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  1. Commodities – Leading Sets
  2. Commodities – Leading Silks
  3. Commodities – New Silks
  4. Commodities – Leading Juniors

20 Essex Street is widely regarded as ‘the leading commodities set’, earns ‘top marks all round’, and has ‘impressive and responsive’ clerking. Stephen Males QC, ‘one of the top three commodities barristers in the UK’, and the ‘intellectually powerful and persuasive’ David Owen QC rate particularly highly for GAFTA and FOSFA cases. Timothy Young QC is ‘very commercial and very good with trading clients’, and ‘a very smooth advocate’. Head of chambers Iain Milligan QC and new silk Michael Ashcroft QC are ‘outstanding’, and Philip Edey QC is ‘very good – he punches above his weight’. The ‘very engaging’ Charles Kimmins QC is ‘absolutely flying’ with successive instructions. Andrew Baker QC is ‘a brilliant advocate’. Michael Coburn QC is ‘very perceptive, very driven and a great advocate’. ‘A real star senior junior’, Julian Kenny has ‘a very good eye for how an argument is progressing and is a very good filter of instructions’. David Lewis is ‘excellent – extremely knowledgeable, well organised and capable of handling any case without a leader’. Clare Ambrose is ‘very able, gets into the detail of disputes and is very pleasant’.

Essex Court Chambers’ Steven Berry QC is ‘a brilliant, brilliant barrister – one of the top of his generation in this field’, and Simon Bryan QC is well regarded. The highly rated Claire Blanchard QC took silk in 2010. Nigel Eaton is ‘a superb, first-choice junior’, and Brian Dye is recommended for freight futures. The clerks are efficient and helpful. Bernard Eder QC became a judge.

7 King’s Bench Walk’s expertise includes commodities, insurance and shipping. ‘The set is absolutely first-rate: responsive, reliable and effective. The clerking is the best.’ Robert Bright QC is ‘very personable and understated, but you get him in court and he’s a Rottweiler’. Dominic Kendrick QC is ‘one of the UK’s leading commercial silks and is particularly skilled in commodities-related matters’. Richard Southern QC is ‘very good’. The ‘outstanding’ Siobán Healy QC mixes commodities, shipping and insurance. New silk Peter MacDonald Eggers QC is ‘very bright, very personable, and looks at cases in a fresh way’. Charles Priday and Charles Holroyd are talented juniors.

At Quadrant Chambers, Simon Rainey QC is ‘top class in all respects – team leadership, knowledge, advocacy and drafting – and he is a delight to work with’. David Goldstone QC is ‘always on the button and has a real understanding of both the legal and commercial issues’. ‘The juniors are usually excellent value for money’, especially Guy Blackwood, Stewart Buckingham and John Russell. ‘The clerking is superb.’

3 Verulam Buildings’ Nicholas Craig is recommended.

Shipping and commodities expert Sean O’Sullivan at 4 Pump Court is ‘an exceptional barrister and a rising star – his advice is first class and he sees all the commercial angles, responds quickly and is extremely user friendly’.

At Stone Chambers, Dominic Happé is recommended, and the excellent Timothy Hill QC also handles some commodities work.

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