Elizabeth Birch > Chambers of Ewan McQuater KC and David Quest KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Elizabeth Birch

020 7831 8441 ebirch@3vb.com

Position

Commercial barrister since 1980, has sat as arbitrator since 1992 and as mediator since 1996. Since 2003 Elizabeth has focussed her practice on sitting as arbitrator and mediator and this now forms the entirety of her practice. The majority of her work over the past 25 years has been in the commercial and international arena. Receives appointments to sit as arbitrator and mediator under the auspices of ICC, LCIA, CPR (New York), AAA, IPOS/ACI, LMAA, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIA), and ad hoc. Named as one of the top ten mediators in the UK in a survey carried out by ‘In Brief’ in 2002 and again in a survey conducted by Legal Week in September 2005. Comments include ‘gifted mediator’, ‘inspires confidence’, ‘gets results’, ‘the consummate professional’. Types of work handled include: agency, air law, banking and financial services, breach of warranty, brokers, commodities, conflict of laws, derivative trading, environmental disputes, freight forwarding, information technology (IT) and telecommunications, insurance and reinsurance, international trade and transportation, international sale of goods and services, international distributorship and franchise, oil and gas, partnership and joint ventures, professional negligence, shipping and maritime disputes.

Career

Called Gray’s Inn 1978; appointed to panel Lloyd’s Arbitration Schemes 1992; fellow Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIA) 1993 (FCIArb); chartered arbitrator; diploma in International Commercial Arbitration 1998; accredited as mediator 1995 CEDR/BAE (QDR); London Maritime Arbitrators’ Association (LMAA) Arbitration and Mediation Panels for supporting members; CIA panel member; member of the CPR (New York) Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators for distinguished international arbitrators and mediators; fellow International Academy of Mediators (California); panel member/chairman of FEPA (available to sit as chairman in licensing appeals relating to dumping at sea); sits as examiner for the purposes of taking evidence for foreign proceedings.Publications include: editor of Marine Insurance chapter in Bullen & Leake, A Practitioners Textbook, contributor to Mediators on Mediation by Butterworths ‘Mediation in the Regulatory Context’. Frequent contributor of articles and speaker on arbitration and mediation.

Memberships

COMBAR; London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association (LCLCBA); London Maritime Arbitrators’ Association (LMAA) supporting member; British Maritime Law Association (BMLA); Arbitration Club: oil, gas and maritime.