Businesses affected by the Strait of Hormuz crisis are likely to be navigating both sides of the contractual liability equation: seeking to enforce protections while simultaneously trying to limit their own exposure. This balancing act will feel familiar to those who managed supply chain disruptions during the Covid pandemic or in response to Russian sanctions. But the scale of uncertainty and the severity of the current situation make it particularly challenging to chart a clear path forward. This note provides an overview of the English-law issues that have arisen in this current crisis and is relevant for companies and legal counsel seeking to understand and mitigate contractual risk in their supply chains, including for shipping, energy, commodities, and construction.

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Meagan Bachman

Meagan is chair of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group. Meagan’s practice focuses on construction contract disputes and other complex commercial issues in both arbitration and litigation. She has served as lead and co-lead counsel on a number of international arbitrations and mediations…

Meagan is chair of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group. Meagan’s practice focuses on construction contract disputes and other complex commercial issues in both arbitration and litigation. She has served as lead and co-lead counsel on a number of international arbitrations and mediations involving large infrastructure projects.

Photo of Nicola Phillips Nicola Phillips

Nicola Phillips guides her clients in all areas of commercial litigation. From providing crisis management and legal advice to clients facing cyberattacks to pursuing injunctive relief for victims of fraud, Nicola’s practice has a strong focus on urgent and critical support.

Nicola has

Nicola Phillips guides her clients in all areas of commercial litigation. From providing crisis management and legal advice to clients facing cyberattacks to pursuing injunctive relief for victims of fraud, Nicola’s practice has a strong focus on urgent and critical support.

Nicola has a diverse practice, advising on all aspects of civil litigation, and vast experience with high court litigation as well as alternative dispute resolution. She manages large compliance investigations and has experience acting for both regulators and large financial institutions responding to governmental enforcement enquiries. Nicola also has significant experience with large, complex civil frauds and regularly obtains injunctive relief to assist with asset preservation. Her other practice areas include asset-based lending, trade finance, infrastructure, energy, insurance, and employment-related disputes.

Photo of Lauren Blanchard Lauren Blanchard

An associate in Dispute Resolution in Crowell & Moring’s London office, Lauren Blanchard is esteemed by her clients as “an invaluable asset to any case.” Her strategic and actionable legal advice, strong work ethic under pressure, and collaborative approach has led her to

An associate in Dispute Resolution in Crowell & Moring’s London office, Lauren Blanchard is esteemed by her clients as “an invaluable asset to any case.” Her strategic and actionable legal advice, strong work ethic under pressure, and collaborative approach has led her to handle numerous high value, high profile cases involving multiple jurisdictions and complex issues.

She regularly represents multinational corporates, sovereigns, international institutions, and executives across a range of industries, including automotive, aerospace and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, construction, energy, oil and gas, mining, shipping, and transport.

In English litigation, she has acted at all stages of proceedings, often on an expedited basis, in the Commercial Court, Technology and Construction Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, and Competition Appeal Tribunal.

In international arbitration, she has acted in commercial, construction, and investor state disputes under major institutional rules, including ICC, LCIA, SIAC, UNCITRA, and ICSID.

She also advises on U.S. litigation, particularly when the facts of the dispute concern events outside the United States.

In her pro bono practice, she has submitted multiple amicus curiae briefs in U.S. courts, represented individuals in English courts and the European Court of Human Rights, and mentored prospective law students from low income backgrounds.

Before joining Crowell, Lauren practiced dispute resolution in London and Washington, D.C. at another international law firm.