Anna Hoffmann
Call 2018
Instruct Anna
To instruct Anna please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7842 5555 or email clerks@4pumpcourt.com.
Anna Hoffmann has experience in a range of commercial and regulatory matters.
With a particular focus on shipping and shipbuilding, class actions, financial services and international arbitration.
She has a broad commercial practice and accepts instructions in all areas of Chambers’ work as well as in the area of public law and judicial review. She was instructed together with Lord Garnier QC on the prorogation case: R (on the application of Miller) v The Prime Minister [2019] UKSC 41. In 2020, she was on secondment for 3 months to SPG Law representing over 200,000 Brazilian Claimants in the largest class action ever brought in the UK.
Before coming to the Bar, Anna worked for Homburger, a leading international commercial law firm in Switzerland, where she focused on international arbitration. She speaks German on a native speaker level and has lived and worked in Germany while studying public policy. She also has roots and an interest in East Asia and has written about the Chinese renewable energy sector.
Anna’s recent experience includes:
- Commercial Disputes & Arbitration
- Public Law & Judicial Review
- Shipping & Shipbuilding
- Financial Services & Insurance
- Technology & Data Protection
- Conflict of Laws & Class Actions
Commercial Disputes & Arbitration
Anna has experience in a variety of commercial disputes and arbitrations.
Featured Commercial Disputes & Arbitration cases
Acted as sole counsel for the successful Sellers in an international arbitration (LME Rules) with a dispute value of c. £2.5m. The focus of the case was on the contractual force majeure provision. Secured full costs.
Haven Insurance Company Ltd v EUI Ltd [2019] Lloyd’s Rep IR 128, in the first appellate decision on the jurisdiction to extend time for bringing arbitral proceedings under s. 12 of the Arbitration Act 1996 in 16 years.
Instructed as sole counsel to advise and draft pleadings in a construction claim worth more than £100,000.
Assisted in a strike out application in a construction dispute representing a charity.
Assisted in an urgent interim application before the Commercial Court in relation to the setting aside/variation of an unless order and application for relief from sanctions.
Assisted in a construction dispute and trial under a JCT Design and Build Contract.
Public Law & Judicial Review
Anna was instructed with Lord Garnier QC on behalf of the Fourth Intervener, Sir John Major on the prorogation case: R (on the application of Miller) v The Prime Minister [2019] UKSC 41. In this case the Supreme Court held unanimously that the prorogation of Parliament in September 2019 had been unlawful, null and void.
Shipping & Shipbuilding
Anna has experience in a range of shipping disputes.
Featured Shipping & Shipbuilding cases
Silverburn Shipping Co IoM (Ltd) v Ark Shipping LLC (“The Arctic”) [2019] EWCA Civ 1161 (CA): Assisting for the owners on the status of the obligation to maintain classification certificates in the context of the termination of a 15-year bareboat charterparty.
Aprile SPA v Elin Maritime Ltd (“The Elin”) [2019] EWHC 1001 (Comm): Assisting James Leabeater QC in this case which establishes the proper interpretation of clauses in a bill of lading purporting to exclude damage “howsoever arising” in relation to deck cargo.
Assisted in an action for a major Chinese state-owned shipyard in a dispute arising out of the cancellation of an offshore accommodation unit by a leading international provider of offshore support services.
Assisted in an action that turned on time bars under the Hague-Visby Rules and the question of inordinate and inexcusable delay pursuant to section 41(3) of the Arbitration Act 1996.
Assisted in an action concerning damaged cargo and alleged inaccuracies in a bill of lading.
Wrote an advice that turned on the question of the precise meaning of estimated time of arrival vs expected readiness to load and the recent principles established in The Pacific Voyager.
Financial Services & Insurance
Featured Financial Services & Insurance cases
Assisted in considering policy coverage issues arising under a Financial Institutions insurance policy.
Assisted in an application for interim payments in a case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of contraventions of sections 19 and 21 of FSMA.
Assisted in considering whether the structure of a business constituted the regulated activity of consumer hire requiring authorisation.
Assisted in the preparation for a mediation of an insurance dispute concerning the origin and extent of water damage caused to a property by flooding.
Technology & Data Protection
Anna has experience in Chambers’ leading IT work, including drafting an advice on the delayed delivery and fitness for purpose of software. She is particularly interested in questions of data protection, privacy and the emerging field of AI regulation.
Featured Technology & Data Protection cases
Acted as sole counsel for the successful web design company in a dispute that focused on delivery of an IT project.
Anna’s first solo instructions turned on questions of data protection and data handling under the 1998 Data Protection Act. She successfully defended a global fashion retailer against allegations of breaching this Act.
Acted with a reference to the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) that included applications to anonymise the FCA register and prevent publication of the FCA decision notices pending determination of the reference. This involved a detailed analysis of the case law, FCA guidelines and principles such as open justice.
Conflict of Laws & Class Actions
Many of Anna’s cases involve an international element and therefore often jurisdictional questions. With her experience of working in different jurisdictions and her background in international law, she is well placed to deal with such matters.
Featured Conflict of Laws & Class Actions cases
Worked as a seconded barrister on Municipality of Mariana & oths v BHP, the largest class action ever filed in the UK, which involved difficult questions regarding jurisdiction within the Brussels recast regime. Closely worked with Brazilian lawyers, gaining experience in managing large multi-jurisdictional litigation.
Wrote Grounds of Appeal and a skeleton argument in a case concerning service of claim outside of jurisdiction.
Assisted in the preparation for enforcement proceedings of a New York Convention Award that included resisting an application to adjourn due to pending challenges to the arbitration award in the seat of the arbitration.
Won the BPP annual moot which focused on the Brussels recast regime.
Other
Anna is regularly instructed on matters in county courts across the country, including fast track trials, RTAs, disposal hearings, credit hire claims, Stage 3 hearings, interim applications and general contractual disputes. She has also successfully represented an estate agency against allegations of professional negligence. Anna successfully represented an insurance company in a credit hire case, where the Judge held that solicitors should put themselves outside the circle of influence, thereby disapproving of the practice that solicitors also operate the agency that provides a car on credit hire.
Anna conducts cases on a pro bono basis through Advocate and she teaches advocacy at Lincoln’s Inn to student barristers. She has been involved with the training of the Hertie School Jessup Mooting Team for the past four years.
Contact Tracing – The Ethical and Legal Issues
Anthony Speaight QC, Iain Munro and Anna Hoffmann Three members of chambers examine the ethical debate and legal...
Making a Career of IT
Anna Hoffmann reports on the SCL Junior Lawyers' Group meeting 'Making a Career of IT' hosted by 4 Pump Court on 22...
R (Miller) v the Prime Minister [2019] UKSC 41: An Unlawful Prorogation
On 24 September 2019, the Supreme Court handed down its unanimous judgment in R(Miller) v the Prime Minister [2019] UKSC...
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To instruct Anna please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7842 5555 or email clerks@4pumpcourt.com.
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