Commercial Law and Common Law

David Hertzell was appointed as Commissioner on 1 July 2007, in succession to Professor Hugh Beale QC, FBA.  He began his legal career as a trainee solicitor with Davies Arnold Cooper in 1981 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1983.  Davies Arnold Cooper made Mr Hertzell a Partner in 1989.  He became Managing partner in 1992; a post he held until 1996 and again from 1999 to 2006. Apart from his management responsibilities Mr Hertzell specialised in professional indemnity, reinsurance, captive insurance and regulatory issues. 

David Hertzell has represented both domestic and international insurers and reinsurers in a wide range of disputes and has managed a professional indemnity scheme for a major UK insurance company.  He is the Chair of the Captive and Risk Financing Focus Group of AIRMIC and is a member of the Law Society, The Chartered Insurance Institute and the Managing Partners Forum.  He has written and published a number of articles on commercial insurance law.

Tammy Goriely (team manager)
Elizabeth Waller (lawyer)
Helen Hall (lawyer)
Donna Birthwright (lawyer)
Hazra Hussain (research assistant)
Edmund Townsend (research assistant)
Stephen Walton (research assistant)
Adam Temple (research assistant)

Insurance Contract Law
We are working jointly with the Scottish Law Commission to review the law of insurance contracts, which Parliament has not revised since 1906.  Many aspects have been criticised for being too harsh on policyholders, incoherent and outdated.  On 17 July 2007 we published our first consultation paper, with a closing date for responses of 16 November 2007.  The paper considers the law of misrepresentation, non-disclosure and breach of warranty.  Further information is available.

Property Interests in Intermediated Investment Securities
We are considering the issues affecting the ownership and transfer of investment securities. The project focuses on securities that are held not directly by investors but indirectly through a chain of one or more intermediaries, usually as entries on a computer.  Further information is available.

Illegal Transactions
This reviews the effect of illegality on contracts and trusts.  Further information is available.

Consumer Remedies for Faulty Goods
On 3 December 2007 we started a new project, jointly with the Scottish Law Commission, looking at the remedies available to consumers when they buy goods that do not conform to the contract.  The law in this area consists of overlapping domestic and EU remedies, and has been criticised for being unnecessarily complex.  Further information is available.

Private Rights of Redress under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive
In May 2008, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive was implemented into UK law.  The new law allows for enforcement by the Office of Fair Trading and trading standards officers, but does not allow individuals to bring claims for damages. Under the 10th Programme, the Law Commission will look at whether there is a need to change the law, to give individuals a private right of action.  We are currently discussing with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform the best way to proceed with this project.

For all commercial and common law consultation papers and reports, go to the publications page.

For more information contact the commercial and common law team.