Set Profile > Erskine Chambers > London, England
Erskine Chambers Offices
Erskine Chambers
33 CHANCERY LANE
LONDON
WC2A 1EN
England
Erskine Chambers > The Legal 500 Rankings
Insolvency Tier 2
Erskine Chambers contains practitioners well versed in contentious insolvencies and corporate restructuring, drawing on substantial experience from large insolvencies acted in over the last decade. The set is particularly strong in cases where insolvency intersects with banking and finance or civil fraud. David Chivers QC was instructed in Liquidators of Weavering MacroFixed Income Fund v Skandanaviska Ensiklda Banken; Peter Arden QC continued to act in Re Lehman Brothers International(Europe): the surplus scheme. Raquel Agnello QC has developed a niche in the interface between insolvency and pensions law.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Offshore Tier 3
Erskine Chambers' members are well versed in Chancery issues across the British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. Michael Todd QC and Philip Gillyon represented the appellant latter party in East Asia Company v PT Satria Tiratama Energindo, a Privy Council case stemming from the transfer of shares of Bali Energy, a Bermudian company with geothermal energy rights in Indonesia. Todd QC also represented the defendant law firm in Bermuda Bar Council v Walkers, a case which reached the Privy Council and concerned whether Walkers complied with the Bermudian regulator's requirement for local ownership of law firms.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Commercial litigation Tier 4
Erskine Chambers is 'a very good set, filled with juniors and silks who are often top of their game'. The set will miss Tim Akkouh, who has joined Essex Court Chambers, although it still has several extremely well-regarded juniors among its ranks. The set is especially strong on Chancery issues, and is also noted for its fraud expertise. A notable highlight was Andrew Thompson QC's role representing BAT Industries in its dispute with Sequana, which went to the Court of Appeal.
Leading Silks
Company and partnership
Erskine Chambers is noted for its 'strength in depth and large number of counsel available' for UK and offshore company law matters. In recent highlights, Andrew Thompson QC and Ben Griffiths are acting in BAT v Sequana (a multi-jurisdictional commercial dispute regarding environmental pollution of US rivers, and claims of breach of fiduciary duty), in addition to regularly advising on corporate transactions. Also of note, Martin Moore QC is assisting Sky in its complex takeover by Comcast. In another highlight, Stephen Smith QC was instructed by JSC Mezhprombank in JSC Mezhprombank v Pugachev; complex proceedings against a former Russian oligarch in connection with the liquidation of a Russian bank and claims of misappropriation.
Company - Leading Juniors
Company - Leading Silks
Set overviews: England and Wales
Erskine Chambers is ‘a very good set, filled with juniors and silks who are often top of their game’. The set shines in the areas of company shareholder and partnership disputes, as well as restructuring and insolvency. Tim Akkouh has joined Essex Court Chambers. Senior clerks Mark Swallow and Chris Reade ‘run an excellent ship’; they are assisted by first junior clerk Michael Shillingford. Offices in: London
Erskine Chambers > Firm Profile
Erskine Chambers is recognised as being pre-eminent in company law and a leading set in associated fields including insolvency, financial services and corporate/commercial litigation (including civil fraud and asset recovery).
The set: Chambers’ size (30 barristers including 11 QCs) allows it to maintain expertise in its core practice areas while fielding effective teams in Commercial Court and Chancery Division litigation. Prominent former members include Arden LJ, David Richards LJ and Richard Snowden J, while present members sit on various law reform committees and are editors and contributors to the leading texts on company law.
Types of work undertaken:
Company law: Erskine is the go-to set for company law disputes and corporate transactions, including: shareholder disputes (Kleanthous v Paphitis; Bumi), joint venture disputes and technical company litigation (Eclairs v JKX; Enviroco v Farstad – both Supreme Court). Members have advised on most of the largest UK corporate transactions of recent years, including Friends Life/Aviva, Invensys/Schneider, Glencore/Xstrata and Vodafone/Verizon. Erskine provides counsel for the majority of schemes of arrangement, cross-border mergers (Honda Europe; Sony; Itau BBA), Part VII transfers of insurance business (Royal London/CIS, Barclays/ING), and reductions of capital.
Corporate/commercial litigation and arbitration: a large proportion of Erskine’s work is litigation at the intersection between company, commercial and insolvency law, including: commercial and contractual disputes; breach of fiduciary duty (Autonomy v Lynch; BAT Industries v Windward); LLP and funds disputes (Re Charterhouse Capital; F&C Investments v Barthelemy); and civil fraud and asset recovery (BTA Bank v Ablyazov; Mezhprombank v Pugachev). Members have particular expertise in freezing injunctions and other forms of interim relief.
Insolvency: Erskine has a strong reputation for both contentious insolvency and corporate restructuring. Insolvency litigation often involves cross-border issues (Olympic Airlines Trustees; Nortel & Lehman Bros v Pensions Regulator; Belmont Park v BNY – all Supreme Court; Singularis v PwC; PwC v Saad; MF Global). Restructurings include insolvent schemes of arrangement, administrations and CVAs (SphinX, Halliwells, Baugur, Miss Sixty).
Financial services: members undertake both contentious and non-contentious FSMA work. Litigation includes: funds, collective investment schemes and public offers of securities; prospectus liability (RBS rights issue litigation); financial conduct, regulation and enforcement (Lehmans client money) and interest rate swap claims against banks. Non-contentious work includes Part VII business transfers, securitisation and structured finance.
International: Erskine’s work is highly international, whether advising on multi-jurisdictional transactions or litigating complex cross-border disputes. Members are active in a large number of offshore jurisdictions, including the Channel Islands, Cayman, BVI, Bermuda, Turks & Caicos, St Vincent and Grenadine, Hong Kong and Singapore and have extensive trial experience, from First Instance to Appellate and Privy Council.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior clerks | Mark Swallow | ||
| Senior clerks | Chris Reade | ||
| Clerks | Michael Shillingford | ||
| Clerks | Alex Calder | ||
| Clerks | Seamus Nixon | ||
| Clerks | Jake Taylor | ||
| Clerks | Samantha Rouse | ||
| Members of Chambers | TODD QC, Michael (1977) (QC-1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MABB QC, David (1979) (QC-2001) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MOORE QC, Martin (1982) (QC-2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CHIVERS QC, David (1983) (QC-2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ARDEN QC, Peter (1983) (QC-2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SMITH QC, Stephen (1983) (QC-2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BRYANT QC, Ceri (1984) (QC-2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | AGNELLO QC, Raquel (1986) (QC-2009) | ||
| Members of Chambers | THOMPSON QC, Andrew (1991) (QC-2014) | ||
| Members of Chambers | POTTS QC, James (1994) (QC-2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DAVIES QC, Edward (1998) (QC-2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SEGAL, Nick (2018) (Solicitor-1982) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ROBERTS, Catherine (1986) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GILLYON, Philip (1988) | ||
| Members of Chambers | STOKES, Mary (1989) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PRENTICE, Prof Dan (1982) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DOUGHERTY, Nigel (1993) | ||
| Members of Chambers | THORNTON, Andrew (1994) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HORAN, Stephen (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SHAW, Ben (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GRIFFITHS, Ben (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PARFITT, Matthew (2005) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HARTY, Patrick (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | RIVETT, Jack (2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SCHARNETZKY, Anna (2011) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LLOYD, Christopher (2011) | ||
| Members of Chambers | STAYNINGS, Chantelle (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BLAKE, Andrew (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WILLIAMS, Emma (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MCLAUGHLIN, Conor (2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | NOLAN, Richard (1999) (Door tenant) |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
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Raquel Agnello QC | View Profile | |
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Peter Arden QC | View Profile | |
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Andrew Blake | View Profile | |
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David Chivers QC | View Profile | |
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Edward Davies QC | View Profile | |
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Nigel Dougherty | View Profile | |
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Philip Gillyon | View Profile | |
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Ben Griffiths | View Profile | |
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Patrick Harty | View Profile | |
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Stephen Horan | View Profile | |
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Christopher Lloyd | View Profile | |
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David Mabb QC | View Profile | |
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Conor McLaughlin | View Profile | |
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Martin Moore QC | View Profile | |
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Richard Nolan | View Profile | |
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Matthew Parfitt | View Profile | |
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James Potts QC | View Profile | |
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Prof Dan Prentice | View Profile | |
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Jack Rivett | View Profile | |
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Catherine Roberts | View Profile | |
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Anna Scharnetzky | View Profile | |
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Nick Segal | View Profile | |
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Ben Shaw | View Profile | |
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Stephen Smith QC | View Profile | |
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Chantelle Staynings | View Profile | |
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Mary Stokes | View Profile | |
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Andrew Thompson QC | View Profile | |
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Andrew Thornton | View Profile | |
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Michael Todd QC | View Profile | |
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Emma Williams | View Profile |