Francis CARDELL-OLIVER

Francis has a broad practice spanning commercial litigation, international arbitration and public law. He accepts instructions both as junior counsel and sole counsel and has been instructed (unled) in High Court (KBD), Circuit Commercial Court, and County Court proceedings. Before coming to the English Bar he practised for several years as a barrister and solicitor in Australia, where he appeared regularly (unled) in trials, applications and appeals in the Federal Court of Australia, Western Australian Supreme Court and other courts and tribunals across a wide range of practice areas, including public law, taxation, commercial, employment and criminal law.

Francis has particular expertise in civil fraud, shipping, insurance (including marine insurance), sanctions, conflict of laws, unjust enrichment, and public law. Recent and current instructions include:

United Company Rusal v Whiteleave Holdings Ltd & Ors: acting for the claimant in high value civil fraud proceedings before the Commercial Court against Vladimir Potanin and Roman Abramovich, relating to alleged mismanagement of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest nickel producer (led by Nathan Pillow KC, Tom Ford and Sophia Hurst).
Russian Aviation Operator Policies Claims: acting for war risks and all risks reinsurers in the Russian aviation insurance litigation, one of The Lawyer’s top 20 cases for 2024 (led by Philippa Hopkins KC and Owen Lloyd).
Acting in Commercial Court proceedings for war risks insurers of the MT “Niovi”, seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in the Strait of Hormuz in May 2023 (led by David Walsh KC).
Acting for a well-known oil major in a claim for injunctive relief in the Commercial Court against a sovereign state (led by Philippa Hopkins KC).
Acting (unled) for an online bank in a Circuit Commercial Court fraud claim against a motor vehicle finance broker and its directors.
R (KP) v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs [2025] EWHC 370 (Admin): working on secondment in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office legal team that successfully defended this judicial review arising out of the presence of migrants on the island of Diego Garcia.
Francis is a member of the Attorney General’s Junior Juniors panel and has recently been seconded to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation at HM Treasury, to assist with sanctions enforcement work, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where he advised on law of the sea and refugee law issues and on matters relating to the UK-Mauritius treaty on the status of the Chagos Islands. He has previous experience as a government lawyer in Australia, acting in a range of judicial review matters, including (as solicitor) in two leading constitutional cases before the High Court of Australia arising out of an AUD 29 billion arbitral dispute: Mineralogy Pty Ltd v Western Australia (2021) 274 CLR 219 and Palmer v Western Australia (2021) 274 CLR 286.

Francis holds a BA and LLB (having graduated first in his class) from the University of Western Australia, LLM (first class) from the University of Cambridge (where he was a Cambridge Australia scholar), and MPhil (distinction) from the University of Oxford (where he was a Clarendon scholar). He has also taught public law and companies law at the Australian National University and has published in leading academic journals, including (most recently) the Cambridge Law Journal.