Commercial

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3 Verulam Buildings
39 Essex Chambers
Fountain Court Chambers
Twenty Essex
2
36 Stone
3
Quadrant Chambers

Leading Silks

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Vernon Flynn KC – Brick Court Chambers ‘A number one choice on difficult cases particularly with an arbitration angle.’
Timothy Howe KC – Fountain Court Chambers ‘He is very clever with a fine analytical mind. He is fair-minded and truly impartial. He is a pleasure to work with, too.’
Toby Landau KC – Duxton Hill Chambers ‘Toby is simply brilliant at what he does.  He never fails to demonstrate a unique creativity and tenacity in very aspect of his written and oral advocacy, able to explain complex arguments in the most easily understandable manner possible.  It is a joy to work with him.'
Charles Manzoni KC – 39 Essex Chambers ‘One of the top counsel.’
Ewan McQuater KC – 3 Verulam Buildings 'Very good advocate and strategist.  Excellent legal analysis.'
Stephen Moriarty KC – Fountain Court Chambers ‘Stephen is one of the most intelligent, knowledgeable and diligent barristers. He prepares his cases thoroughly and expends the time to master the legal issues and facts. He picks up facts and points that others miss. Despite his high intelligence and standing he is a pleasure to work with. He is genuinely consultative and gives careful consideration to views of co-counsel.’
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Raymond Cox KC – Fountain Court Chambers
Nicholas Craig KC – 3 Verulam Buildings ‘Nicholas is a powerful oral and written advocate.  He operates quickly and turns around quality work at speed with a tactical flair and always delivering value.'
Anneliese Day KC – Fountain Court Chambers ‘Anneliese is very experienced in professional negligence aspects and has a very measured advocacy style.’
Nakul Dewan SA – Twenty Essex ‘It is a pleasure to work with Nakul. He is very meticulous and thorough in preparation, andis known for his expertise particularly in the field of arbitration and willing to discuss and share his views on any interesting legal proposition. He is always ready and willing to take that extra effort by devoting time and thinking out-of-the-box to arrive at solutions that best suit the client’s interest.’
Charles Hollander KC – Brick Court Chambers ‘Great advocate and very intelligent and quick on his feet.'
Adrian Hughes KC – 39 Essex Chambers ‘He has strong communication skill and fruitful experience.’
Stuart Isaacs KC – Wilberforce Chambers ‘Stuart is a class act.  Smart, polished and able to cut incisively into the heart of every case and produce arguments that simply win.  He is also a pleasure to appear before as an arbitrator, with the patience of a saint.'
David Lewis KC –Twenty Essex
Ali Malek KC – 3 Verulam Buildings ‘Ali has a strong reputation as one of London’s finest barristers for commercial disputes and arbitration.’
Simon Milnes KC – Twenty Essex ‘Simon has great sense of how judge will see the case and a great sense of bringing the various ingredients together. His knowledge of Chinese is useful, and his advocacy is tip-top. It is useful that Simon can handle cross border and multi jurisdictional issues.’ 
Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC – Fountain Court Chambers
Luke Parsons KC – Quadrant Chambers ‘Brilliant on his feet. A razor sharp cross examiner. Can think outside the box and find solutions where others can't.'
Bankim Thanki KC – Fountain Court Chambers
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Michael Ashcroft KC – Twenty Essex
Philip Edey KC – Twenty Essex
Matthew Gearing KC – Fountain Court Chambers  ‘Well prepared and keeps to the point - an excellent advocate.’ 
Saima Hanif KC–3 Verulam Buildings
Christopher Harris KC – 3 Verulam Buildings
Timothy Hill KC – Twenty Essex
David Joseph KC –Essex Court Chambers
Hodge Malek KC – 3 Verulam Buildings  ‘Hodge is extremely bright, a masterful strategist and first rate advocate. He is powerhouse commercial silk, both in England and abroad. He is a commanding figure before any court and tribunal. He has a phenomenal attention to detail and is able to cut through the issues in a simple and effective way. He is always two steps ahead and is ahead to draw on his experience to look at cases more holistically and offer clients advice on every aspect and on issues no one else has foreseen. His clients adore him and trust him blindly to get the right result.'
Jern-Fei Ng KC – 7BR 
Colin Ong KC – 36 Stone ‘He masters the details brilliantly, and has a commanding presence with real gravitas.'
Andrew Onslow KC – 3 Verulam Buildings 'An excellent advocate with real gravitas.  Judges listen to him.'
Rajesh Pillai KC – 3 Verulam Buildings
Simon Rainey KC – Quadrant Chambers 'Brain the size of a planet. Judges and Arbitrators love him. Is now expensive but you get what you pay for. Really good with clients.'
Hefin Rees KC  – 3 Verulam Buildings 'Excellent on his feet. Very personable to deal with.'
Vasanti Selvaratnum KC – The 36 Group
Akhil Shah KC – Fountain Court Chambers ‘Akil is thorough in his advice and very clear in what arguments could work and which arguments might not work.  He is thoroughly professional in his outlook, very knowledgeable and is clearly an expert in his field.  Clients value his contribution as an expert in English aviation and commercial law. ’

Leading Juniors

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Jonathan Bellamy – 39 Essex Chambers
James Potts – 3 Verulam Buildings ‘He is growing from strength to strength and is now doing a lot more trials and applications on his own and gets good results. He has good judgement. When necessary he is great at collating complex factual matters and pulling all the threads together. He gets on well with clients.’
Andrew Pullen – Fountain Court Chambers 'He is very good at technical and detailed analyses. His diligent and responsive attitude are impressive to me.'
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Ravi Aswani – 36 Stone ‘Ravi's advice is not just legally correct but also always commercially relevant, which is what the client is looking for.' 
Yash Bheeroo – 3 Verulam Buildings 'Thorough, efficient and friendly.'
Darius Chan – Fountain Court Chambers 'Attention to detail, great social skills yet an uncanny ability to see the big picture.'
Alexander Heylin – No5 Barristers' Chambers 'His strengths include his ability to think outside the box. He is also extremely good at dealing with difficult clients.'
Loretta Malintoppi – 39 Essex Chambers
Cameron Miles – 3 Verulam Buildings 'Cameron is highly versatile and has great expertise in public international law. His written and oral advocacy is highly impressive. A true superstar in the making.'
Rani Noakes – 4 Pump Court
Thomas Sebastian – Monckton Chambers
Nik Yeo – Fountain Court Chambers ‘Nik is able to digest the voluminous documentation and complex issues in the trial below and produces a cogent and succinct appellant’s case within tight timelines.’  

Commercial in Asia Pacific: The English Bar

3 Verulam Buildings

The ‘thoroughly efficient’ 3 Verulam Buildings remains a recognised and prestigious set in a wide variety of commercial law practice areas. Members of chambers have consistently been instructed on leading commercial and investment arbitrations, whilst developing an investment treaty practice within Asia Pacific regions. One standout case for the chambers was International Petroleum Investment Company; Aabar Investments v 1 Malaysia Development Berhad; Ministry of Finance Inc, Malaysia whereby Ewan Mcquater KC handled the London leg of the litigation regarding the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia, relating to the alleged looting of billions of US dollars from a sovereign wealth fund by, inter alia, the country’s former prime minister Najib Razak. Saima Hanif KC has an established practice acting for financial institutions and individuals around banking and finance regulation. Richard Salter’s practice covers all aspects of commercial litigation and arbitration, with specialisms including banking, corporate finance and financial services. Recent arrivals include Can Yeginsu who has joined from 4 New Square and Damien Walker joining from Essex Court Chambers.

Testimonials

Set

‘Excellent set.’

‘Thorough efficient friendly.’

‘At 3VB I work closely with a number of excellent juniors.’

‘3VB is a strong all round set – very good at all levels.’

‘3VB is by far the top commercial set in London and the first choice for commercial disputes, fraud litigation, and arbitration disputes as well as insurance claims.’

Clerking

‘Fast and efficient.’

‘The senior clerks are brilliant and work well together. They keep each other abreast of things. Very experienced and act responsibly and do not over promise.’

‘Very good – responsive and commercial.’  

‘The clerks like Stuart Pullum and Stephen Penson are simply excellent. They provide clear recommendations that have proven to be excellent and do not simply push barristers on instructing solicitors that are not suited for a particular dispute. They are at the top of their game. Simply excellent.’

‘The clerks at 3VB are honest, fair and clear in providing strong recommendations of choice of junior or senior barristers depending on the nature of the dispute. This is a rare quality in London as we are not being pushed to instruct a barrister but provided with clear recommendations to suit a specific dispute. They are simply excellent clerks.’

36 Stone

The 36 Group is a dedicated commercial set with its members having experience with high value, multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes, across Asia Pacific regions such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Colin Ong KC is revered for his experience in arbitration in Brunei - he is also a member of the Bruneian and Singaporean Bars - and is an advisory member of the China-ASEAN Legal Research Centre. Ravi Aswani is skilled in Indian law, Malaysian law and Singaporean law.

Testimonials

Set

’36 Stone group is excellent and has some extremely intelligent barristers.’

’36 Stone is a well regarded and diversified set.  I have a high regard for Elizabeth Blackburn KC (pollution at sea), Charles Debattista (shipping) and Mary Thomson (shipping, commercial and insurance).  Like Mr Wight, Ms Thomson divides her practice between London and Hong Kong.’ 

Clerking

‘Clerking has always been good. Very attentive and generally commercial on fees.’

‘Likeable and efficient, just what all sets need.’

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers are an international chambers offering leading commercial barristers in Asia Pacific regions such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. Members of chambers are supported by the clerks who bring a high degree of knowledge about the Asia Pacific market, with their client focused and commercial approach. Adrian Hughes KC has an established commercial arbitration practice, acting as counsel for law firms and clients in Asia and the Far East including China, with work highlights also including London litigation involving the enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards. Jonathan Bellamy  as an established advisory and representation practice including arbitrations under institutions including ICC, LCIA, SIAC and UNCITRAL.

Testimonials

Set

‘This chambers has strength in depth when it comes to international arbitrators.’

Clerking

‘Abhinav Bhushan from 39 Essex is hugely helpful resource.’

Fountain Court Chambers

Fountain Court Chambers is a leading international arbitration chambers, with a long-standing close connection to Singapore. Its members have enjoyed a large number of counsel appointments in arbitrations including Stephen Moriarty KC, Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, Anneliese Day KC, Raymond Cox KC and others. The Singapore office is led by Andrew Pullen, who has developed a successful practice and has been appointed as arbitrator by the SIAC.

Testimonials

Set

‘Fountain Court has deep bench strength across all seniorities.’

‘Our engagement with Chambers has surrounded expert advice from a depth of experience pertaining to our case. It has been both well received and directed. Counsel has been pertinent and direct and performed by senior advocates with an impressive depth of knowledge and with a refreshing good humour.’

‘Fountain Court’s depth and strength is evident. They are able to offer counsel across many specialised fields.’

‘Of all the sets in Singapore, Fountain Court make the most effort to market themselves and to provide competitive services.’

‘Very strong set with a real commitment to Asia and Singapore. Andrew Pullen is based in Singapore, very involved with the local arbitration community and similarly hard working and smart.’ 

Clerking

‘All my engagement has been thoroughly satisfactory.’

‘One of the very best in Alex Taylor. Extremely responsive.’

‘Alex Taylor is an excellent Head Clerk, and he leads a very strong team.’

Quadrant Chambers

Quadrant Chambers is a permanent presence within the Asia Pacific region with links to local law firms in the region including elite mainland Chinese firms, with particular expertise in cases touching on the set's strengths in shipping and commodities. Luke Parsons KC is regularly instructed by domestic and international law firms in complex disputes, coming from regions such as Korea and China, and Yash Kulkarni KC is often instructed by large US firms on high value international arbitrations in the region.

Testimonials

Set

‘Good set, easy to deal with.’

Twenty Essex

The ‘utterly brilliant’ Twenty Essex has grown significantly with its increased investment into the Asia Pacific region, where its members undertake practice areas such as commercial arbitration. The set continues to have Michael Ashcroft KC has vast experience within numerous jurisdictions such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea, with cases involving commercial contract disputes. Timothy Hill KC and David Lewis KC are other key names in the set for Asian work.