Set Profile > Essex Court Chambers > London, England
Essex Court Chambers Offices
Essex Court Chambers
24 LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS
LONDON
WC2A 3EG
England
Essex Court Chambers > The Legal 500 Rankings
Commercial litigation Tier 1
Essex Court Chambers is a 'first-class set to turn to on significant matters' with 'an incredibly deep and diverse bench'. The set's versatility on commercial disputes is one of the things that marks it out, with some excellent expertise in areas such as fraud and international arbitration. The set has expanded heavily at the junior level in recent years, with Tim Akkouh arriving from Erskine Chambers being the most recent example. Major recent cases have included PJSC Tatneft v Bogolyubov & Others in which Paul McGrath QC, David Davies and James Sheehan were on opposing sides to fellow members, including Ruth den Besten. Other highlights included Fortress Group v BNP Paribas (the Golden Belt litigation), and Yukos Finance v Lynch. Martin Griffiths QC has been appointed a High Court judge in the Queen’s Bench Division.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Fraud: civil Tier 1
Essex Court Chambers is 'without question the go-to set for heavy-duty commercial litigation, in particular, fraud'. The set has expanded significantly in this area over recent years, particularly at the junior end, and the recent arrival of tier-one junior Tim Akkouh, from Erskine Chambers, continues the trend. Five members, including Nathan Pillow QC, David Davies, and James Willan were involved in the nine-week National Bank Trust v Yurov & ors trial, relating to a $800m fraud claim. Paul McGrath QC, James Sheehan, and Ruth den Besten were among those with significant roles on Tatneft v Bogolyubov & Ors.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
International arbitration: counsel Tier 1
Essex Court Chambers a 'go-to set for any general commercial or arbitration-related matters'. The chambers is praised for being 'commercial and strategic in approach' and 'typically team-oriented and user-friendly, including for non-UK clients'. The barristers are 'the cream of the crop' and few will quibble with the set's overall market-leading status. Members are well-versed in arbitrations across a range of jurisdictions, sectors, and disciplines, including insurance, infrastructure, BIT claims, and general commercial disputes. The set's barristers have been involved in several high-profile disputes, including Turkmenistan v National Iranian Gas Corporation in which Paul Key QC was lead counsel for the National Iranian Gas Corporation. Another highlight was Progas Energy Limited, Progas Holding Limited, and Sheffield Engineering Company Ltd v Republic of Pakistan, in which Dan Sarooshi QC faced David Foxton QC and Iain Quirk.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Public international law Tier 1
Essex Court Chambers is a 'very eminent set' with an 'unparalleled range of talents' working across all areas of public international law. The set has a strong focus on state v state and investment treaty arbitrations, and has a strong blend of barristers with both academic and commercial expertise. Members regularly appear before the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. Major cases include Ukraine v Russia, in which Sam Wordsworth QC is leading Amy Sander. Alison Macdonald QC joined from Matrix Chambers in January 2020.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Employment Tier 2
The 'extremely good' Essex Court Chambers has members who are 'great for complex commercial employment matters'. Andrew Hochhauser QC acted for a former senior banker who had worked for the respondent bank for four decades in a substantial claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. Meanwhile, Daniel Oudkerk QC is instructed by cyber-security company Secarma in a multimillion-pound damages claim and injunctive relief arising out of a poaching raid. Martin Griffiths QC has been appointed a High Court judge in the Queen’s Bench Division.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Energy Tier 2
Essex Court Chambers is 'a "go-to" set in London for complex matters' and has 'excellent strength in depth'. In 2017 and 2018, the set was instructed in energy cases with a combined value in excess of $80bn related to oil, gas, coal and renewable energy. Graham Dunning QC was lead counsel for the Kurdistan Regional Government in a $35bn LCIA arbitration relating to an oil and gas project in Northern Iraq and potential pipelines to serve Europe. Paul Key QC successfully represented Nigeria in its defence of a $9bn arbitration award. David Mildon QC represented the applicant in Kufpec UK Limited v Enquest Heather Limited, which centred on issues under a Farm-In Agreement for various North Sea license blocks. Among the juniors, Siddharth Dhar acted as sole lead advocate for the defendant in Hydro & Ors v Republic of Albania, a $1.5bn ICSID claim arising from alleged investments in the hydroelectric sector. According to one client: 'The clerks are uniformly excellent – responsive and helpful'.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Insurance and reinsurance Tier 2
Essex Court Chambers has 'great strength-in-depth' for insurance and reinsurance work. Although it is active across a range of insurance disputes, the set stands out for its Bermuda Form and marine insurance expertise. David Foxton QC and David Walsh, who joined from Quadrant Chambers in 2018, are involved in Double Eight Marine v RSA & others, a claim for the total loss of the vessel, the Panamax Trader. Elsewhere, John Lockey QC was instructed in the $1bn dispute, Single Buoy Mooring v Insurers and was also instructed in platform rig claim, Siri v Noreco. David Scorey QC was instructed in Harvey Weinstein v Chubb, a claim by the former film producer seeking coverage for his legal costs relating to multiple sexual assault allegations.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
International arbitration: arbitrators Tier 2
Essex Court Chambers has a strong group of full-time arbitrators who work out of its seperate and specialised chambers, 24 Lincoln's Inn Fields. Barristers who divide their time between acting as counsel and arbitrators can be found within the main chambers.
Shipping Tier 2
With 'top quality barristers', Essex Court Chambers is seen as a 'pre-eminent set in international arbitration, shipping and commodities'. Major marine insurance dispute, The Panamax Trader, is a key highlight for Steven Berry QC and Jeremy Brier, which concerns whether the shipowners deliberately sank a vessel. Euro-Asia v Credit Suisse, which relates to missing bills of lading and an alleged letter of credit fraud, is a notable case for Jeffrey Gruder QC and Nathan Pillow QC saw the end of long-running bribery and conspiracy case case Fiona Trust & Holding Corp v Privalov and others in 2018, when permission to appeal was refused. The 'user-friendly' set welcomed David Walsh from Quadrant Chambers in 2018.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Banking and finance (including consumer credit) Tier 3
Essex Court Chambers is a 'high-profile, high-quality set' whose members have an enviable track record when it comes to complex and highly technical banking litigation. In recent years chambers has been involved in several insolvency-related banking disputes, such as the Lehmans Waterfall litigation relating to the distribution of over $1bn from the Lehman's estate. Another highlight involving numerous members was the Hellas II litigation – Hosking v Apax Partners, Deutsche Bank & Others, in which Joe Smouha QC and Ciaran Keller faced a team including David Foxton QC.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Commodities Tier 3
Essex Court Chambers is 'the pre-eminent set in international arbitration, shipping and commodities', according to one client who remarks that 'the quality of their barristers is unrivalled'. Another notes that it has 'a number of very good and user-friendly barristers for complex high-value commercial disputes' and that 'the clerking is really helpful, responsive, accommodating and flexible'. Graham Dunning QC acted as lead counsel in a Commercial Court trial and ensuing appeal between Citibank and Mercuria regarding obligated repos in respect of allegedly missing metal in China. Experienced junior David Walsh joined from Quadrant Chambers in 2018.
Leading Juniors
Leading Silks
Media and entertainment (including art and cultural property)
Highlighted as an ‘outstanding set’, Essex Court Chambers has ‘a top reputation’ in the arts and cultural property sector. As well as being ‘very commercial on fees’, the set offers ‘quick responses and great strength in depth’. Work highlights include Joe Smouha QC’s continued instruction to defend an art dealer in a criminal complaint filed in the principality of Monaco, and Emily Wood’s representation of Sotheby’s in several matters, including a $10m claim relating to alleged forgery of work by the Golden Age painter, Frans Hals.
Art and cultural property - Leading Juniors
Art and cultural property - Leading Silks
Media and entertainment - Leading Juniors
Set overviews: England and Wales
From senior silks down to ‘some very clever and able juniors’, the ‘first-class’ Essex Court Chambers has ‘outstanding bench strength and depth’ and is ‘at the cutting edge of the leading civil fraud cases’, ‘always in the line-up on heavy duty commercial cases’, and a ‘go-to chambers’ for international arbitrations and insurance matters. ‘They have an excellent set of highly competent counsel of all levels, who bring a good mix of intellect and practical/commercial awareness to their work; they are, quite simply, the best.’ It is also described as ‘the chambers to turn to if there’s a Friday night emergency’. In recent news, Tim Akkouh has joined from Erskine Chambers and Richard Millett QC continues as leading counsel to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, while Martin Griffiths QC has been appointed a High Court judge in the Queen’s Bench Division. Senior clerk Joe Ferrigno leads ‘a gold standard’ clerking team from the front and trains his clerks well; the ‘top notch’ clerks are ‘flexible and proactive, always happy to help’. His is able assisted by the 'frankly superb' Ben Perry, who becomes deputy senior clerk effective 1 October 2019. Former senior clerk David Grief heads up Essex Court Duxton in Singapore. Offices in: London and Singapore
Tax: corporate and VAT/indirect tax
Essex Court Chambers is noted for its work in indirect tax disputes, acting for the taxpayers in cases involving VAT, Goods and Services Tax (GST), Landfill Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, and Customs Duty. Major VAT cases for Roderick Cordara QC include acting for the taxpayer in American Express v HMRC, conducting an analysis on the relationship between merchants, American Express and Cardholder, with £50m at stake; and Safestore in Safestore v HMRC, an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal in a case concerning the status of insurance arrangements made through the client for its customers' goods.
Tax: VAT - Leading silks
Tax: VAT Leading juniors
Essex Court Chambers > Firm Profile
Essex Court Chambers is a leading set of barristers’ chambers, specialising in commercial and financial litigation, arbitration, public law and public international law.
Members of Chambers are recognised specialists in all areas of commercial law and handle disputes across the full spectrum of the business and financial world, including banking & finance, civil fraud, corporate/chancery & offshore, insurance & reinsurance, energy, trade, shipping, revenue, and employment.
Chambers is not a firm, nor are its members partners or employees. Rather, Chambers is comprised of individual barristers, each of whom is a self-employed sole practitioner. Members of Chambers are commonly retained by opposing sides in the same dispute, both in litigation and arbitration, with protocols in place to safeguard confidentiality. As well as acting on opposing sides, individuals appear in front of other members acting impartially as Deputy Judges or Arbitrators.
The barristers at Essex Court Chambers advise and act in disputes both in the UK and worldwide. They have a reputation for exceptional talent, top-class advocacy and a client-oriented approach.
The set: Founded in 1961, the then five members of chambers included the future judges Lord Mustill, Lord Justice Evans and Lord Justice Kerr. Other distinguished alumni include Lords Saville and Steyn, Lord Thomas (Lord Chief Justice), Lord Justice Beatson, Sir Anthony Colman, Bernard Eder (now Sir Bernard Eder), Geraldine Andrews (now Mrs Justice Andrews), Simon Bryan (now Mr Justice Bryan), Sara Cockerill (now Mrs Justice Cockerill), Richard Jacobs (now Mr Justice Jacobs), Tim Eicke (now a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights), Dame Rosalyn Higgins (former president of the International Court of Justice) and Sir Christopher Greenwood (formerly a Judge of the International Court of Justice). Essex Court Chambers continues to attract the highest calibre of recruits, and now comprises over 90 members.
Pupillage: chambers typically offers up to four funded 12-month tenancy-seeking pupillages per year. Applications should be made via the Pupillage Gateway. Applications from both law and non-law graduates are welcomed. Applicants for pupillage are encouraged to undertake a mini-pupillage (of 1-2 days). Information about mini-pupillage, including deadlines for mini-pupillage applications and an online application form, is available at www.essexcourt.com.
Types of work undertaken: Annual market research and award ceremonies confirm that members are consistently recognised as leading individuals by clients and peers in a number of key areas, but most notably: international commercial arbitration; commercial litigation; civil fraud; public international law; VAT; energy and natural resources; insurance and reinsurance; shipping; banking and finance; commodities; employment; professional negligence; media, entertainment and sport; civil liberties and human rights; administrative and public law; agriculture; information technology; immigration; aviation; EU and competition; offshore litigation; commercial chancery; and insolvency and corporate recovery.
Members of Chambers have been consistently instructed in many of the largest court and arbitral proceedings of the last 50 years, including the Tin Council litigation, the Lloyd’s litigation, the swaps litigation, Elektrim SA v Vivendi Universal SA, Kuwait Airways Corporation v Iraq Airways Co, the Solitaire arbitration, Fiona Trust & Holding Corporation v Privalov, Cherney v Deripaska and Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings Inc.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Clerk | Joe Ferrigno | ||
| First Junior Clerk & Team Leader | Ben Perry | ||
| Team Leader | Jack Wood | ||
| Team Leader | Katie Myles | ||
| Office manager | Lisa Nwachukwu | ||
| Office hours | 8.00am – 8.00pm | ||
| Out-of-hours contact | 020 7147 7239 | ||
| Members of Chambers | POLLOCK QC, Gordon (1968) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HUNTER QC, Ian (1967) | ||
| Members of Chambers | VEEDER QC, VV (1971) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SIBERRY QC, Richard (1974) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GILMAN QC, Jonathan (1965) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BERMAN QC, Frank (1966) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CORDARA QC, Roderick (1975) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CROOKENDEN QC, Simon (1975) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GRUDER QC, Jeffrey (1977) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HOCHHAUSER QC, Andrew (1977) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MILDON QC, David (1980) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DUNNING QC, Graham (1982) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BERRY QC, Steven (1984) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SHAW QC, Malcolm (1988) | ||
| Members of Chambers | TEMPLEMAN QC, Mark (1981) | ||
| Members of Chambers | JOSEPH QC, David (1984) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MILLETT QC, Richard (1985) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SMOUHA QC, Joe (1986) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DAVIES QC, Huw (1985) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GRIFFITHS QC, Martin (1986) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LOCKEY QC, John (1987) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BRYAN QC, Simon (1988) | ||
| Members of Chambers | FOXTON QC, David (1989) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MERCER QC, Hugh (1985) | ||
| Members of Chambers | FLYNN QC, Vernon (1991) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LOWE QC, Vaughan (1993) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LANDAU QC, Toby (1993) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SMITH QC, Christopher (1989) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BLANCHARD QC, Claire (1992) | ||
| Members of Chambers | STANLEY QC, Paul (1993) | ||
| Members of Chambers | OUDKERK QC, Daniel (1992) | ||
| Members of Chambers | COCKERILL QC, Sara (1990) | ||
| Members of Chambers | McGRATH QC, Paul (1994) | ||
| Members of Chambers | COLLINS QC, James (1995) | ||
| Members of Chambers | EATON QC, Nigel (1991) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HOUSEMAN QC, Stephen (1995) | ||
| Members of Chambers | KEY QC, Paul (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WORDSWORTH QC, Samuel (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CIUMEI QC, Charles (1991) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SCOREY QC, David (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PILLOW QC, Nathan (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CRAIG QC, David (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DIWAN QC, Ricky (1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MOOLLAN QC, Salim (1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HOPKINS QC, Philippa (1994) | ||
| Members of Chambers | KING QC, Edmund (1999) | ||
| Members of Chambers | NG QC, Jern-Fei (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SAROOSHI QC, Dan (2005) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BOYLE, Alan (1977) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WATSON, Philippa (1988) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SNIDER, John (1982) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DYE, Brian (1991) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LAU, Martin (1996) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HART, Neil (1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HUTTON, Louise (1998) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DEN BESTEN, Ruth (2001) | ||
| Members of Chambers | QUIRK, Iain (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DAVIES, David (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BROWN, Edward (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BRIER, Jeremy (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WELLS, Jessica (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | RUSSELL, Jane (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | KELLER, Ciaran (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WALKER, Damien (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | PETERS, David (2005) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DHAR, Siddharth (2005) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WILLAN, James (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WOOD, Emily (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SANDER, Amy (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WALSH, David (2007) | ||
| Members of Chambers | FORD, Tom (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DILNOT, Anna (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SHEEHAN, James (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DUDNIKOV, Anton (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | JUNG, Catherine (2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BOARD, Adam (2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LEGG, Andrew (2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | RENTON, Claudia (2011) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ROBB, John (2011) | ||
| Members of Chambers | AKUSHIE, Rebecca (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WOOLNOUGH, Adam (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WEBSTER, Peter (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MORTON, Helen (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HOYLE, Richard (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CRIBB, Stuart (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BASTIN, Lucas (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WARDLE, Felix (2014) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MCARTHUR, Jackie (2015) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MUKHERJEE, Bibek (2015) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DONNELLY, Stephen (2016) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HART, Naomi (2016) | ||
| Members of Chambers | TOMPKINS, Benedict (2016) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LLOYD, Owen (2016) | ||
| Members of Chambers | TATTERSALL, Luke (2016) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CHAN, Wei Jian (2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ONSLOW, Freddie (2017) |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Tim Akkouh | View Profile | |
 |
Rebecca Akushie | View Profile | |
 |
Lucas Bastin | View Profile | |
 |
Sir Franklin Berman QC | View Profile | |
 |
Steven Berry QC | View Profile | |
 |
Claire Blanchard QC | View Profile | |
 |
Adam Board | View Profile | |
 |
Stewart Boyd QC | View Profile | |
 |
Prof Alan Boyle | View Profile | |
 |
Jeremy Brier | View Profile | |
 |
Edward Brown | View Profile | |
 |
Charles Ciumei QC | View Profile | |
 |
James Collins QC | View Profile | |
 |
Roderick Cordara QC | View Profile | |
 |
David Craig QC | View Profile | |
 |
Stuart Cribb | View Profile | |
 |
Simon Crookenden QC | View Profile | |
 |
David Davies | View Profile | |
 |
Huw Davies QC | View Profile | |
 |
Ruth Den Besten | View Profile | |
 |
Siddharth Dhar | View Profile | |
 |
Anna Dilnot | View Profile | |
 |
Ricky Diwan QC | View Profile | |
 |
Shane Doyle QC | View Profile | |
 |
Anton Dudnikov | View Profile | |
 |
Graham Dunning QC | View Profile | |
 |
Martin Griffiths QC | View Profile | |
 |
Jeffrey Gruder QC | View Profile | |
 |
Neil Hart | View Profile | |
 |
Naomi Hart | View Profile | |
 |
Andrew Hochhauser QC | View Profile | |
 |
Philippa Hopkins QC | View Profile | |
 |
Richard Hoyle | View Profile | |
 |
Louise Hutton | View Profile | |
 |
David Joseph QC | View Profile | |
 |
Catherine Jung | View Profile | |
 |
Ciaran Keller | View Profile | |
 |
Paul Key QC | View Profile | |
 |
Edmund King QC | View Profile | |
 |
Toby Landau QC | View Profile | |
 |
Prof Martin Lau | View Profile | |
 |
Andrew Legg | View Profile | |
 |
Prof Vaughan Lowe QC | View Profile | |
 |
Paul McGrath QC | View Profile | |
 |
Richard Millett QC | View Profile | |
 |
Salim Moollan QC | View Profile | |
 |
Bibek Mukherjee | View Profile | |
 |
Jern-Fei Ng QC | View Profile | |
 |
Daniel Oudkerk QC | View Profile | |
 |
Nathan Pillow QC | View Profile | |
 |
Iain Quirk | View Profile | |
 |
Claudia Renton | View Profile | |
 |
Mr John Robb | View Profile | |
 |
Jane Russell | View Profile | |
 |
Prof Dan Sarooshi QC | View Profile | |
 |
Malcolm Shaw QC | View Profile | |
 |
James Sheehan | View Profile | |
 |
Christopher Smith QC | View Profile | |
 |
Joe Smouha QC | View Profile | |
 |
Paul Stanley QC | View Profile | |
 |
Mark Templeman QC | View Profile | |
 |
Benedict Tompkins | View Profile | |
 |
Damien Walker | View Profile | |
 |
David Walsh | View Profile | |
 |
Peter Webster | View Profile | |
 |
Jessica Wells | View Profile | |
 |
James Willan | View Profile | |
 |
Emily Wood | View Profile | |
 |
Adam Woolnough | View Profile | |
 |
Sam Wordsworth QC | View Profile |
Top Tier Set Rankings
- London Bar Commercial litigation
- London Bar Fraud: civil
- London Bar International arbitration: counsel
- London Bar Public international law
Set Rankings
- London Bar Employment
- London Bar Energy
- London Bar Insurance and reinsurance
- London Bar International arbitration: arbitrators
- London Bar Shipping
- London Bar Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
- London Bar Commodities
- London Bar Media and entertainment (including art and cultural property)
- London Bar Set overviews: England and Wales
- London Bar Tax: corporate and VAT/indirect tax