Andrew Thompson KC > Erskine Chambers > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Company law heavyweight Erskine Chambers has particular strength in areas where insolvency meets banking and finance or civil fraud. The liquidation of Carillion led to some of chambers’ most notable work in this area, Andrew Thompson KC acting for its five non-executive directors and James Potts KC representing its former finance director in directors’ disqualification proceedings. CVAs have been a notable trend and leading insolvency silk Peter Arden KC has led Ben Shaw on a number of these, including acting for a group of landlords challenging the New Look CVA, the leading case on CVAs in the retail industry.

‘Undoubtedly top of the league in company law, from the silks down to the juniors‘, Erskine Chambers are the standout set, housing members that cover the range of both litigation and transactional matters. The set were unsurprisingly a key player across various of the market trends this year, one notable area being contested schemes of arrangement. A particular highlight in that respect saw David Chivers KC leading Andrew Blake in hedge fund HBK’s successful opposition to Caesars Entertainment’s acquisition of William Hill. Martin Moore KC acted on the opposite side in that case and is, along with Chivers, routinely instructed on the highest stakes cases spanning multiple jurisdictions. Michael Todd KC specialises in contentious and transactional advice on company law in the UK and internationally, whereas Peter Arden KC‘s practice has more of an insolvency and restructuring focus. Experienced company and finance litigation expert David Mabb KC is another name to note, and Andrew Thompson KC has a standout practice in both LLP law and shareholder disputes, including representing the five non-executive directors of Carillion in defending directors disqualification proceedings. Experienced senior junior Catherine Roberts also has vast experience in shareholder disputes in England and offshore, and Nigel Dougherty is another highly regarded senior figure.

Erskine Chambers remains the ‘go-to chambers for disputes with a corporate or company law angle‘ with barristers who ‘are out of the very top draw of talent at the Chancery Bar‘. Many are also used for broader commercial disputes, and stand out for claims with an offshore angle. High-profile cases include an injunction restraining the exercise of call options relating to the founder’s shares in the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp, in which Andrew Thompson KC led Jack Rivett  on behalf of the claimant. Edward Davies KC and Ben Griffiths  both represented the claimant in IsZo v Nam Tai, in a bid to reverse the US$170m placement of shares in the NYSE-listed company registered in the BVI.