and ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE.

WHAT THE LEGAL 500 SAYS

“Gopi is impressive with his detailed knowledge and understanding of the many complex facts, dates and implications of my case. He is thorough, structured in his thinking and very well organised”.

EXPERIENCE

Examples of recent work include:

Commercial fraud 

• Representing two Ukrainian oil trading companies in an arbitration and a related High Court application for a worldwide freezing order arising out of a claim by a major Russian oil trader for the recovery of monies which were said to be owing under a joint venture agreement between the parties for the import and sale of oil and other products into the Ukraine.
• Advising and representing victims of the infamous HBOS Reading/Quayside Corporate Services scandal arising out of the fraud that was perpetrated between 2002 and 2007 by Lynden Scourfield and others on numerous SMEs who had been transferred to the “higher risk” division of HBOS.
• Advising a prominent UK property developer in his defence of Commercial Court proceedings and a related worldwide freezing injunction involving allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation and contempt.
• Advising Belgian clients in an application against a major international bank for Norwich Pharmacal disclosure relief in support of proceedings to recover €1 million following a crypto-currency ICO fraud involving a well-known telecoms company.
• Advising a Russian state-owned entity in relation to significant claims against the former general manager of its UK operations, Venezuelan and Russian businessmen and their associated companies in relation to allegedly fraudulently concluded contracts and the payment of secret commissions.

Commercial Litigation and Banking Disputes

• Advising one of the UK’s leading specialists in the sale, purchase and management of ground rent portfolios, in a multi-million claim against a major UK bank arising out of the alleged misselling of 26 separate interest rate swaps.
• Advising two “Class X” noteholders in their claims against the Issuer, the Note Trustee and the Cash Manager of a commercial mortgage-backed securitisation (“CMBS”) for the recovery of significant underpayments of Class X interest over many years.

• Advising a European private bank in a dispute with a provider of accounting software for the execution of futures and other electronic trade transactions.
• Representing the former shareholders of a market leading insurance company in relation to a dispute concerning the deferred consideration payable by a buyer under a share purchase agreement.
• Advising a leading housewares supplier on the termination of a cross border agency relationship.
• Advising a South African high net worth individual on the recovery of substantial sums loaned for the purposes of various property development projects.