Profile

Rhys specialises in insurance and reinsurance, maritime fraud, carriage of goods and transportation. His core expertise is in marine hull and war claims, for example those arising from seizure, detention, fire, explosion, and structural failure. His wide-ranging work has concerned protection and indemnity insurance, energy, specie, political violence, land-based war, terrorism at sea, the theft of gold and diamonds, a catalogue of detentions, kidnap and ransom by Somali pirates, and most recently the huge claims for aviation losses arising from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. He has travelled widely in Europe, North and South America, Africa and the Maghreb, the Middle East and Far East.

The Legal 500 reports that Rhys ‘has decades of experience in insurance and particularly marine insurance. He has some of the most interesting cases in the market. His technical knowledge and understanding of principles of insurance is second to none, and far superior to that of partners at other comparable firms. He is also extremely committed and dedicated to his clients, frequently working around the clock to get the job done.’ ‘[Rhys] has enormous experience and is a shrewd and highly competent litigator, a real force to be reckoned with, and a veteran of some huge cases particularly in the marine sector.’

Rhys is a highly regarded public speaker and has spoken at a huge range of public and private forums, including at LMAc, LSLC, BILA, CII, CESAM, CMAP, CMI, USMLA, IADC, AAA (US and UK), IUMI and IMCC. He is the principal architect of and co-author in Alternative Dispute Resolution in Practice (Institute of Insurance, London), 2011. His articles and papers have been widely published and republished. Certain papers of his on mediation have been (re)published in multiple languages.