Oliver Caplin > Twenty Essex > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Praised as a ‘premier set in shipping and commodities with strength in depth at all levels’, Twenty Essex  supports clients in disputes across the whole gamut of maritime matters. Timothy Hill KC, Alex Carless, and Michal Hain all acted on the CMA CGM Libra, which proceeded to the Supreme Court in 2021 and held that a defective passage plan renders a vessel unseaworthy. Elsewhere, Timothy Young KC acted for the Spanish government in London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd v Spain opposite Alexander Thompson; the case concerns one of the largest oil spills in Europe caused by the sinking of the Prestige off the coast of Galicia in 2002. Henry Byam-Cook KC and Philip Riches KC continue to receive instructions on high-profile disputes, with the former involved in two cases arising out of the insolvency of a trading company and a subsequent ship arrest which will be heard concurrently in the Commercial Court. Oliver Caplin, who specialises in dry shipping, has also had a strong year, including acting as sole counsel against silks.

‘Undoubtedly the strongest commodities set’, Twenty Essex  has ‘some outstanding practitioners and the widest selection of very talented lawyers in the commodities area’. One market source remarks that it is ‘the premier set for commodities work with multiple options at every level of seniority’. Michael Ashcroft KC, Michael Collett KC and Timothy Young KC are among the most prominent silks in this area of law. Ashcroft KC acted for the seller, Tintrade Inc., in Septo Trading Inc v Tintrade Inc, a fuel oil dispute concerning where title passed, who bore the risk of off-specification cargo in context of blending and supply from multiple shore tanks through pipelines, and whether cargo was, in fact, off-spec. Among the juniors, Daniel Bovensiepen, who acted as sole counsel defending a Commercial Court claim totalling about $765,000 for alleged contamination of a cargo of gasoil, and Oliver Caplin, who acted as sole counsel in a five-day oil trading dispute in the Commercial Court, are among many who are considered to be at the top of their game.