(MOHAMMED) JALIL ASIF KC
+1 345 749 4005 / +44 20 3301 5705
CAREER
April 2014 – To date: Partner, Kobre & Kim (Cayman)
Kobre & Kim is a global disputes and investigations practice that originated in the US in 2003. It
now has 15 offices in the Americas, the Caribbean, EMEA and Asia. It has been one of the top
200 firms in the US by revenue since 2017.
I am the head of an office of 7 people within the wider firm. I was asked by the firm to move from
London to the Cayman Islands’ office in order to provide a local leadership role and to build up
the business, after it had opened in 2012. As well as day-to-day management of the Cayman
office, I have been a mentor to staff in Cayman and other offices. Since my arrival, I have achieved
recognition in Chambers & Partners and in the Legal 500 personally and for the Cayman office,
and have generated fee income in excess of US $1 million each year.
I work on international cases involving the Cayman Islands, the UK and other common-law
jurisdictions, often with a global team. My main areas of work are high-value disputes concerning
financial products and services, international judgment enforcement (eg US $2.04 billion award
against Venezuela), insolvency and restructuring (eg acting for court appointed receivers in XiO
matters and for main unsecured creditor of Abraaj Holdings owed US $300 million), and trusts (eg
issues related to 1MDB Malaysian development fund, where US $3.5 billion is alleged to have
been stolen and laundered).
Jan 2005 – Nov 2015: Recorder, (Midland Circuit)
I was appointed a part time judge in the UK in 2005, hearing criminal cases and appeals from the
magistrates. From 2008 I was authorised to hear civil cases as well.
I enjoyed hearing a wide range of criminal and civil cases during this period. I resigned with regret
in November 2015 due to the practical difficulties of continuing to sit in the UK whilst based in the
Cayman Islands.
Sept 2011 – March 2014: Partner, Kobre & Kim (UK) LLP
I joined Kobre & Kim as a partner in the London office, which had opened in 2010 and was in a
period of growth. I was attracted by the idea of working as part of an integrated team of barristers
and solicitors providing a joined-up service for clients, and of doing a completely new range of
work from my previous practice. The work was extremely varied: for example, from advising an
investor on potential consequences of a default on a bond issued by a sovereign state to
representing a member of the Saudi Royal family in a defamation claim against Forbes magazine.
Oct 1988 – Aug 2011: 4 New Square, Lincoln’s Inn (2 Crown Office Row, Temple)
I was awarded a Chambers scholarship and became a tenant after completing my pupillage.
I developed a specialisation in professional negligence, clinical negligence and personal injury,
insurance claims and product liability – mainly related to pharmaceutical products and medical
devices.
I regularly defended barristers; acted for and against solicitors sued for their conduct of widely
ranging underlying matters; valuers and surveyors; accountants and financial advisers. I handled
complex medical cases, often involving mismanaged births and resulting disabilities with difficult
causation and loss issues; and catastrophic or fraudulent personal injuries claims.
I was counsel in many of the most significant product liability cases from the 1990s onwards
including HIV Haemophiliacs, Hepatitis C litigation; fetal anti-convulsant syndrome cases (sodium
valproate); MMR; Capital hip replacements; Parkinson's disease; and dermal fillers.
I acted as counsel and arbitrator in insurance coverage disputes and in loss recovery claims (for
example a £50 million loss recovery claim related to the Buncefield explosion).
I was appointed a Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2010.
EDUCATION
1988 Bar Finals (Awarded a Major Bursary by Lincoln’s Inn)
1984-1987 MA University Of Cambridge (Part 1A Mathematics, Part 1B and Part II Law)
1983 St Pauls School, Barnes (Cambridge entrance)
1977-1983 Twyford High School, Acton (local comprehensive school, subsequently became
a Church of England maintained school)
ACTIVITIES
I have been active for the profession throughout my career, including:
Writing or contributing to Law Society responses to proposed legislation in the Cayman Islands
Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn
Long-time committee member and Chairman of Lincoln’s Inn’s Bar Representation Committee
Elected and appointed member of the Bar Council in 1990s and 2000s respectively, including
Long-time committee member of the London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association
Member of the Council of Legal Education under Lord Phillips in the 1990s
Editor of the Professional Negligence Law Reports since 1995
Contributing editor to books on Clinical Negligence and the Law of Medicines
I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.