Nico LESLIE

Nico is described as “an outstanding commercial junior, who is ferociously bright and extremely tenacious” (The Legal 500). He is frequently instructed in some of the most significant commercial litigation both in England and internationally.

Nico has a broad practice encompassing all aspects of commercial litigation and arbitration, and is recognised in the legal directories as a Leading Junior in the fields of Banking & Finance, Civil Fraud, Commercial Litigation, Insolvency, Offshore, Professional Negligence and Art & Cultural Property. He was named the ‘Banking & Finance Junior of the Year’ by Chambers & Partners in 2022 (having been nominated for the same award in 2020) and was nominated as ‘Professional Negligence Junior of the Year’ by The Legal 500 in 2023. Previously, he was named as one of the top ten Commercial Litigation juniors in London under eight years’ call (2017, 2018) and was identified as one of ten future “Stars at the Bar” by Legal Week.

Many of Nico’s cases involve an international element, and he has particular experience of litigation in offshore jurisdictions (Bermuda, BVI, Cayman and St Lucia) and the Middle East (ADGM and DIFC). He has extensive experience of litigation in Hong Kong and Singapore, and has received a limited registration to appear in the Singapore International Commercial Court. Nico has also acted in numerous international arbitrations, particularly under LCIA, SIAC, ICSID, UNCITRAL and ad hoc rules. He accepts instructions in French, Italian, Croatian/Serbian and Spanish, and is comfortable working in each of those languages.

Nico has a special expertise in assignment, having co-authored with the Honourable Mr Justice Marcus Smith one of the leading texts in the area: The Law of Assignment, (OUP), now in its third edition. He has acted, both led and unled, in some of the most significant assignment-related cases of recent years.