Seamus Smyth

Seamus Smyth is the Senior Partner of Carter Lemon Camerons LLP and he specialises in commercial litigation both through court and arbitration or alternative dispute resolution procedures.

Career highlights include:

1 ownership and libel litigation over artwork by Michelangelo

2 suing the South African police on behalf of a client for wrongful arrest

More recently, some of his most interesting work has been in the area of arbitration, particularly as to enforcement of arbitration awards. Seamus’s interest in and knowledge of detail in arbitration law is demonstrated and informed by his role as a visiting lecturer at London Metropolitan University teaching a post graduate arbitration course.

The questions Seamus is most often asked by clients are:

· how long will this take?

· how much will it cost? and

· will I/we win?

He is quite used to giving different answers to those questions for obvious reasons and while he possesses a crystal ball he is not trained in use of it to predict the future.

Born and educated in South Africa, Seamus was admitted as an attorney in South Africa in 1972 after graduating with a BA (English) and LLB; Seamus moved to England in 1974, was admitted as a solicitor in 1977 and graduated with an LLM (London) in 1978. In 1990 he obtained a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration (London).

His field is business-based litigation and arbitration covering a wide range of matters; he has the experience to handle most types of disputes faced by our clients in the UK or overseas. He has a strong connection with the legal profession in South Africa which he visits regularly.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (since 1991) and is currently Vice President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association and Chairman of the British South African Law Association. Seamus is also a trustee of the Michaelhouse UK Trust and Global Leadership Foundation (UK).

When the practice and his family permit it, he is a keen golfer and cricketer.