David Dearman

David is one of the leading testifying experts in the UK with over 25 years of experience in preparing expert reports and giving oral evidence in complex international disputes, including asset expropriation, contractual, warranty and post transaction disputes, damages and loss assessments, technical accounting disputes, professional negligence actions, and complex valuations, and fraud, money laundering and other financial investigations. He has given oral evidence on more than 35 occasions in the High Court and the Criminal Courts in the UK, before the CAT, and at International Arbitration tribunals globally. He has acted in UNCITRAL, ICSID, ICC, LCIA, SIAC, DIFC, ICDR, and AAA proceedings, preparing expert reports and giving oral evidence at hearings in the UK, the U.S., Dubai, Paris, Singapore, the Hague, and Ireland.

Prior to joining Ankura, David was a partner for 18 years in two substantial audit, accountancy, and business advisory practices. Most recently, he was global Co-Chair of the Forensic and Investigation Services team at a substantial international firm, a member of the firm’s Governance Council, and Chair of the firm’s Insurance Committee.

David’s professional experience includes:

• Instructed as quantum expert on behalf of the claimant in the matter of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited and (1) KI Holdings Co Ltd (2) Asia Fleet Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd 2015] EWHC 1250 (Comm). Oral evidence given in the High Court in London.
• Instructed as accountancy expert on behalf of the Respondent in the matter of Triumph Controls UK Ltd and Another v Primus International Holding Co and Others [2018] EWHC 176 (TCC). Oral evidence given in the High Court in London.
• Instructed as quantum expert on behalf of the Respondent in the matter of Aircraft Purchase Fleet Limited v Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.P.A. (formerly known as C.A.I. Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.P.A. and as Alitalia – Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.P.A. [2018] EWHC 3315 (Comm). Oral evidence given in the High Court in London.
• Acting for a Scandinavian football and sports media rights agent, in a dispute with a former business partner over the amounts invested in a complex group of companies in Germany, Scandinavia, the UK, and the Channel Islands. His work entailed a detailed forensic analysis of the amounts invested, salaries, loan transactions, and other distributions from the companies to which the parties were contractually entitled. The matter was to be heard in the High Court in the UK, but the matter settled following the submission of David’s analysis.
• Acting for a major high street sports retailer in the UK in various contractual disputes with a leading European football club over the sale of replica football kit and associated merchandising products and sponsorship. The retailer held the exclusive right to sell the shirts, a right which was allegedly breached by the club. David’s work focused on an analysis of the losses suffered by the retailer and the associated counterclaim by the club that financial information provided in accordance with the contract was deficient.
• Acting for a sports organization in a claim against the manufacturer and distributor of grey market replica sports brand products which the client held the exclusive European retail and distribution rights to. David’s work focused on a forensic analysis of the sales made and the losses suffered by the client. The matters settled following the submission of his analysis.
• Instructed as accountancy expert on behalf of the Claimant in the matter of Harlequin Property (SVG) Ltd and Another v Wilkins Kennedy [2016] EWHC 3233 (TCC). Oral evidence given in the High Court in London.
• Acted as quantum expert on behalf of the Claimant in the matter of BV Nederlandse Industrie van Eiprodukten v Rembrandt Enterprises, Inc. [2019] EWCA Civ 596. Oral evidence given in the High Court in London.
• Instructed on behalf of the Claimants to act as accountancy expert in the matter of Joint Stock Company (Aeroflot – Russian Airlines v Boris Berezovsly and Others [2017] EWHC 150 (Ch) to investigate allegations of fraudulent misappropriation of funds.
• Instructed as accountancy expert on behalf of the claimant in a BIT claim brought under UNCITRAL rules for the unlawful expropriation of a gold mine in an eastern European state. Oral evidence was given before the Tribunal in Paris.
• Instructed as expert for the Respondent corporation in a BIT claim under UNCITRAL rules, defending claims brought by an Eastern European state that alleged contracts for the sale of oil and gas were procured through bribery. Oral evidence was given in Washington DC on two separate occasions on the commercial rationale for the payments and the contractual relationship between the parties.
• Instructed as accountancy expert for the Respondent state in a BIT arbitration under UNCITRAL rules defending claims by a UK VC of breach of warranty, fraud, and misrepresentation on the privatization of a major infrastructure EPC contractor. Expert evidence was given on the acquisition process, due diligence competed and the value and causes of insolvency of the acquired business. Oral evidence was given in the Hague.
• Instructed as quantum expert in an ICC arbitration relating to a Spanish mining operation. The dispute centered on the allegedly invalid termination of a 30-year joint venture agreement between the parties. Oral evidence was given in June 2020 in a virtual hearing.
• Instructed on behalf of the Claimant, an airline in the Far East, to act as quantum expert in a contractual dispute with a provider of MRO services heard at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Oral evidence was given in Singapore.
• Instructed as quantum expert on behalf of the Respondent in a BIT expropriation claim under ICSID rules brought against a Middle Eastern state by a private airline charter company. Gave oral evidence before the Tribunal in June 2017 in London and June 2019 in Paris.