Kajetan Wandowicz

Instruct Kajetan

To instruct Kajetan please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7842 5555 or email clerks@4pumpcourt.com.

Kajetan is an in-demand junior who employs his substantial work capacity to maintain a broad litigation and arbitration practice across all areas of commercial law. He focuses particularly on general commercial disputes, fraud, shipping, insurance, banking and financial services, construction projects arbitration, professional negligence, and gambling sector disputes.

Apart from working as a junior (both as the only junior and in larger teams), Kajetan receives a significant volume of instructions on his own, often handling cases beyond his level of call for a growing number of repeat professional clients. He has undertaken a variety of advocacy, drafting and advisory work in various tribunals, including a number of unled appearances in the High Court.

From January to March 2021, Kajetan was a full-time Judicial Assistant in the Commercial Court and the Financial List, where he assisted judges at trials and other hearings.

Before coming to the Bar, Kajetan ran a small consultancy, working on the application of decision-making games such as chess to thinking processes in education, business and rehabilitation of prisoners.

Commercial Disputes

Kajetan regularly advises on and acts in general commercial disputes, both as a junior and as sole counsel. He has worked for a full range of commercial clients: corporations, SMEs, joint ventures, public authorities, company directors, and UHNW individuals.

He has experience of disputes governed by civil law, as well as of disputes straddling multiple actions proceeding in different jurisdictions, onshore (New York, Switzerland, India, California, UAE) and offshore (Channel Islands, BVI, DIFC, ADGM). He frequently advises on strategy and procedure.

During the Hilary term 2021 (January to March), Kajetan worked as a full-time Judicial Assistant in the Commercial Court and the Financial List. In that capacity, he assisted judges on a number of trials and applications, in particular gaining deep understanding of commercial fraud and various economic torts. In particular, he was a judicial assistant to Cockerill J on Leeds v Barclays [2021] EWHC 363 (Comm) (a LIBOR-related fraud claim and a significant case in the law of misrepresentation), to Jacobs J on GDS v NCR [2021] EWHC 1119 (Comm) (a claim raising all major economic torts), and to Bryan J on Lakatamia Shipping Co Ltd v Su & Ors [2021] EWHC 1907 (Comm) (unlawful means conspiracy).

Kajetan enjoys working in large teams on 9- and 10-figure disputes, and quickly integrates into the team.

Featured Commercial Disputes cases

Secondment to a leading solicitors’ firm on a $1bn+ multi-jurisdictional fraud dispute.

Junior counsel in an ongoing Commercial Court dispute between a holder of a demand bond and a bank in respect of delays in payment.

Sole counsel in a Circuit Commercial Court dispute between a fulfilment company and a large online retailer in respect of freight forwarding services.

Sole counsel for the sellers in a dispute about the sale of a valuable classic car.

Advised a local authority on clawing back wrongly claimed COVID-19 business support grants.

Advised a company director on an appeal in respect of a judgment on a personal guarantee.

Advised a large NHS Trust on defending a claim (alleged to be worth over £600,000) by a company providing television and telephone services to patients at wards.

Assisted with a Commercial Court litigation between 5 HNW Russian businessmen in respect of an alleged $6m oral contract.

Assisted with a rectification claim in respect of aviation fuel supply agreements.

Assisted with a claim by a major insurer against a coverholder in respect of risks which it was alleged the coverholder should not have written.

Assisted with an arbitration between two major insurers concerning which of the two insurers is liable to meet a multi-million personal injury damages judgment.

Injunctions, civil fraud, asset recovery

Kajetan has experience of commercial fraud disputes and related matters such as freezing orders and other injunctions, contempt of court, disclosure orders, the Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust jurisdictions, orders under the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act 1879, enforcement of judgments, etc. He also has substantial experience for his level of call of injunctive relief as sole counsel, including urgent overnight advice.

Kajetan also has experience of advising on and acting in matters where fraud or allegations of fraud affect the process of the court itself rather than being the subject of the dispute. Examples include mortgage repossession proceedings in which a Court order had been obtained by a third party impersonating a barrister, and proceedings between a solicitors’ firm and a client concerning the solicitors’ handling of litigation where the client purported to give authority to verify his pleadings to a person whose admitted fraud was an issue in that earlier litigation.

Featured Injunctions, civil fraud, asset recovery cases

Secondment to a leading solicitors’ firm on a $1bn+ fraud dispute across multiple jurisdictions.

Acted as sole counsel for an individual trying to recover money lost to a cross-border internet fraud perpetrated by unknown defendants, including obtaining a freezing injunction against Persons Unknown in the Chancery Division, and acting in the successful substantive claim.

Advised on contempt of court in relation to a defendant’s compliance with an order for disclosure of assets.

Various Norwich Pharmacal/Bankers Trust applications.

Advised a firm of solicitors on an urgent freezing injunction application against a former client.

Advised a holiday park operator on applications for interim and final injunctions brought by an owner of a number of holiday homes located on the park.

Assisted with a successful application for an anti-suit injunction restraining threatened Russian proceedings in breach a London arbitration clause.

High-stakes consumer disputes

In addition to disputes between businesses, Kajetan has built up significant experience of advising and acting for businesses on high-risk disputes with consumers requiring delicate strategy and difficult judgement calls, e.g. disputes giving rise to risk of regulatory action and/or carrying adverse media interest. He regularly advises and acts for clients operating in regulated sectors, such as banks and gambling operators. He also has experience of assisting businesses facing large cumulative exposure to waves of low-value consumer claims in respect of the same subject matter coordinated on social media or similar channels, from early strategic advice, through advising throughout the disputes, drafting pleadings and/or applications, to advocacy.

Since March 2020, Kajetan has had regular involvement in assisting businesses facing consumer claims arising out of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He has acted as advocate in a number of such matters, while his advisory work has included advising on the impact of the pandemic on parties’ rights and obligations under their contracts, as well as advice on bringing or defending claims.

Featured High-stakes consumer disputes cases

Advised a major online betting exchange in respect of hundreds of coordinated claims relating to the same betting market.

Acted for a holiday park operator in successfully defending multiple claims related to park closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advised an online bookmaker in respect of its exposure to ca. 120 County Court claims totalling over £500,000 in respect of the same subject matter.

Acting for a bank in respect of alleged wrongful notifications to a fraud prevention agency.

Shipping and international trade

Kajetan has experience of a variety of matters concerning the international trade and transport of goods, including sale of goods disputes, delays, misdelivery, damage to cargo, discharge of cargo against Letters of Indemnity, detention and arrest, and exclusions of liability. He has practised in the area since commencing independent practice in 2019, having spent a significant proportion of pupillage on assisting with shipping matters such as The “ELIN” [2019] EWHC [1001] (Comm) (the current authority establishing that the statement on a Bill of Lading that the carrier would not be liable for loss of or damage to deck cargo “howsoever arising” is apt to exclude liability for negligence and/or unseaworthiness) and The “Arctic” [2019] EWCA Civ 1161 (an arbitration appeal in which the Court of Appeal determined the status of the obligation to keep a vessel in class), an LMAA arbitration arising out of long-term detention of a vessel in Venezuela, an LMAA arbitration in respect of a failure to redeliver a barge concerning the availability and quantum of restitutionary damages for conversion, and various other matters.

Featured Shipping and international trade cases

Junior counsel for owners in two LMAA arbitrations in respect of discharge of cargo against letters of indemnity.

Acted for a salvage company in defending a cross-border claim in respect of an alleged joint venture.

A claim in respect of damage to a cargo of steel coils caused by the failure of a vessel’s crane whilst unloading.

Advised a booking agency/freight forwarder about a claim brought by a shipper in respect of an allegedly inaccurate ETA.

Banking and financial services

Kajetan’s handles a variety of banking and financial services matters, both contractual and regulatory. He has experience of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Financial Services Act 2012, and the Regulated Activities Order, in particular of civil enforcement claims by the FCA. He is also regularly instructed by banks, particularly in claims arising out of commercial financing such as business lending, guarantees, sales ledger financing, etc. He regularly publishes articles in the area.

Featured Banking and financial services cases

Proceedings under ss. 380/382 FSMA in respect of a £200m+ unauthorised collective investment scheme.

Advising a bank in relation to a claim for alleged breach of the Quincecare duty of care.

Acting for a bank in relation to alleged misreporting of suspicious transactions.

Acted for a bank in a successful summary judgment application in respect of refinanced debt of a construction company.

Acted for a bank against directors of a company in a claim on personal guarantees of loans to the company.

Assisted with restitutionary and injunctive proceedings concerning communication of invitations to engage in investment activity through Information Memoranda not approved by an authorised person, as well as misleading financial projections.

Assisted with Upper Tribunal referrals of FCA Decision Notices relating to firms and individuals arising out of pension switch activities.

Construction & Engineering

Kajetan has experience of various construction matters in arbitration, litigation, and adjudication, particularly in heavyweight international construction arbitration.

Featured Construction & Engineering cases

Second junior counsel in a US$ 800m ICC arbitration between the main contractor and the lead designer in respect of a major infrastructure project in the Middle East.

Junior counsel for the engineering consultants in TCC litigation against the main contractor in connection with design services and building information modelling (BIM) for a major infrastructure project on an offshore military base.

Junior counsel in a complex £8m adjudication regarding the construction of one of the largest schools in the country (the issues included the appropriateness of advice on the form of procurement, duties to warn, management of value engineering, experts’ conflicts of interest, and the extent to which important facts can be inferred rather than proved by direct evidence).

Advised and acted for homeowners in a dispute against the developers in respect of wide-ranging defects in a luxury residential mansion (successfully settled).

Assisted with a US$ 150m ICC arbitration between the main contractor and a subcontractor concerning defects in Heat Recovery Steam Generators in a combined-cycle thermal plant.

Gambling & Betting

Kajetan has a substantial specialist practice in gambling disputes, advising and acting for large gambling operators as well as their customers. He has experience of the whole gamut of such disputes, from contractual (bet outcome disputes, issues of cheating/dishonest bets, withholding of winnings pending completion of integrity investigations) through tortious (problem gambling, self-exclusion) to the interface between findings of regulatory authorities and private law actions between the customer and the bookmaker. He has handled matters ranging from high-value claims about a single bet, through disputes with VIP customers, to disputes about the correct settlement of a market involving hundreds of individual claims (whether coordinated or not). He has also undertaken urgent advisory work in this field in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kajetan has particular experience in bet outcome disputes in respect of events without an obvious mathematical outcome or official result of a governing body, where the gambling operator has made an evaluative judgement, for example as to the correct result or the appropriate time to close betting.

Featured Gambling & Betting cases

Advised a major bookmaker on settlement of bets on events cancelled and postponed due to COVID-19 (both one-off events such as matches/tournaments, and long-running events cancelled or postponed mid-way such as leagues).

Acting as sole counsel for a bookmaker in a £286,000 claim in respect of a horseracing bet.

Advised an online bookmaker in respect of its exposure to ca. 120 County Court claims totalling over £500,000 in respect of the same subject matter.

Acted for a major bookmaker in defence of a claim brought by a high-value customer whose winnings were voided on the basis that he had been at the centre of a horserace-rigging conspiracy (successfully ended with the claimant being forced to abandon the claim at an early stage).

Acted for a betting exchange in successful defence of several claims in respect of bets on the date of a party leader’s official departure from office, the main issue being a betting exchange operator’s implied Braganza obligations when resolving bets between customers.

Advised a major online betting exchange in respect of hundreds of coordinated claims relating to betting on the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election.

Advised a betting exchange on multiple claims in respect of its settlement of a domestic political event market.

Drafted the operator’s submissions to a betting adjudicator in a successfully defended six-figure adjudication brought by a customer in respect of betting on the date of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Acted for a bookmaker in a successful defence of a claim in respect of alleged breach of a self-exclusion agreement.

Acted for a bookmaker on a successful strikeout application in a claim in respect of freezing a customer’s winnings for 10 months pending an integrity investigation.

Advised a number of problem gamblers on recovering their online gambling losses.

Professional Negligence

Kajetan has experience of a broad range of professional negligence claims (both on the claimant and defendant side), including in particular claims against lawyers and financial professionals, but also construction professionals such as architects, engineers, valuers and surveyors.

Featured Professional Negligence cases

Advised a firm of solicitors in connection with wide-ranging claims of professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in respect of conduct of litigation.

Junior counsel for the engineering consultants in TCC litigation against a client in respect of BIM design of MEP services on a Falkland Islands military base (£1.7m claim for fees, professional negligence counterclaim alleged to be worth over £5m; proceedings ongoing following a successful partial summary judgment application limiting any counterclaim to £500,000).

Second junior counsel in a nine-figure ICC arbitration concerning a negligent concept design.

Instructed (as devil) for the claimants in a claim against a firm of solicitors in respect of negligently damaging their clients’ credit rating (satisfactory settlement obtained).

Acted for an architect in a multi-defendant claim alleging (as against the architect) defects in the technical aspects of the design of a residential home.

Assisted with a €16m claim against a Gibraltar barrister in respect of alleged professional negligence in the conduct of a claim against a major bank.

Insurance and Subrogated Claims

Kajetan regularly advises on and acts in insurance matters, for example in respect of coverage disputes, fraud, as well as subrogated claims. In the latter category, he has particular experience of claims for damage to or destruction of property by fire, but has also dealt with matters arising out of other perils such as flood, building subsidence, and voltage damage to electrical equipment.

Featured Insurance and Subrogated Claims cases

Advised on D&O policy coverage for multi-million-dollar claims arising out of credit facilities (as a seconded associate in a leading solicitors’ firm).

Advised a major Channel Islands insurer on repudiating cover for a fraudulent notification.

Advised an insurer on a fraudulent claim for loss of earnings on a personal accident policy.

A subrogated claim for fire damage caused by a defective electrical distribution board

Advised in respect of claims against landlords for fires caused by their tenants which then spread to neighbouring properties causing damage.

A subrogated claim in in respect of negligent installation of a wood-burning stove which caused a large fire.

A subrogated claim against an electric power distribution network in respect of extensive damage to electronics in a “smart home” caused by a surge in voltage.

A subrogated claim relating to flood damage to a home caused by negligent works to the adjacent road.

Assisted with an arbitration between two major road traffic insurers concerning which of the two insurers is liable to meet a multi-million personal injury liability.

IT, Technology and Telecoms

Kajetan has experience of IT and telecoms disputes, e.g. concerning hardware, software, and internet projects, including design defects, bugs, delays, fitness for purpose, etc.

Featured IT, Technology and Telecoms cases

Advised a large NHS Trust on defending a claim (alleged to be worth over £600,000) by a company providing television and telephone services to patients at wards.

Drafted a defence in a claim for delays to the development of a bespoke CRM system; issues included variation of timescales and prevention of contractor’s performance by the employer.

Instructed unled for a web development firm in respect of a claim for fees and a counterclaim for alleged failures in developing a website for a private cosmetic surgery clinic.

Advised on a claim in respect of a defective broadband and telephone system.

Drafted a defence in a claim under a contract to supply and configure servers for a law firm.

Drafted particulars of claim for the subcontractor against the M&E contractor under a JCT contract for the supply and installation of a system of audio-visual equipment in a retirement development of 100+ flats (successfully settled after service of the pleading).

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