Posted: 27/06/2023
Penningtons Manches Cooper is deeply saddened by the death of our friend and colleague Douglas Bateson, a partner and head of the firm’s Piraeus office and a longstanding member of the shipping team. Douglas passed away following a road traffic accident on Saturday 17 June.
With a lifelong passion for shipping, Douglas’ influence was far reaching across the sector; both clients and peers benefitted immensely from his intellectual rigour, deep technical understanding, and his trademark seemingly endless energy.
Douglas started his articles at Thomas Cooper in 1983 and became a partner in 1989. He came from a long line of shipping specialists; relatives included a prominent Admiralty Silk and an Admiralty Judge. Yet Douglas’s success owed nothing to privilege and everything to his personal qualities of intelligence, stamina, tenacity and charm. His practice was varied and broad covering everything from complex shipping and international trade disputes across multiple jurisdictions to marine insurance and banking. He was always highly ranked in the legal directories, who noted that Douglas “follows his cases step by step with full commercial commitment in mind."
In 2001 Douglas and his family moved to Greece to head up Thomas Cooper’s Piraeus office, becoming an attorney at law (Athens Bar Association). There he applied an abundance of energy into establishing the firm’s presence in Greece. Once the casework was done, Douglas gave everything else his all, whether that was family life, sport, or entertaining colleagues and clients. He will be remembered as much for his generosity of spirit and sense of humour as he will for his unerring attention to detail and academic rigour; Douglas never left anything to chance.
Penningtons Manches Cooper CEO Helen Drayton said: “We are so saddened by this shocking tragedy. Douglas was truly a larger-than-life character in every sense and his loss will be keenly felt across the business. His wit, charisma, fierce intellect and joy for life meant he was held in the highest regard by his colleagues, clients and peers. Our thoughts are with Douglas’ family at this very sad time.”
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