Photo of Steven Baker

Steven is a commercial lawyer who has a broad practice in international and domestic dispute resolution. He helps clients in English higher court proceedings and overseas.

Steven also has a large international arbitration practice with experience of a wide range of arbitral institutions, including HKIAC, ICC, LCIA, LMAA, UNCITRAL and SIAC.

Steven is ranked in the leading legal directories for commercial dispute resolution and banking litigation. He has been described in the directories as “a tremendous litigator – he is very clever and efficient and handles multiple clients well”, “very thoughtful, very into the detail, but equally takes a very commercial stance” and “very good at running complex commercial disputes, very bright and a pleasure to deal with”.

Over the past 30 years, Steven has been heavily involved in advising upon and resolving disputes in the technology, communications, defence, financial services and energy sectors.

Steven is also the co-author of a leading text on technology and outsourcing disputes (a 2nd edition now having been commissioned and due to be published in July 2023): IT Contracts and Dispute Management: A Practitioner's Guide to the Project Lifecycle, published in March 2018 (Edward Elgar Publishing, ISBN: 9781784710118).

Last year, we wrote, “The regulatory and litigation risks for private funds are greater than at any time since the financial crisis in 2008.” That statement is even more true today. The Wall Street Journal recently published separate front-page stories on an SEC initiative to oversee large private companies and the explosive growth of the private credit industry (suggesting a more active phase of regulatory oversight). Growth itself is not necessarily a risk, but disputes – and regulators – tend to follow capital.

Private funds are now an integral part of the global economy and, as a consequence, are affected by it. Currently, there are massive structural changes occurring simultaneously across industries and the economy as a whole. For example: cryptocurrencies could threaten legacy payment systems and currencies; the electrification of the auto industry may lead to obsolescence of the internal combustion engine; and climate change will increase the ESG groundswell. These changes are not merely disruptive; they are transformative.