Caroline Pennington de Rodríguez Sánchez

Senior Associate
LONDON
Caroline Pennington de Rodríguez Sánchez

Caroline Pennington de Rodríguez Sánchez is a Senior Associate in our London office.  She was admitted to the Senior Courts of England and Wales in 2016 and is highly experienced in both the contentious (international arbitrations, trade arbitrations and English Court proceedings), and non-contentious (advisory and bespoke contract drafting) aspects of shipping, commodities and logistics matters.

Caroline has extensive experience acting for and advising clients in international (particularly UNCITRAL, LMAA and LCIA) and trade (GAFTA and FOSFA) arbitrations.  She also has experience acting for clients in English High Court and Court of Appeal matters.  She has particular knowledge of managing disputes under contracts for the sale and purchase of goods, charterparties, contracts of affreightment and upstream operational contracts.

Her wealth of non-contentious knowledge is centred on advising clients and providing bespoke drafting services in relation to contracts for the international sale and purchase of goods (including general terms and conditions of trade and framework supply agreements), MOAs for the sale and purchase of vessels, charterparties, trade and asset finance, shipbuilding contracts, and logistics and storage agreements.

Caroline also has significant in-house experience at one of the world’s premier trading houses.

Caroline has regularly acted for and advised major trading houses, banks, bunker suppliers, oil and gas majors, shipowners and charterers.

Caroline works in English (native) and Spanish (fluent), and has good working knowledge in Italian.

Latest - Caroline Pennington de Rodríguez Sánchez

Caroline Pennington de Rodríguez Sánchez
Senior Associate -
London

Focus

Arbitration, Contracts, Projects and Advisory, Maritime & Casualty, Litigation & Asset Recovery, Transport Law, Commodities & Trade, Energy, LNG, Shipping & Marine, Logistics & Transport

Admission

  • Senior Courts of England and Wales

Highlights of Caroline’s work include the following:

  • Acting for a major Latin American oil and natural gas company in a range of disputes arising under an offshore drilling contract in an UNCITRAL arbitration. Appeared at twelve hearings before the Tribunal du Commerce in Paris, and a London-based arbitral tribunal in relation to substantive issues and interim measures.
  • Represented a substantial steel trading company in an LCIA arbitration for repudiatory breach of contract under a sale/purchase agreement.
  • Defended a series of twelve charterparty claims and challenged the jurisdiction of three separate tribunals in related LMAA arbitrations.
  • Acted for an oil major party to a Contract of Affreightment in an LMAA arbitration and related English High Court proceedings.
  • Represented a trading house in a complex appeal of a first-instance FOSFA decision in a USD29m trade arbitration related to the non-delivery of sun-flower oil.
  • Managed a series of LMAA arbitrations brought by the insolvency estate of an international bunker trader against its debtors.
  • Acted for a major trading house in relation to the expert determination of a dispute arising under a SCoTA agreement.
  • Represented South Korea’s largest trading company in a GAFTA trade arbitration of a demurrage claim and an alleged refusal to unload a cargo of wheat.
  • Acted for PDVSA in the High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings in PetroSaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Ltd v Novo Banco SA and others, which was an important case concerning the ‘fraud exception’ to the autonomy principle of letter of credit.
  • Assisted a major trading house in disputes arising out of the Quingdao metals scandal involving the use of fraudulent warehouse receipts.
  • Drafted many bespoke contracts for the sale/purchase of hard and soft commodities, including coal, oil and grains.
  • Reviewed and drafted multiple contracts for commodities clients including offtake agreements, shipbuilding contracts, letters of indemnity, refund guarantees and brokerage agreements.
  • Assisted a large North African agricultural business on investment in a sugar refinery.
  • Drafted a bespoke Heads of Terms, and related Supply, Services and Cooperation Agreements for a USD10m involving the supply, handling and storage of palm oil and the construction of a refinery and storage tanks for one of the world’s largest soft commodity trading houses.
  • Drafted a bespoke contract for the inland transportation of goods for one of the world’s premier trading houses.
  • Drafted a set of template time charterparties for a major natural gas supplier.
  • Drafted a variety of charterparties, guarantees, washout contracts and settlement agreements for a major global trading house.

Interested in specific aspects of Caroline’s recent work? Contact [email protected] for further reference cases.

Professional Experience

  • Senior Associate, Floyd Zadkovich , London (2023 – present)
  • Associate, Stephenson Harwood LLP, London (2016-2023)
  • Trainee, Stephenson Harwood LLP, London (2014-2016)
  • Research Assistant, 4 New Square chambers, London (2012-2014)

Education

  • Master of Arts, University of Cambridge (2013)
  • Bachelor of Laws, University of Law, London (2012)
  • Bachelor of Arts, University of Cambridge (2010)