Ben Woolgar > Brick Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Brick Court Chambers Offices
7-8 ESSEX STREET
LONDON
WC2R 3LD
England
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Ben Woolgar
Position
Ben specialises in heavy-duty, high profile commercial litigation and arbitration. His broad commercial practice spans civil fraud, energy, banking, mining and insurance work, including jurisdiction challenges and injunctions.
He is recommended as a “Rising Star” in Legal 500 for Commercial Dispute Resolution, International Arbitration, Civil Fraud, Banking and Finance and Energy, and is also recommended in Chambers & Partners for Commercial Dispute Resolution and Civil Fraud. He has appeared in The Lawyer’s Top 20 Cases list in all but one of the years he has been in practice.
Career
Call: 2014
Education
2013-2014: BPTC, City Law School (Outstanding)
2012-2013: GDL, City Law School (Distinction, 4th in year)
2009-2012: MA, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Oxford (Balliol College) (First Class, Gibbs Prize for Best Thesis in Politics)
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 2Ben Woolgar – Brick Court Chambers ‘Has an exceptional ability to take on and turn around massive amounts of work, and to produce excellent documents with real legal flair. A great lawyer who is a pleasure to work with.’
London Bar > Energy
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4Ben Woolgar – Brick Court Chambers ‘A razor-sharp junior.’
London Bar > Commercial litigation
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 5Ben Woolgar – Brick Court Chambers ‘Ben is a future star of the bar and he is already very much in demand. He has a special ability to spot winning points and to see an opponent’s weaknesses.’
As a ‘premier commercial set with real strength-in-depth’, Brick Court Chambers continues to impress with its routine involvement in big-ticket cases. In Privatbank v Kolomoisky, Mark Howard KC represents former bank owner Igor Kolomoisky against the bank’s claims that he misappropriated US$2.4bn by arranging fraudulent loans, leading Michael Bools KC, Alec Haydon KC, Geoffrey Kuehne, and Ben Woolgar. Simon Salzedo KC leads a team including Richard Eschwege KC, Michael Bolding, and Tom Wood, representing mining company Vale SA in Municipio de Mariana v BHP Group, a significant group action with over 800,000 claimants seeking £36bn in damages for the Fundão Dam collapse in Brazil. Roger Masefield KC represents the Nigerian government in Nigeria v Tibit, a case concerning an attempt to recover a private jet, alleged to have been purchased by late kleptocrat Sane Abacha’s oil minister with the proceeds of corruption. Richard Blakeley KC took silk in March 2024.
London Bar > Fraud: civil
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Ben Woolgar – Brick Court Chambers ‘He has the ability to get to the essence of a case and to find points which the judges will find of interest.’
Brick Court Chambers continues to impress with its members’ involvement in an array of high-profile cases, offering ‘huge strength in depth for fraud work’. Members of the set continue to be involved in “tuna bonds” scandal litigation concerning the fraudulent and corrupt procurement of sovereign guarantees worth $2bn, with Richard Blakeley KC, newly appointed silk as of March 2024, representing the Republic of Mozambique in proceedings against Credit Suisse, VTB and Privinvest Group companies; Ben Woolgar and Frederick Wilmot-Smith acting for the Privinvest defendants; and Stephen Midwinter KC, Laura Newton, and Tom Wood instructed by banks that provided syndicated lending to Mozambique. Tim Lord KC, leading a team including Thomas Plewman KC, represents Ziyavudin Magomedov and his companies in relation to high-value disputes around the world arising out of an alleged conspiracy to carry out a corporate raid of assets belonging to the former tycoon, who is currently serving a prison sentence in Russia.. Fred Hobson KC and Richard Blakeley KC took silk in March 2024.
The English Bar Offshore > Commercial disputes
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4Ben Woolgar – Brick Court Chambers ‘Ben is incredibly bright and hardworking. He is beyond his year of call in terms of his experience and advocacy ability, and a go-to for tough cases where you need the best counsel team you can get.’
Brick Court Chambers is home to numerous reputable silks who regularly conduct a wide range offshore commercial disputes. Vernon Flynn KC is a notable commercial silk at the set who is representing the Government of Pakistan in BVI litigation concerning the enforcement of an ICSID award in favour of Tethyan Copper Company. Mark Howard KC has substantial experience in handling cases in offshore jurisdictions, especially the BVI, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands – he is representing CL Financial Limited in a case concerning allegations that the sale of shares from his client to Proman Holding (Bermuda) Limited was done without authority, and also at a major undervalue (Proman Holding (Bermuda) Limited v CL Financial Limited). Stephen Midwinter KC frequently represents clients in the BVI Commercial Court, while Simon Salzedo KC is especially skilled in Cayman Island appraisal litigation and representing dissenting shareholders. Among its juniors, Edward Ho and Ben Woolgar are particularly active.