Alexander Thompson > Twenty Essex > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Twenty Essex Offices
20 ESSEX STREET
LONDON
WC2R 3AL
England
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Alexander Thompson
Work Department
- Arbitration and mediation
- Banking and finance
- Civil fraud and asset tracing
- Commercial law
- Constitutional public and human rights law
- Jurisdiction, conflicts and enforcement
- Private international law
- Shipping
Position
Alexander practises across a broad range of areas in commercial and international law. He is well known for his work as a specialist junior acting in complex cases in private international law, jurisdictional immunity, and sanctions.
In his commercial work, Alexander keeps a wide practice. He acts in general commercial disputes, fraud, maritime law and international trade, insurance (in particular P&I Club and marine insurance), aviation, joint ventures, and company and insolvency disputes. Alexander is listed as a “Rising Star” for shipping in The Legal 500 directories.
He appears in international arbitrations including under ICC and LCIA Rules and has been instructed in cases at all levels of the judicial hierarchy, including the High Court (Commercial Court and Chancery Division), Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and Court of Justice of the European Union.
Increasingly Alexander is developing a practice in cross-border IP disputes involving difficult questions of conflict of laws in copyright, patent and related claims in the Intellectual Property List.
Alexander is an adept linguist and has extensive experience working with underlying documentation in French, Spanish and Italian. He has particular experience of working with Spanish and Latin American clients, as well as with teams of foreign lawyers and experts in issues of foreign law.
Together with Professor Andrew Dickinson (Oxford University), Alexander is the author of The State Immunity Act 1978 (OUP, forthcoming), a new edition based on one of the leading texts in the law of jurisdictional immunities.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Shipping
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4Alexander Thompson –Twenty Essex ‘A joy to work with and a fierce intellect.’
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.