Teare J hands down judgment in Deripaska and Danilina v Chernukhin case

Judgment was handed down yesterday, Thursday 7 February by Teare J in the Deripaska and Danilina v Chernukhin case [2019] EWHC 173 (Comm), following a trial in November and December 2018. The case concerned a joint venture relating to a valuable development site in Moscow and a family assets claim brought by Ms Danilina. John Machell QC, James Weale and Stephanie Thompson (together with Jonathan Crow QC from 4 Stone Buildings and Counsel from Blackstone Chambers) acted for the successful defendants, instructed by Marie Berard of Clifford Chance.

Related Barristers

John Machell KC has a broad commercial chancery practice, with particular experience in large-scale litigation involving trusts, fiduciary/director duties, and fraud, particularly with an international dimension.

John is regarded as one of the leading partnership and LLP silks and has experience of a wide range of both contentious and non-contentious matters across the whole range of business sectors. A large part of his work involves issues arising from the use of partnerships and LLPs in hedge fund and private equity structures; in international commercial group structures; and as part of wealth planning strategies.

A substantial part of John’s practice is offshore, and he has appeared in the courts of Grand Cayman, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda on several occasions in recent years.

John Machell KC

Call: 1993
Silk: 2012

James Weale KC has a very busy commercial chancery practice with a focus on domestic and international commercial and trusts disputes.

He is recognised as a leading practitioner in those fields by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Chambers Global, Chambers High Net Worth, and Who’s Who Legal, where they describe him as a “brilliant lawyer” and a “Superstar”. He was Chambers & Partners’ Chancery Junior of the Year in 2023.

He regularly appears (both as sole and junior counsel) in the English High Court and has appeared several times in the Court of Appeal. He also has considerable experience in overseas jurisdictions (including as sole counsel), including Bermuda, the DIFC, the BVI, Cayman, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and Panama.