2008

• The partners are delighted to announce that Paul Crane has joined the partnership as from 1st April 2008. Paul joined Bentleys in 1999 and has since built a strong practice in dry shipping and personal injury matters.
  
  
  
• Joanna Steele was invited by the Propellor Club of the US in Monaco to attend their first event of 2008 as guest speaker. A lively discussion followed her talk entitled "Dispute Resolution Clauses: a contract repair kit or recipte for disaster?" in the delightful setting of the Automobile Club, Monte Carlo.
  
  

2007

• On 1st December 2007 it was announced that Geraint Powell would join the firm as an Assistant Solicitor from the beginning of 2008. Geraint previously worked for one of the large London shipping law firms and his practice has included the handling of liner claims and related issues.
  
  
  
• William Chetwood successfully completed a ship finance transaction involving the sale of a RoRo vessel in early November.
  
  
  
• Philip Gregson, who is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute, helped in the organisation of the "Pollution from Ships" seminar in Southampton on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th November run by the London Branch of the Nautical Institute.
  
  
  
• The 3rd Annual Claims Handling Seminar was again run in conjunction with Informa with the majority of the speakers being provided by Bentleys. This was a great success and copies of the papers are available on request.
  
  
  
• Simon Croall of Counsel presented a commentary on the recent Appeal Court decision on the "ACHILLEAS" to clients of the firm at a seminar held at Bentleys on 24th October 2007 which was followed by an animated discussion.
  
  
  
• Paul Crane spoke at the Perishable Products Seminar (15th and 16th October) for the second year running. Paul conducted a practical workshop on "Handling Damaged Goods" and spoke on two topics: "Carriage of Goods by Sea" and "Arbitration -v- Litigation".
  
  
  
• Carlo Sammarco has recently returned from a 5 week secondment in the defence department of a major off-shore P&I Club.
  
  
  
• Bentleys enjoyed a major success in September when the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the High Court and London Arbitrators' decisions in the "ACHILLEAS" to award damages to a shipowner for loss of profit resulting from late redelivery of a vessel under time charter.
  
  
  
• Bentleys were headline sponsors of the "4th International Marine Claims Conference", Malahide, Dublin 24th to 26th August.
  
  
  
• In July Ian Short joined the firm as an Assistant Solicitor. Ian has acquired considerable experience in dry shipping and ship finance matters.
  
  
  
• Michael Moon joined the Partnership in April after a varied career working as a Manager for a major P&I club, as a Partner in a Consultancy specialising in tanker disputes and as a Partner in a London shipping law firm specialising in dry shipping claims and disputes.