Shipping And Commodities

1
Quadrant Chambers
Twenty Essex
2
36 Stone
4 Pump Court

Leading Silks

1
Simon Croall QC – Quadrant Chambers‘He is able to grasp the core elements of the case in a very short time and his advice is always very reliable.’
Timothy Hill QC – Twenty Essex‘He is very commercial and quick on the technical issues.’
Charles Kimmins QC – Twenty Essex
David Lewis QC – Twenty Essex‘He is unperturbable on his feet and a go-to barrister for all shipping and commodities disputes.’
Luke Parsons QC – Quadrant Chambers‘An excellent advocate and one of the leaders in the shipping space.’ 
Lionel Persey QC – Quadrant Chambers‘A solid advocate in this field.’
Simon Rainey QC – Quadrant Chambers‘An expert in maritime and shipping issues, especially those concerning transportation and rig engineering.’
Robert Thomas QC–Quadrant Chambers‘Technically excellent with good advocacy skills, which combine an easy style with a quiet confidence, and an ability to cut through irrelevancies to get to the nub of a matter.’
Nicholas Vineall QC – 4 Pump Court‘Fantastic on technical issues, very calm and great on his feet.’
2
Michael Ashcroft QC – Twenty Essex‘He is incredibly meticulous with an excellently structured approach to his work and advocacy.’
Nigel Cooper QC – Quadrant Chambers‘He is always well organised, prepared and can deal with the most challenging tribunals.’
Michael Davey QC–Quadrant Chambers‘He has a very sharp mind, is extremely thorough and is always utterly well prepared.’
Nigel Jacobs QC – Quadrant Chambers‘His strength is his incredibly detailed and thorough forensic preparation of cases.’
Chirag Karia QC–Quadrant Chambers‘His advice is clear, to the point and his availability is commendable.’
John Kimbell QC – Quadrant Chambers
Yash Kulkarni QC – Quadrant Chambers‘Excellent at getting to grips with detail.’
Duncan Matthews QC – Twenty Essex‘A superb tactician and excellent in advocacy.’
Jern-Fei Ng QC – 7BR‘Always helpful, user friendly and able to grasp the details quickly.’
Michael Nolan QC – Quadrant Chambers
Sean O’Sullivan QC–4 Pump Court‘He is incredibly smart and has an excellent eye for detail.’
John Russell QC – Quadrant Chambers
Vasanti Selvaratnam QC – 36 Stone‘Noted for her impressive written work, strategy and analysis.’
Christopher Smith QC–Quadrant Chambers‘His drafting is first-class; both concise and eloquent.’
James Turner QC–Quadrant Chambers‘His strengths are excellent advocacy skills, technical abilities and cultural sensitivity.’
Sara Masters QC – Twenty Essex ‘A first-class advocate who can see the wood for the trees.‘
Timothy Young QC – Twenty Essex‘Creative, resilient and willing to fight difficult cases.’

2020 Silks

Stewart Buckingham QC – Quadrant Chambers‘He is thorough, commercial and pragmatic.’

Leading Juniors

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Simon Milnes–Twenty Essex‘A great strategist, a genius in getting the best out of his clients and instructing solicitors in building a case.’
Nevil Phillips–Quadrant Chambers‘He has a high level of expertise in his area, and is very responsive and has excellent litigation skills and commercial judgement.’
Alexander Wright–4 Pump Court‘His key strengths are a stellar combination of hard work and intelligence.’
Colin Wright–36 Stone‘A strong advocate who has excellent knowledge in this area of the law.’
2
Ravi Aswani – 36 Stone‘His written work is detailed, accurate and commercially sound.’
Tom Bird – Quadrant Chambers‘An excellent junior, highly intelligent and produces helpful advice on difficult legal issues.’
Oliver Caplin – Twenty Essex‘He has a very calm manner and pleasant disposition, but never misses a trick.’
Benjamin Coffer – Quadrant Chambers
Stephen Du - 7 King's Bench Walk
Henry Ellis – Quadrant Chambers
Paul Henton – Quadrant Chambers‘Excellent on his feet and highly strategic.’
Christopher Jay – Quadrant Chambers‘He is fiercely bright, hugely diligent and hard-working.’
Susannah Jones – Twenty Essex‘She has a phenomenal eye for detail and a tremendous work rate.’
Andrew Leung – Quadrant Chambers‘He has a a first-rate legal mind and a remarkable talent for digesting case materials at speed and providing focused, strategic analysis.’
Natalie Moore – Quadrant Chambers
Gemma Morgan – Quadrant Chambers‘An excellent advocate who instils a strong sense that the case is in the right hands and who fiercely presents and defends a client's position.’
Ben Olbourne – 39 Essex Chambers
Saira Paruk–Quadrant Chambers‘She is very bright and is able to get up to speed quickly on a complex application for permission to appeal.’ 
Caroline Pounds – Quadrant Chambers
Gideon Shirazi – 4 Pump Court
Andrew Stevens – 4 Pump Court‘He has a profound understanding of laws in shipping and international trade.’
Peter Stevenson – Quadrant Chambers
Mary Thomson - 36 Stone ‘Based full-time in Hong Kong and is also well-connected in Singapore.’
Paul Toms – Quadrant Chambers‘Very diligent, bright and thorough.’
David Walsh – Essex Court Chambers

Shipping and commodities in Asia Pacific: The English Bar

36 Stone

36 Stone has a ‘long and distinguished history’ in the Asia Pacific region when it comes to shipping and international trade matters. Its members have extensive experience in the full range of shipping disputes relating to contractual documents, as well as regulatory mandates such as collision and environmental issues. Vasanti Selvaratnam QC embraces all aspects of maritime law, including both wet and dry shipping law matters, while Colin Wright maintains a strong reputation in Hong Kong (where he is also a member of Gilt Chambers), appearing in carriage of goods and international trade arbitrations and litigation.

Testimonials

Set

‘Very experienced set with a long and distinguished history, particularly in admiralty and marine insurance law.’

4 Pump Court

4 Pump Court has a ‘strong shipping and commodities presence’ in the Asia Pacific region, and many of its members have considerable experience in representing international firms, trading houses and P&I clubs, notably in Hong Kong and Singapore. Combining its marine and construction expertise, the set represents shipyards and buyers on financing issues in building cases. Nicholas Vineall QC is the driving force of the shipping team and is noted for his expertise in acting for clients in China on shipyard matters, while Sean O’Sullivan QC is recommended for shipbuilding disputes, as well as ship sales issues. Alexander Wright  continues to establish himself in the Chinese shipbuilding community.

Testimonials

Set

‘The experience of working with this chambers is wonderful and I always recommend them to our client. They understand the client very well and they recommend the suitable counsel depending on the case.’

‘4 Pump Court has a strong shipping and commodities presence.’

Clerking

‘Carl Wall is the main person for shipping and commodities, with many years of experience of working with the primary London and overseas shipping firms and increasingly with the P&I clubs with offices around the world.’

Quadrant Chambers

Praised as ‘market leaders with a reputation for excellence’, Quadrant Chambers provides leading expertise on the full range of shipping and commodities mandates, from dry and wet shipping matters, marine insurance to fraud, finance and other commercial disputes. The set houses ‘strong teams of counsel at different levels of seniority, who are competent in maritime and international commodities disputes’ and are frequently called on to appear in the market’s most high-profile cases and arbitration hearings. The Evergreen Marine v Nautical Challenge matter is worthy of noting, as Simon Rainey QC and Nigel Jacobs QC acted for Taiwanese Evergreen Marine in an unusual collision action heard before the United Kingdom Supreme Court, the first case of its type to be heard by the court since its transformation from the Appellate Committee of The House of Lords. Chirag Karia QC is engaged in arbitral and litigation matters arising from the Hin Leong and Ocean Tankers fraud in Singapore, working with lawyers in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Testimonials

Set

‘As always, a very reliable chambers with strong teams of counsel at different levels of seniority, who are competent in maritime and international commodities disputes.’

‘Quadrant are the leading maritime set with experts in every sub-category of maritime law, so you are always assured to get excellent availability.’

‘One of the “go to” shipping and (increasingly) commodities sets.’

‘It is an outstanding chambers that offers first-class expertise in shipping and commodities. The chambers exhibits extensive experience in claims stemming from shipbuilding, charter parties and bills of lading.’

‘Quadrant Chambers are market leaders with a reputation for excellence in their areas of commercial disputes, commodities and shipping.’

Clerking

‘Simon Slattery is extremely friendly and helpful when it comes to choosing barristers.’

‘Gary Ventura is fast achieving legendary status, the standard by which all clerks are judged.’

‘The clerks are very approachable, and efficient. Simon Slattery is very user-friendly and always eager to help.’

Twenty Essex

‘Offering great strength in depth’ in the shipping and commodities space, members of Twenty Essex, both silks and juniors, have the ‘sharpest legal minds’. Based in London and Singapore, the set has a strong reputation in handling ship and rig building construction disputes in both international arbitrations and the London courts. David Lewis QC is acting for the tenth defendant in an alleged commodities fraud, ED&F Man Capital Markets Ltd v Come Harvest Holdings Limited and others, in relation to forged warehouse receipts for consignments of nickel in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Elsewhere, Michael Ashcroft QC is leading Oliver Caplin on the matter of Trafigura Maritime Logistics Pte Ltd v Clearlake Shipping Pte Ltd, an interim application to obtain an injunction to compel performance of a maritime letter of indemnity, which questions the interpretation of the standard for International Group letter of indemnity.

Testimonials

Set

‘Twenty Essex is a preferred set for shipping and commodities work, offering great strength in depth.’

‘Excellent set with strength in depth, availability of counsel and general counsel who are easy to work with.’

Clerking

‘The clerks have always been helpful and very responsive.’

‘Most efficiently run.’