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Nick Parker
Joint Managing Partner
About Nick
Nick Parker is a Partner, head of our highly regarded Dispute Resolution team, and a civil and commercial mediator.
Ranked as a leading individual in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for Dispute Resolution, Nick has extensive experience in a wide range of civil and commercial litigation disputes, including disputes of a significant value.
Nick regularly advises and acts for clients in contract disputes, warranty claims, public procurement, insurance disputes, shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, restrictive covenant disputes, intellectual property disputes and insolvency disputes. He acts for clients in court and arbitration proceedings.
Nick has been a Partner at Berry Smith since 1996. He holds a Masters degree in Advanced Litigation and sits as a Deputy District Judge. He is also an experienced trainer to legal professionals.
He is also a highly experienced mediator, having mediated several hundred cases across England and Wales in a wide range of civil and commercial disputes and for a variety of dispute values. He enjoys a national reputation for his mediation work and is also ranked in Chambers & Partners for his mediation work.
He accepts mediation appointments directly.
Nick is also a member of the Law Society’s Civil Justice Committee, which reviews and promotes improvements in civil litigation across England and Wales, and has been appointed as the Law Society of England & Wales representative to the Judicial ADR Liaison Committee, set up by the Civil Justice Council to consider the role of ADR in the civil justice system.
Specialist Areas:
- Commercial Litigation
- Mediation
Experience:
Nick has significant experience in dealing in civil and commercial disputes:
- Represented Nathan Cleverly, former World Champion boxer, in High Court litigation against his former promoter, Frank Warren.
- Advised and acted in various public procurement cases brought against government departments and local authorities challenging and defending the award of contracts following tender processes under the Public Contracts Regulations
- Representing insurance companies in litigation and arbitration proceedings
- Advised and represented a client affected by the fraud at the HBOS Impaired Assets Division in Reading
- A high value technical and contractual dispute in relation to a coal recovery project that resulted in a 10 week High Court trial
- Representation of a company during FCA investigation under the Competition Act 1998, including an extensive electronic disclosure process
- A contract dispute worth in the region of £3 million regarding product liability claim relating to the alleged supply of a high volume of defective goods
- Represented a firm of insolvency practitioners as liquidators of a company in liquidation in a claim against the former directors of the company
- Represented clients in numerous Intellectual Property disputes including patent disputes, design right, copyright and passing off issues including applications for injunctions and damages and proceedings in IPEC
- Numerous insolvency related cases including claims for misfeasance, wrongful and insolvent trading for insolvency practitioners and individuals
- Representing clients in cases brought for their disqualification of directors under the Directors Disqualification Act 1986
- A number of cases against former employees of companies who have set up in competition with their former employer in breach of restrictive covenants or common law duties resulting in injunctive proceedings to enforce contractual provisions and claims for damages
- Numerous partnership and shareholder disputes
Department: Dispute Resolution
Specialist Services
What people say about Nick
“Nick Parker regularly represents clients in contractual and shareholder disputes. Sources note his “very good commercial instinct” and describe him as ”excellent at managing clients’ expectations.”
“Clients describe Nick Parker as a “very good and very solutions-based” practitioner. He has significant experience acting on a variety of disputes including money recovery and contentious regulatory issues. He is also noted for his experience as a mediator.”
“Nick Parker is an excellent litigator who combines deep analytical powers, tactical dexterity and excellent people skills.”
“Nick offers excellent, well thought out advice and possesses extensive knowledge of the law.”
“He knows how to cut to a problem but is not inflammatory. He carefully considers the circumstance and tailors the argument appropriately to get to the solution.”
“Nick Parker deploys his deep but understated cerebral analysis to great effect across a broad sweep of commercial litigation making him an excellent choice for advice. Has a good understanding of commercial realities making him a hit with clients.”