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Simon Castley#785

Simon Castley

Managing Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon International LLP
Simon focuses his practice in the area of product liability and managing regulations that affect clients' brands and businesses in United Kingdom, United States and Europe. He has worked extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East. His experience also includes litigation on corporate and commercial matters. His client base includes major multinational food and beverage, consumer goods and motor manufacturers.

Simon, a U.K. national, is fluent in English and French and has a good working knowledge of German. He is a delegate of Shook's Product Liability Forum, run by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. He has been included in Expert Guides: Guide to the World's Leading Product Liability Lawyers, Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, The Legal 500 United Kingdom, and Chambers UK, where sources described him as "a very good lawyer in command of his subject, who understands the science not just the law." In Chambers UK 2016, sources also highlight his strength in handling international disputes, describe him as "very strong on the regulatory side" of product liability and identify him as one of a “very solid team in London” that is "excellent" in client service and responsiveness.

Simon has spent a significant amount of time in the United States gaining experience of U.S. litigation methods. He works frequently in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and has extensive experience in the various legal systems within these jurisdictions.
Contributed to

3

Defective products
Defective products
Practice notes

This Practice Note summarises the law on defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA 1987) and Council Directive 85/374/EEC (the EU Product Liability Directive). The CPA 1987 imposes liability on producers of defective products. This Practice Note considers what constitutes a defective product under the CPA 1987, who in the supply chain could be liable for the defective product, their degree of liability and any contributory negligence issues, the type of damages and the various defences available to a producer. It also looks at reports on the efficacy of the EU Product Liability Directive and possible future reform.

Product liability risk management for producers
Product liability risk management for producers
Practice notes

This Practice Note explains the risks faced by producers in respect of their liability to members of the public for dangerous or sub-standard products, and the steps which producers can take to manage that risk.

Statutory product safety regime
Statutory product safety regime
Practice notes

This Practice Note explains the statutory product safety regime in the UK, covering civil and criminal liability under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA 1987), the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It considers emerging case law impacting the definition of defect and burden of liability under the CPA 1987 as provided for in Wilkes v DePuy and Colin Gee v DePuy.

Practice Area

Panel

  • Contributing Author

Qualified Year

  • 1986

Membership

  • The Law Society of England & Wales
  • British Institute of International and Comparative Laws Product Liability Forum

Education

  • LL.B., University College, London, 1982
  • Law Society Finals, City of London School of Law, 1984
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