Edward Davies KC > Erskine Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Erskine Chambers
1, Paper Buildings
London
EC4Y 7EP
England

Position

Edward Davies KC is an experienced commercial litigator, with a strong grounding in company law and corporate insolvency.

He has acted in some of the most significant recent actions in these areas, including ClientEarth v Shell Plc (an application for permission to continue a derivative claim against the directors of Shell plc on grounds of failure to manage climate change risks); Autonomy Corporation Ltd v Lynch (claims concerning the US$11 billion takeover of Autonomy by Hewlett Packard); BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana, (the leading case on the duties of directors in the context of insolvent companies); and Re Coroin Ltd (unfair prejudice and conspiracy claims concerning the Barclay brothers and control of Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley).

Edward has particular expertise in shareholder disputes, including unfair prejudice petitions and derivative claims. Edward also regularly advises on non-contentious and transactional matters, including schemes of arrangement, reductions of capital, transfers under Part VII FSMA 2000 and company meetings. He appeared on the contested scheme in respect of Dee Valley plc.

Edward frequently acts in overseas matters, including in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands and Jersey; he is called to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Bar. In the case of IsZo v Nam Tai, Edward recently represented a US investor in successfully reversing a $170m placement in a BVI company and, in the insolvency context, he appeared in the leading case on the operation of the segregated accounts regime in Bermuda, Re Northstar Financial Services.

A list of Edward’s reported cases is at www.erskinechambers.com.

Career

Called 1998; Silk 2017.

PUBLICATIONS:

Company Directors: Law and Liability; PLC Law: Freezing injunctions case study; FromCounsel.com

Memberships

COMBAR. Chancery Bar Association.

Lawyer Rankings

London Bar > Company

(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3

Edward Davies KCErskine Chambers ‘Ed is very user-friendly and responsive, and excellent at identifying creative and practical solutions to problems because he is on top of the detail.’

London Bar > Commercial litigation

(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 6

Edward Davies KCErskine Chambers ‘Very user friendly and responsive. He clearly knows the law very well and is excellent at identifying practical solutions to problems. He is on top of the detail of cases and his drafting is excellent. No weaknesses to speak of.’

The English Bar Offshore > The English Bar Offshore

(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2

Edward Davies KCErskine Chambers ‘Edward is a brilliant barrister to work with. He is very thorough in his work, clever in terms of strategy and practical in the advice he provides. His advocacy is excellent as he demonstrates a strong understanding of all the issues and develops compelling arguments.’

Corporate transactions, restructuring and insolvency, and financial services are the core pillars of Erskine Chambers offshore offering, with members appearing at all levels of the court system throughout the Caribbean. The ‘excellent all round’ David Chivers KC lends his expertise to offshore corporate litigation and company law, in addition to corporate restructuring and insolvency work. Edward Davies KC and Michael Todd KC were involved in Re Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Ltd, which saw proceedings in Bermuda concerning two insolvent insurance companies with aggregate deficiency of an estimated $300m.