Darren Snow
Darren.Snow@charterchambers.com
Call and Inn: 2000 Middle Temple
Other Positions:
Northern Irish Bar (2009)
Solicitor of the Supreme Court (2004) Accredited Civil & Commercial Mediator Registered Lawyer - The Football Association Pupil Supervisor
Degrees:
LLB(Hons) Holborn College London LL.M ICSL/City Law School
BVC The College of Law
Affiliations:
Criminal Bar Association, BA, IBA, MCIArb, British Burma Association,
Association of Commonwealth Criminal Lawyers, International Bar Association
South Eastern Circuit
Darren Snow has a mixed civil, regulatory and criminal practice. His main areas of expertise are as follows:
Criminal Law
Commercial Dispute Resolution Insurance (Casualty & Property) Personal Injury
Inquests
Professional & Regulatory Defence
Darren is described by clients as a “team player” who is “down to earth, pragmatic and user friendly”. He started his working life straight from school with international insurers and Lloyds of London in the City before coming to the Bar. A dual qualified solicitor, Darren draws upon experience working as a commercial litigation lawyer in the city, as in house counsel with international loss adjusters and a period on the board of a global management consultancy specialising in international dispute resolution and corporate compliance.
access work includes successfully defending a multimillion dollar dispute in the Chancery Division of the High Court and ongoing representation in an international commercial arbitration.
Criminal & Regulatory
Since joining Chambers Darren has built up a busy criminal defence practice and has a growing prosecution profile. Darren remains a committed criminal advocate and continues to develop his criminal practice alongside his civil and commercial work. Darren has a wide range of experience defending in serious violence, sexual offences, organized crime, drugs, public order, fraud, proceeds of crime and regulatory cases. He has a particular interest in representing young offenders and clients with mental health issues. Darren works closely with his solicitors to ensure defence cases are well prepared, disclosure and tactics rigorously pursued and that his clients are at ease with the trial and sentencing process. In his spare time he works with Essex Youth Offending Service sitting on their referral order panel dealing with young offenders.
Darren has developed specialist experience defending in Health & Safety, Environmental and serious road traffic prosecutions. He is regularly instructed to advise corporate clients in the early stages of criminal & regulatory
investigations. As a trained mediator and experienced commercial negotiator Darren is well placed to lead negotiations with prosecuting authorities.
Darren’s professional and regulatory experience includes appearing before the Nursing & Midwifery Council and acting in Police, Prison and Solicitor regulatory proceedings.
Commercial Dispute Resolution
Darren’s commercial experience balances investigatory and advisory work, claims management, litigation, commercial arbitration, mediation and trial advocacy. Having spent time on the board of a small company Darren understands the commercial realities facing many businesses. He is an experienced tactician and negotiator in commercial disputes. A former international loss adjuster, Darren has gained wide experience in the investigation and resolution of commercial disputes and negligence claims including sale of goods, international trade, insurance, product liability, environmental pollution, media & defamation, intellectual property and professional negligence claims. He has experience working on cases in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, USA and throughout Europe. Alongside dispute resolution work Darren has been instructed in numerous risk management and compliance projects.
In recent years Darren has been gaining a reputation for work on casualty claims and commercial disputes within the aviation industry acting for airlines, airport operators, charter companies, flying schools and engineering companies. His experience includes advising on and managing multi-jurisdictional claims as part of legal teams spread over several countries.
Darren is an accredited commercial mediator.
Personal Injury & Inquests
Coming up through the ranks of the insurance industry before turning to law Darren draws upon nearly 25 years experience handling personal injury claims including accident investigations, evidence gathering, quantum analysis, claims management, mediation and settlement negotiation. He acts for Claimants and Defendants. He is very
experienced working with insurers. In recent years he has been seconded back to specialist liability loss adjusters to act as an in house legal resource handling catastrophic injury cases and advising on associated HSE criminal prosecutions. He has wide experience in workplace accidents, product liability, medical negligence and disease claims.
Darren has also gained experience acting in Inquests representing interested parties in a range of cases including fatal road accidents, fatal factory & workplace accidents, building fires, asbestos exposure, deaths in custody, and cases involving negligent care in care homes & private hospitals.
Personal
Away from the Bar Darren’s interest include music and travel. He completed his pupillage at 4 King’s Bench Walk in Temple and Tanfield Chambers in Grays Inn.
Publications & Lectures
Lecture at Cass Business School to Msc Insurance & Risk Management students on managing defendant personal injury litigation
Lecture to Insurers & loss adjusters on inquests and representing policyholders facing criminal prosecution following fatal accidents
Cases
Reported Cases
Waterman v Chimelewska (2009) – Personal Injury - Kemp & Kemp Lawson v Hosseini (2009) - Personal Injury - Kemp & Kemp
Case Summaries
Crime:
R v O – Defence in allegations of gang related intimidation of a key witness informant placed in witness protection following a murder trial. Client was a professional footballer.
R v C – Defence in £500k cannabis smuggling from Africa. Heavy document case involving scrutiny of bills of lading and principles of international trade law.
R v B – Defence in alleged £150,000 money laundering case involving international cash transfers from Pakistan and associated hawala banking practices.
R v D – Defence in allegations of rape & sexual assault against ex partner. Case complicated by ongoing custody battle over children and financial settlement of divorce.
R v D – Defence of driving instructor charged with multiple sexual assaults of students going back over 15 years. Heavy local media coverage resulted in numerous further complainants coming forward during course of the proceedings. R v R – Grooming and child sexual images case. Defendant was former special forces soldier with growing film and media career. Close work with expert computer witness led to the Crown offering no evidence on all counts on first day of trial.
R v H – Defence in allegations of sexual assault by shop keeper against customer. Established behaviour was triggered by relapse of historic PTSD from traumatic events in youth with little if any sexual motive behind the behaviour.
R v V – Defence in £40,000 benefits fraud. Established complete lack of dishonesty, resolved on a plea with a suspended sentence imposed.
Environmental:
EA v BC Ltd – Defence of chemical company charged in respect of accidental chemical escape causing 30 miles of pollution of river, loss of fish stocks and substantial clean up costs.
EA v D – Appeal against £45,000 fine for unlawful waste disposal in respect of fly tipped waste outside D’s business which he disposed of by way of a series of bonfires. Reduced to £1500.
EA v GB Ltd – Defence in illegal waste disposal case concerning commercial scale fly tipping alongside M2 in Kent. 15 Co Defendant companies.
EA v HPC Ltd – Defence of company charged following accidental chemical leak at factory. Advised on PACE Interview and response by insurers to EA clean up, assisted with risk management review introducing new procedures & training to manage chemical accidents, resulting in all charges being discontinued.
Road Traffic:
R v B – Defence in death by careless driving case where motorist hit two horses killing one rider and seriously injuring another. Successfully defended at Newton Hearing securing non custodial sentence.
R v C – Defence in death by careless driving case where motorist hit an oncoming car head killing two people on a country lane in Norfolk. Following plea secured a financial penalty and no loss of license. Also instructed in the inquest. R v G – Defence of coach driver facing dangerous driving allegations following accident involving cyclist in central London.
R v W – Drink Drive Defence to failure to provide – successfully argued that level of intoxication rendered the Defendant physically incapable of providing two breath samples leading to not guilty finding and retention of his driving licence. R v T – Defence in dangerous driving case where Defendant lost control and crushed a person, causing near fatal head injuries, on a petrol station forecourt. Resolved on a plea to careless driving.
Civil & Commercial
Advising on and negotiated settlement in mediation of £200,000 personal injury claim for young golf pro following leg injuries sustained in a road accident.
Advising on negligence claim against garage on behalf of a coach operator following catastrophic failure of Mercedes engine following its installation.
Managing counsel for Finnish insurers working with counsel and solicitors in Australia in respect of the defence to an AUD$30 million professional negligence claim against an engineering company following catastrophic fire at mine in Tasmania.
Instructed by EL insurers to manage investigation and defence of personal injury claim in Singapore by a migrant dock worker sustaining serious leg injuries in workplace accident.
Instructed to advise on defence to a defamation claim against low cost airline flowing altercation between check in staff and a customer, who happened to head a leading city law firm’s defamation practice
Advice and representation in respect of claim by airline for value of aircraft following air crash in SE Asia where insurers dispute aircraft’s valuation and allege fraud.
Representing Defendant airport operator in disability discrimination claim against airline and airport in respect of an alleged failure to provide wheelchair services to a disabled passenger. Claim dismissed.
Managing counsel on behalf of insurers handling investigation and resolution of various claims against care homes in Northern Ireland following deaths of residents from alleged neglect and negligent care.
Representing Security Company at inquest into two deaths following accidental ignition of a security cash in transit cash box inside a retail premises which then caught fire trapping two employees inside the building.
Compliance Projects
Working with Consultants as technical advisor in audit and review of Lloyds Managing Agents London Market claims operation – reviewing UK, USA and global claims management, reserving, FSA compliance.
Working with Consultancy as technical advisor in review of Japanese Insurance Co’s UK claims operation reviewing litigation management, external service provider’s service levels, FSA compliance.
Working on behalf of Reinsurers in review of Cedant insurer’s professional indemnity claims & underwriting operations. Working with consultants & accountants in investigation of potential misappropriation of funds by a personal accident cover holder underwriter in Canada against its supporting European Insurer.
