The Legal 500

United Kingdom > London Bar > Public international law

Editorial sections

Other

All countries

Index of tables

  1. Public international law – Leading Sets
  2. Public international law – Leading Silks
  3. Public international law – Leading Juniors

Blackstone Chambers has a broad stable of barristers with an excellent grounding in public international law. Sir Jeffrey Jowell KCMG QC and Timothy Otty QC have enviable reputations, and Maurice Mendelson QC, who is currently representing the respondent in Georgia v Russian Federation in the European Court of Human Rights, has ‘the judgement and balance to deal with the most complex, frustrating and difficult cases’. Guy Goodwin-Gill is ‘very much the leading expert on international refugee and humanitarian law’, and ‘his advice and knowledge of the law is first class’. The ‘first-class’ Shaheed Fatima is a ‘rising star’ and ‘one of the leading juniors in public international law’.

Essex Court Chambers is ‘the go-to set on public and private international law’, with ‘juniors and silks who have incredible experience of international matters’. Among them, Vaughan Lowe QC is praised for his ‘informed, reasoned and very persuasive advocacy’. The ‘superb’ Malcolm Shaw QC is ‘a challenging and creative thinker, and one of the leading experts in the world on international law’. Among the juniors, Sam Wordsworth is one of the best-known experts in the market; and Dan Sarooshi is ‘an invaluable source of knowledge’ who ‘masters his brief very quickly and applies public international law in a practical fashion’.

20 Essex Street has an impressive mix of talent, including several elder statesmen of public international law. Among these, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht QC has ‘unrivalled experience as a practitioner in this field’, as does Sir Daniel Bethlehem KCMG QC, who returned to practice in 2011 after five years as principal legal adviser to the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Of the juniors, the ‘very user-friendly and unflappable’ Guglielmo Verdirame is ‘a rising star in the field of international law’, and the ‘enthusiastic and well-informed’ Sudhanshu Swaroop is also very well regarded.

At Matrix Chambers, founding member James Crawford SC is considered ‘a legend’, and acted as lead counsel for Greece in Macedonia v Greece at the International Court of Justice. Lead counsel for Macedonia was the equally well-regarded Philippe Sands QC. Among the juniors, the ‘brilliant, creative and knowledgeable’ Zachary Douglas ‘will be one of the leading public international lawyers of the future’. Another popular choice is Alison Macdonald, ‘a top-flight lawyer who will go a very long way’. Blinne Ni Ghralaigh ‘brings a level of legal knowledge and judgement that is far beyond her years of practice’.

Search News and Articles

Press releases

The latest news direct from law firms. If you would like to submit press releases for your firm, send an email request to

Legal Developments in the UK

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

Press Releases in the UK

The latest news direct from law firms. If you would like to submit press releases for your firm, send an email request to
© 2013 www.legal500.com