Paul Castellani
Partner | London,
United Kingdom
Paul.Castellani@kennedyslaw.com
+44 20 7667 9777
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Profile
Paul is a partner in our London office who is a professional liability specialist. He qualified in England and Wales in 1998.
Paul specialises in the defence of professionals, particularly solicitors, barristers, surveyors, IT, financial and insurance industry professionals. With over 25 years’ experience, Paul frequently handles complex claims often involving multiple parties. He has been instructed in some of the leading Court of Appeal decisions in relation to wasted costs, scope of duty and foreseeability of loss.
He also advises insurers in relation to coverage issues arising under professional liability policies and multiple other lines of insurance including legal indemnities (such as rights to light).
Paul is a member of the British Insurance Law Association (BILA), and ranked as a leading practitioner in both The Legal 500 UK and Chambers UK legal directories.
Qualification
- Qualified in England and Wales in 1998.
Paul Castellani has an astonishing ability to absorb complex factual situations and simultaneously deliver masterful advice and strategy.
Related articles
Market recognition
- Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Technology & Construction (London)'
"Paul Castellani is pound for pound the most commercial and user-friendly professional negligence lawyer. He has nailed the art of understanding how we like to work with him and he consistently exceeds expectations".
"Paul Castellani is a phenomenal professional negligence lawyer. He is strategic, clear, focused and provides great client service".
"Paul Castellani is the best professional negligence lawyer I have ever come across. He has a fantastic attention to detail".
Chambers UK 2024 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence (London)'
"Paul Castellani is pound for pound the most commercial and user-friendly professional negligence lawyer. He has nailed the art of understanding how we like to work with him and he consistently exceeds expectations".
"Paul Castellani is a phenomenal professional negligence lawyer. He is strategic, clear, focused and provides great client service".
"Paul Castellani is the best professional negligence lawyer I have ever come across. He has a fantastic attention to detail".
Chambers UK 2024 -
Leading Individual and recommended lawyer for 'Professional negligence (London)'"Paul Castellani is technically gifted, commercial, strategic and [his] advice is understandable and easy to follow (even in the most complex of claims). I have beyond 100% faith in [his] ability"."Paul Castellani has an astonishing ability to absorb complex factual situations and simultaneously deliver masterful advice and strategy."The Legal 500 UK 2024
- Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Financial (London)'
"Paul Castellani is a fabulous lawyer - remarkably able".
Chambers UK 2023 - Notable practitioner for Professional negligence: technology & construction (London)
Chambers UK 2023 - Leading Individual and recommended lawyer for 'Professional negligence (London)'
"Paul Castellani is pound for pound, the best solicitors PI defendant professional negligence lawyer I have worked with".
"Paul Castellani is a rare breed of lawyer: both technically excellent and great with people. He takes complex legal issues and sets out his analysis in an easy to understand, jargon-free way. He is also someone who thinks outside of the box and his advice takes into account commercial considerations – he explores practical resolution opportunities rather than simply going through the motions of litigation".
The Legal 500 UK 2023 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Financial (London)'
"Paul Castellani is so knowledgeable and commercially astute. He is extremely competent."
Chambers UK 2022 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Insurance (London)'
Chambers UK 2022 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Legal (London)'
Chambers UK 2022 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Technology & Construction (London)'
Chambers UK 2022 - Leading Individual and recommended lawyer for 'Professional negligence (London)'
"Paul Castellani is skilled in defending professionals, including solicitors, surveyors, IT, financial and insurance industry professionals."
The Legal 500 UK 2022 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Financial (London)'
"He is an excellent lawyers' liability practitioner." "He is a terrific lawyer."
Chambers UK 2021 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Legal (London)'
Chambers UK 2021 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Technology & Construction (London)'
Chambers UK 2021 - Notable practitioner (Band 1) for 'Professional Negligence: Insurance (London)'
Chambers UK 2021 - Leading Individual and recommended lawyer for 'Professional negligence (London)'
"The arrival of the 'amazing' Paul Castellani from RPC has significantly increased the firm’s offering with regards to claims against solicitors."
The Legal 500 UK 2021 - Notable practitioner for 'Professional Negligence: Financial (London)'
One source reveals: "He has got us out of so many sticky situations. He's got a brilliant mind and always finds solutions."
Chambers UK 2020 - Notable practitioner for 'Professional Negligence: Insurance (London)'
Chambers UK 2020 - Notable practitioner for 'Professional Negligence: Legal (London)'
Chambers UK 2020 - Notable practitioner for 'Professional Negligence: Technology & Construction (London)'
Chambers UK 2020 - Leading Individual and Recommended Lawyer for 'Professional negligence (London)'
The Legal 500 UK 2019/20 - "Paul Castellani is highly regarded for his work in the professional negligence sphere. He has a broad practice regularly advising brokers, solicitors and surveyors.”
Chambers UK 2019 - "Paul Castellani ‘has a really strong reputation on the coverage side’."
Chambers UK 2018
Awards
Work highlights
- Paul is currently representing many large firms of solicitors and barristers (and lawyers in other countries, including “offshore” jurisdictions) in claims valued at up to £200 million. He is also acting for many insurance brokers facing claims in the marine and property sectors in particular, including current proceedings in the Commercial Court. Paul is also advising insurers in relation to the recent collapse of a large law firm arising from client account theft.
- Miller -v- Irwin Mitchell [2024] – acting for the solicitor at first instance and on appeal in establishing that no duties were owed to a caller to a legal helpline, including no duty to contact a potential defendant to ensure it had complied with its own insurance obligations. An important case on assumption of duty and scope.
- Clewer -v- Higgs [2023] – acting for the solicitor in striking out a claim due to service errors by the claimant.
- Karis -v- Howard Kennedy [2022] – acting for the solicitor in an £18m commercial property related claim. Claim discontinued during 21 day trial and formally retracted by the claimant in open court.
- Burleigh House -v- Irwin Mitchell [2021] – successful strike out on the basis that a “non-assignment” clause in terms of business prohibited the claim.
- EFFORT v Mengiste [2017] - acting for the solicitor at first instance and appeal in the defence of a wasted costs application concerning the manner in which an expert was instructed to provide evidence at court. The proceedings included a successful judicial recusal application.
- Balogun v Boyes Sutton & Perry [2017] – acting for the successful solicitor at first instance and appeal in a “duty to warn” case concerning the purchase of a commercial lease.
- Rahim v Arch [2016] – acting for Arch in the successful defence of a challenge to its declinature of coverage to a solicitor on the grounds of dishonesty.
- Planetree Nominees -v- Howard Kennedy [2016] – service of Claim Form, standstill agreement and wrong legal entity sued.
- Wellesley v Withers [2015] - acting for the solicitor at first instance and appeal in the defence of a claim concerning the drafting of a shareholders’ agreement. Complex issues of foreseeability of loss based on contractual and tortious tests.
- Challinor v Bellis [2015] – acting for the successful surveyor/investment manager in a claim alleging misrepresentation and breach of a Quistclose trust concerning the financing for the purchase of Fairoaks Airport.
- Earlier High Court and Court of Appeal cases in which Paul was instructed include: Chase Manhattan -v- HIH (policy construction, film finance), Cohen -v- Smith & Williamson (duty of a LPA Receiver), Hedrich -v- Standard Bank (wasted costs), Norwich & Peterborough -v- Gillies (lender claim, contribution between solicitor and valuer) and Luke -v- Kingsley Smith (contribution claims between solicitors and counsel).
Insurance and reinsurance