The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance (including consumer credit and financial regulation), tier 4

At 20 Essex Street, Iain Milligan QC is ‘a rare beast who refuses to adopt the conventional approach to a problem, but instead deconstructs it, goes back to the foundations and comes up with ingenious solutions’. Andrew Baker QC is ‘an impressive advocate and cross-examiner’ with ‘a grasp of the derivatives market that makes him highly sought after’. Julian Kenny is an ‘exceptionally competent junior’ who is ‘completely at home in banking and finance matters, grasping complex structures instantly’. The ‘formidably bright and knowledgeable’ Thomas Raphael is ‘an undoubted star of the future’.

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Within Commercial litigation, 20 Essex Street (Iain Milligan QC) is a second tier set,

Barristers at 20 Essex Street are highly recommended for their expertise in major international disputes. The ‘hardworking’ Iain Milligan QC is ‘one of the very top barristers at the commercial Bar’. Andrew Baker QC is ‘a tough opponent who pulls no punches and defends his clients with remarkable charm and courtesy’. The very popular Duncan Matthews QC is praised for his ‘robust intellect’, and Timothy Young QC is ‘the maestro; what he doesn ’t know about commercial law isn’t worth knowing’. Malcolm Jarvis is ‘very well versed in conflict of law situations, and is a very bright and capable barrister with excellent client skills and superb response times’.

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Within Commodities, 20 Essex Street (Iain Milligan QC) is a first tier set,

20 Essex Street fields knowledgeable clerks and ‘the strongest team of commodities barristers’, including the ‘experienced and excellent’ Stephen Males QC, who is ‘very clear and measured’, and Iain Milligan QC, who ‘sets extremely high standards’. Andrew Baker QC is ‘very good, very robust’ and ‘always quick to understand points’, and ‘go-to advocate’ Duncan Matthews QC ‘can make a tribunal stop and listen’. Charles Kimmins QC is ‘a great advocate, especially good at cross-examination and totally on top of the detail’. Michael Ashcroft QC demonstrates ‘a calm, analytical approach and detailed preparation and delivery’, and Philip Edey QC is ‘exceptionally quick and able’. The ‘very direct and effective’ Christopher Hancock QC is also recommended, as are Timothy Young QC and Michael Coburn QC. Among the juniors, Julian Kenny is ‘one of the most effective at the Bar’, and Henry Byam-Cook is ‘excellent and very responsive’. David Lewis is ‘very good to deal with and quick to understand points’, and the ‘very effective’ Clare Ambrose has ‘an excellent tactical sense’. Susannah Jones and Edmund Broadbent are also recommended. Michael Collett is ‘extremely bright and capable, very thorough, clear in his advice and a strong advocate’. New silk Sara Masters QC is ‘very commercially minded’.

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Within EU and competition, 20 Essex Street (Iain Milligan QC) is a third tier set,

20 Essex Street has ‘very good capabilities in the field of EU and competition law’, including Stephen Morris QC, who appeared in Visa v Commission and National Grid v ABB and others; and the highly regarded Iain Milligan QC, who appeared in Emerald v BA. Recommended juniors include Julian Kenny, Colleen Hanley and Josephine Davies.

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Within Energy, tier 4

At 20 Essex Street, leading energy figure Iain Milligan QC recently acted in Shell v Total, and Andrew Baker QC was instructed in PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia v Kaltim Prima Coal. The ‘user-friendly’ Christopher Hancock QCis also recommended, as are David Owen QC, Michael Tselentis QC and Malcolm Jarvis.

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Within Information technology,

Other recommended practitioners include Quadrant Chambers’ Simon Croall QC; Alan Gourgey QC at 11 Stone Buildings; Graham Read QC of Devereux; 7 Bedford Row’s Derek Sweeting QC; Nicholas Saunders at Brick Court Chambers; new silk Lawrence Akka QC at 20 Essex Street, who has an ‘excellent grasp of complex matters’; One Essex Court’s Geoffrey Hobbs QC and Philip Roberts, who is ‘very strong on his feet’; the ‘clear and persuasive’ Mark Shaw QC at Blackstone Chambers, which is well known for its telecoms expertise; and Cyril Chern of Crown Office Chambers, who has ‘exceptional knowledge and experience in IT both in the UK and throughout Europe’.

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Within Insolvency,

Also recommended are ‘great team player’ Simon Davenport QC; the ‘hugely helpful’ Clara Johnson and the ‘commercially astute and extremely user-friendly’ Rupert Butler at 3 Hare Court; the ‘extremely capable and effective’ Wendy Parker and the ‘very thorough and quick’ Jonathan Titmuss at Hardwicke; Terence Mowschenson QC at Wilberforce Chambers; the ‘user-friendly, commercial and extremely able’ Stephen Atherton QC at 20 Essex Street; the ‘hardworking, confident and informed’ Peter Shaw and Elaine Palser at 9 Stone Buildings; and the ‘calm, assured, measured and very persuasive’ David Peters, who moved from 11 Stone Buildings to Essex Court Chambers.

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Within Insurance and reinsurance, tier 4

20 Essex Street’s Christopher Hancock QC is ‘nothing short of exceptional’, and Stephen Atherton QC, who joined chambers from South Square, ‘a restructuring specialist who grasps complex issues quickly and is able to communicate them effectively’. Julian Kenny recently acted for the owners in Pacific Basin IHX Ltd v Bulkhandling Handymax AS, concerning a vessel’s entitlement to refuse to sail through the Gulf of Aden on the grounds of risk of piracy. Philip Edey QC, David Owen QC and Iain Milligan QC are also recommended.

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Within International arbitration, 20 Essex Street (Iain Milligan QC) is a first tier set,

20 Essex Street is ‘simply outstanding’ for international arbitration. The ‘extraordinarily hardworking’ Iain Milligan QC has ‘excellent analytical skills and expresses himself concisely’. Philip Edey QC is ‘an exceptional talent’, and the ‘magisterial’ Duncan Matthews QC is ‘one of the best courtroom and tribunal advocates’. Charles Kimmins QC is ‘top class; a really good advocate and cross-examiner who is totally on top of the detail’. Sara Masters QC is ‘a true specialist in her field; there is little which escapes her attention’. Her recent elevation to QC ‘was long overdue’. Among the juniors, David Lewis is ‘unflappable under pressure and a first-rate drafter and cross-examiner’.

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Within Media, entertainment and sport,

Other highly respected silks include the ‘insightful, incredibly clever, strategically astute’ Andrew Caldecott QC at 1 Brick Court; Guy Morpuss QC at 20 Essex Street; Stephen Cogley QC at Quadrant Chambers; and Paul Gilroy QC at Old Square Chambers, who handles sports disciplinary matters.

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Within Public international law, 20 Essex Street (Iain Milligan QC) is a first tier set,

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.

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Within Shipping, 20 Essex Street (Iain Milligan QC) is a second tier set,

20 Essex Street is ‘very strong in dry shipping and commodities trading work’. The ‘very impressive’ Andrew Baker QC recently led junior Henry Byam-Cook in the Supreme Court case Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. v E.N.E. Kos 1 Limited. Stephen Males QC is ‘one of the best advocates at the Bar’, and Iain Milligan QC is an ‘outstanding commercial silk’. Other recommended silks include Duncan Matthews QC, who ‘picks up points at lightning speed’; Timothy Young QC, who is ‘a lateral and inventive thinker’; ‘rising star’ Philip Edey QC, who acted in Suek AG v Glencore International AG; the ‘insightful and effective’ David Owen QC, who has ‘an impressive breadth of expertise’; Michael Ashcroft QC, who is a ‘superstar’ with ‘excellent academic and analytical skills’; and the ‘extremely hardworking’ Charles Kimmins QC. The recently appointed Sara Masters QC has ‘compendious knowledge of EU law’. Recommended juniors include Michael Collett, who is ‘strong whether on paper, in conference or at trial’; Thomas Raphael, who is ‘extremely clever and hardworking with a keen eye for the minutiae within a case’; David Lewis, who has ‘a commanding court presence’; and Julian Kenny.

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Within Treasury Panel Lists Junior Counsel to the Crown – A Panel

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