Nico E. Leslie
Barrister, Fountain Court Chambers
Nico is an attorney and arbitrator with expertise in art law, copyright, entertainment and commercial law. He is a barrister at Fountain Court Chambers, a leading ‘magic circle’ commercial chambers in London, and is called to the Bars of England (2010) and of the Eastern Caribbean (2017). Together with Mr Justice Marcus Smith he is the author of the Law of Assignment (OUP, 3rd edition), the leading work on the transfer of intangible property (including copyright) under English law. Forthcoming publications include book chapters on issues as wide-ranging as Brexit and commercial bribery. He is a frequent speaker and has published extensively on issues relating to art law and business.
Nico’s legal practice has included arbitration and mediation since 2011. He has acted in a wide range of art law disputes at both the domestic and international level, including disputes as to asset tracing, negligent and fraudulent sales, valuation, provenance, copyright and insurance. He also has extensive experience of jurisdiction disputes, including in an art law context. Over the years, he has received multiple accolades and rankings in relation to his commercial, banking, fraud and professional negligence practice, and has been named a Legal Week ‘Star of the Bar’. His arbitration experience spans everything from major international commercial disputes to investor-state arbitrations. Nico is a member of the Commercial Bar Association and of the finance committee of the Bar Council. He was appointed to the Arbitration pool of CAfA in January 2020.
Much of Nico’s work is international in nature. He regularly appears before courts or arbitral tribunals based in London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Hague, and has extensive experience of offshore work, including in Bermuda, the BVI, Cayman and St Lucia. Nico speaks French, Italian, Croatian and Serbian fluently, and has a good working knowledge of Spanish.
Nico's educational background includes: a starred Double First at Cambridge (B.A.) (2007); and a distinction on the Bar Vocational Course (BVC, placing second in his year) (2010).
Jurisdiction: U.K. and Eastern Caribbean