Mr Joseph England > Chambers of Poonam Melwani KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Chambers of Poonam Melwani KC
Quadrant Chambers
QUADRANT HOUSE, 10 FLEET STREET
LONDON
EC4Y 1AU
England

Position

Joe is ranked in the latest edition of Legal 500 as a Leading Junior in four separate categories: International Arbitration, Energy, Civil Fraud and Insolvency, where feedback includes: “He is a dangerous adversary, constantly looking for weaknesses in his opponent’s position and clients love him.”
He qualified as a solicitor at Allen & Overy LLP before transferring to the Bar. He spent the first year of his practice as the Judicial Assistant to Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson in the Supreme Court. Joe soon returned to the Supreme Court as Counsel in Bank of Cyprus UK Limited v Menelaou [2015] UKSC 66.
Recent work includes:
• Acting (as sole Counsel) in c.20 interim hearings and at trial in the Commercial Court for XL Insurance, including a ground-breaking fraud case involving HMRC’s receipt of proprietary funds (XL v IPORS & Others [2021] EWHC 474 (Comm); [2018] EWHC 2251 (Comm.); multiple worldwide injunctions and one of the first contempt applications relating to commercial freezing injunctions under the new CPR 81 (XL Insurance Company SE v Paul Alan Corcoran [2021] EWHC 1407 (Comm))
• Acting with Paul Downes QC and Quinn Emmanuel on live claims in the Commercial Court for a Brazilian Bank against Tranferwise involving currency exchange transactions.
• Acting (with Matthew Reeve) for the family of footballer Emiliano Sala in civil proceedings and Inquest relating to his death and for the successful claimants in a trial in the BVI concerning the landing of a helicopter onto a superyacht (The M/Y “Bacarella” BVIHC (Com) 2018/0062, Judgment 17 May 2021) (Appeal October 2022)
• Appearing (unled) in the Court of Appeal in a second appeal concerning premature execution of registered foreign (Islandsbanki hf, HMRC, Shinclear Holdings Ltd v Kevin Gerald Stanford – [2020] EWCA Civ 480), arising from the largest and hotly contested personal insolvencies against Founder of All Saints fashion brand, including a successful case management appeal ([2019] EWHC 307 (Henry Carr J); [2019] EWHC 595 (Ch.) [2019] (ICC Judge Jones); [2019] 6 WLUK 295 (Fancourt J))
• Acting in c.10 cases involving email frauds, including World Proteins v Persons Unknown [2019] EWHC 1146 (QB) (injunction); [2019] 6 WLUK 500 (judgment).
• Acting (led by Chris Smith QC) in Commercial Court proceedings concerning the sale of crude oil arising from a joint venture with the Government of Turkmenistan, including discharging a freezing order (and resisting a subsequent appeal) – United Petroleum Trading Switzerland SA v Mitro International Ltd [2019] EWHC 1382 (Comm.)
• Acting for the Government of India, most recently (led by David Wolfson QC) resisting enforcement of a c.£70 million award under s.103 of the Arbitration Act 1996 – A v B [2018] 5 WLUK 366; Hardy Exploration and Production vs India [2018] EWHC 1916 (Comm.).
• Ongoing ICC ship-building arbitration (led by Thomas Macey-Dare QC) and several international oil and gas/construction arbitrations (led by Steven Walker QC) which involved near-full time work from 2013-2018 and 2019-2021, and appearing or giving evidence in the Courts of Switzerland, France, Ireland, Poland, Caraco, Mauritius, Nigeran, Scotland and The Netherlands.
• Acting and advising AXA XL on disputes including relating to Covid-19 and acting in multi-party fraud claims against coverholders ([2022] EWHC 985 (Comm); [2022] EWHC 306 (Comm); | [2021] EWHC 3551 (Comm)); and acting for coverholders in a c.£6 million arbitration against a Bermudan insurer.

Career

Called 2011, Lincoln’s Inn

Languages

Some Spanish, Italian and Hebrew.

Memberships

COMBAR (Junior Committee), Chancery Bar Association, ICC YAF, The Travellers Club, Firebird Orchestra, ICC

Education

BA (Hons) (1st Class), LLB (Hons) (1st Class), GDL (Distinction), Hammonds Prize for Contract Law, Equity & Trusts Prize, LPC (Distinction), Allen & Overy Prize for Distinction, Hardwicke Scholarship, Pupillage Scholarship, European Courts of Justice Programme, UK/US Supreme Court Exchange.

Leisure

Theatre, film, walking, restaurants, poker, cricket, table tennis, politics.

Lawyer Rankings

London Bar > Insurance and reinsurance

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4

Joseph England – Quadrant ChambersJoseph is a first-class barrister. His dedication and unwavering work ethic makes him an invaluable asset. His expertise in both civil fraud and contempt complement each other and often overlap, enabling him to provide sound advice from both a practical and holistic perspective. He is passionate, hardworking and quickly able to understand the key issues whilst constantly identifying weaknesses in his opponent’s case. Furthermore, he is a pleasure to work with and has a very bright future ahead of him.’

London Bar > International arbitration: counsel

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3

Joseph EnglandQuadrant Chambers ‘Joe is an excellent advocate and has a very good eye for detail. He has very good foresight into what a judge is likely to think in a case, which provides a real upper hand in litigation. He is smooth and thorough and great on his feet.’

 

London Bar > Fraud: civil

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3

Joseph EnglandQuadrant Chambers ‘Joseph is a first-class barrister. His dedication and unwavering work ethic make him an invaluable asset. His expertise in both civil fraud, particularly proprietary claims, and contempt complement each other and often overlap, enabling him to provide sound advice from both a practical and holistic perspective.’

London Bar > Insolvency

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4

Joseph EnglandQuadrant Chambers ‘Joe is a very tenacious advocate.’

London Bar > Energy

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3

Joseph EnglandQuadrant Chambers ‘Joseph is on top of all the details in a case.’

London Bar > Aviation

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4

Joseph England – Quadrant Chambers ‘Joe provides a first-class service. He is very thorough and knowledgeable and is a great asset to a case. He is very responsive and brings an added element to a defence by thinking of all the different angles. A genuinely nice man and a great advocate.’