Mathew Rea is a partner in the Commercial Litigation Client Service Group and International Arbitration team in London. He has practised law for more than 20 years handling commercial disputes, including extensive trial experience in the High Court and arbitrations in the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of Arbitration. In addition to significant litigation and arbitration experience, Mr. Rea also has counseled clients on risk management and alternative forms of dispute resolution.

His client work has had a particular focus on the commodities and financial services sectors as well as general contract and commercial disputes. Mr. Rea’s experience extends to commercial fraud claims, professional negligence disputes, company shareholder, joint venture and partnership disputes, and breach of trust claims.

Prior to joining Bryan Cave, Mr. Rea served as the Head of Commercial Litigation in London for Dawsons LLP. He had previously served as Managing Partner of that firm. Mr. Rea is a practising solicitor advocate and has acted as advocate before both the Courts and domestic and international arbitration tribunals. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Member of the London Court of International Arbitration, and a Member of the London Solicitors Litigation Association. He speaks fluent French and has written for legal journals and for The Times.

Mr. Rea is recommended as one of London's leading lawyers for international arbitration work in Chambers UK 2011.

Select Representations

Examples of Mr. Rea's experience include:

• Acting for the Claimants, Bulgarian and Luxembourg companies in a commercial dispute in the English High Court relating to the sale of shares in a Bulgarian satellite broadcaster. Claimants claim monies due under the SPA. Defendant counterclaims breach of warranty and misrepresentation. Achieved early strategic success striking out Defendant's misrepresentation claim (€8.5 million), in an important case signaling that the Commercial Court will take a commercial approach to the interpretation of entire agreement clauses seeking to limit or exclude liability for misrepresentation.
• Acting for a US client in UK High Court proceedings involving disputed early termination of a credit default swap agreement and issues of construction of ISDA documentation. Headline amount at stake $1.8 billion.
• Acting for Portuguese claimant in a Euro 2 million Swiss law ICC arbitration in Zurich arising out of a joint venture dispute.
• A high profile $1.6 billion multi-jurisdictional joint venture dispute in the LCIA in London relating to shareholdings in a metal production facility in Russia.
• Acting for a Russian distributor in Commercial Court proceedings seeking substantial damages and lost profits relating to wrongful termination of an exclusive distribution agreement relating to Russian, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
• A $12 million LCIA arbitration in London relating to shipments of metallurgical coke from China to India and issues of availability of appropriate Chinese export licenses.
• A $7 million ICC arbitration in Singapore concerning the supply of bulk shipment of coal from Indonesia.
• Acting for sellers under a share purchase agreement relating to satellite TV broadcasting in Eastern Europe in connection with a Euro 5 million claim and disputed breaches of warranties.

Bar and Court Admissions

England and Wales, 1991

Education

St Andrews University, B.Sc., 1981

Languages

French

Professional Affiliations

• Solicitor Advocate - Higher Courts (Civil Proceedings)
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Member of the London Court of International Arbitration
• Member of the London Solicitors Litigation Association