Energy and Shareholder Disputes
Nicholas and Mora Ven Holdings Ltd v Persad
Nicholas and Mora Ven Holdings Ltd v Persad, Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago, consent order 25 November 2015.
Matter overview
Mora Oil Ventures, incorporated in 1994, held a state lease to explore for and produce oil from the offshore Mora Field. In 2000 Dr Krishna Persad's firm, Krishna Persad & Associates, became a shareholder. A tri-party agreement with Mora Oil and its majority shareholder Mora Ven Holdings put the firm in charge of the production side of the operation.
The arrangement broke down after George Nicholas became chairman in 2002; he and Dr Persad disagreed over how the operation should be run. The fight that followed lasted thirteen years.
Strategic approach
Justin Phelps appeared for Dr Persad and Krishna Persad & Associates throughout the civil proceedings. The litigation ran on several fronts at once:
- Company claims. The two sides traded proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal, including competing allegations of oppression.
- Freezing relief. Freezing orders hung over the dispute and stayed in place until the very end.
- A private prosecution. Nicholas brought criminal charges against Dr Persad personally; the case travelled from the Magistrates' Court to the Privy Council and back.
Work of this kind is less a single case than a campaign. The task was to hold the client's position, in the boardroom and before the courts, until terms worth accepting were on the table.
Result
On 25 November 2015 the parties ended the dispute by consent before Chief Justice Ivor Archie in the Court of Appeal. The freezing relief that had been in place was discharged; after thirteen years, the Mora Field litigation closed by agreement rather than judgment.
Much of the case's shape came from its interim orders. How freezing injunctions in Trinidad are granted and discharged is a question of its own.
