Mark Phillips KC, a senior insolvency silk at South Square Chambers, has been appointed a judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, where he will sit in its Financial Services Division from November.
The appointment brings to the Cayman bench a barrister with more than four decades’ experience in insolvency, restructuring and commercial law, including appearances in major cross-border disputes in the jurisdiction.
Announced by the Cayman Islands’ Governor, Her Excellency Jane Owen, it follows a recruitment exercise by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission to fill the vacancy created by Justice Nicholas Segal’s retirement in October.
The Cayman Islands’ Financial Services Division hears complex commercial and financial services disputes, including insolvency and restructuring proceedings. Phillips first appeared in the Grand Court in 1999.
Owen said Phillips' eperience would "further strengthen the high calibre of the Financial Services Division of the Courts, which plays a vital role in supporting the administration of justice and Cayman’s position as a leading international financial centre.”
Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale also welcomed the appointment. “It will be a pleasure to have [him] join the team of judges in the Financial Services Division and the wider Cayman Islands Judiciary. His strong background in commercial law will be a valuable asset, and I look forward to working with him,” she said.
Phillips was called to the Bar in 1984, joined South Square in 1986 and took silk in 1999. His career has included cases before the House of Lords and the UK Supreme Court, including the Lehman pensions appeal and Toshoku Finance.
He represented the governor of the Bank of England in the two-year BCCI trial against the late Gordon Pollock QC and Nicholas Stadlen QC, one of the longest and most expensive corporate collapse and banking disputes in English legal history.
His recent Supreme Court work included appearing for the successful appellant in Drelle v Servis-Terminal, where he argued that a debt is an obligation to pay a creditor a sum of money.
Phillips has also appeared in major restructuring and scheme matters including Maxwell Communications Corporation, Atlantic Computers, Garuda Airlines, Madagascar Oil, Thames Water Utilities and Waldorf Production.
He was involved in the multi-billion pound Thames Water restructuring, at first instance and in the Court of Appeal, a case which has consequences for the industry, creditors and the government.
His Cayman practice has included the SPhinX insolvency and the Saad litigation. In the latter, he acted as leading counsel for Grant Thornton, liquidator of Saad Investments and other companies, in AHAB v Saad. The fraud trial before then Chief Justice Anthony Smellie lasted 129 court days over 12 months, making it the longest and highest-value trial heard in Cayman, valued at $3bn.
The appointment follows Phillips’ work in other offshore courts. He has appeared in the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, where he was admitted to the Bar in 2024 to appear in the Court of Appeal and Court of Final Appeal in the Keepwell Deeds litigation.
Philips, by his own admission, also helped set up the Premier League, was UEFA's counsel in its FFP rules case against Manchester City, and has acted for the EFL, Arsenal and a number of football players, as well as Lewis Hamilton.
Phillips has held numerous senior roles in the insolvency profession, including serving as president of the Insolvency Lawyers Association in 2002-03. He is a founding member of the International Insolvency Institute and a former council member of R3, the Association of Business Recovery Professionals. He has also been active in COMBAR and the Chancery Bar Association.
He said: “I am looking forward to working with my fellow judges and with the professionals local and worldwide who have matters that will come before me. Cayman is a leading jurisdiction in the restructuring and insolvency world, and I am excited to be joining the FSD.”
He added: “I would also like to thank all of the professionals and clients whom I had the privilege of working with over my 42 years at the Bar.”
Tom Smith KC, head of chambers at South Square, said: “Mark has been one of the leading insolvency and restructuring KCs for over 27 years, and a member of South Square for more than 40 years. He has had a stellar career at the Bar, appearing in many leading cases, including the epic Three Rivers v Bank of England and Saad trials, and has been fundamental to South Square's success over the years."
Phillips' appointment comes as another South Square silk, Joseph Curl KC, was appointed acting Justice of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Curl will be hearing matters on appeal from the BVI during September 2026. He remains in full-time practice at the Bar.
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