Clive studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge University before qualifying as a barrister in 1979. He then went straight into the shipping industry, working in (and subsequently managing)  the FD&D Class of cover at Steamship Mutual P&I Club. He was also manager of the Greek P&I syndicate there.

In 1988 Clive established his own consultancy and for the next 20 years worked for a wide range of clients, focussing in particular on cases bound for arbitration. 

Clive also started accepting appointments as arbitrator in 1988 and has since then been appointed in literally thousands of cases. He became a full member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (“LMAA”) in 1991 has been a full time arbitrator since 2012. Clive was President of the LMAA from 2014-2017 and remains a committee member today. Although Clive is appointed in a wide range of disputes, many of his appointments relate to charterparty and bill of lading claims as well as ship sale and shipbuilding cases. 

As well as being as a member of the LMAA, Clive is also a listed panel member of SCMA, CMAC and the HKIAC. He is also a member of the Baltic Exchange and a qualified mediator.