Set Profile > XXIV Old Buildings > London, England
XXIV Old Buildings Offices
XXIV Old Buildings
24 OLD BUILDINGS, LINCOLN'S INN
LONDON
WC2A 3UP
England
XXIV Old Buildings > The Legal 500 Rankings
Offshore Tier 1
One of the go-to chambers for international contentious trusts work, XXIV Old Buildings has 'a fantastic reputation and a great selection of very capable and impressive trust disputes barristers', as well as strength on insolvency and commercial litigation matters. Elspeth Talbot Rice QC represents the claimant in the Wong v Grand View case in Bermuda concerning trusts containing the legacy of the founder of Formosa Plastics, while Stephen Moverley Smith QC represented the appellant in Magner v RBS International, a Gibraltarian case concerning dishonest assistance before the Privy Council in the wake of the collapse of law firm Marrache & Co. Unusually for the London Bar, Nicole Langlois, a former Carey Olsen partner, is also a Jersey advocate.
Leading Silks
Francis Tregear QC - XXIV Old Buildings ‘He commands respect with his experience and is very impressive in court.’
Leading Juniors
Private client: trusts and probate Tier 1
XXIV Old Buildings is an ‘excellent set for traditional Chancery work and one of the 'go-to' sets for trust and probate litigation matters. It has a real depth of experience in this area, with specialists of differing years call.’ The set has been described as ‘one of the premier contentious trusts sets, offering a host of high-quality QCs and junior counsel.’ Its established reputation in this area is exemplified by Alan Steinfeld QC who, in Gerald Metals v (1) Safeguard Management Corp (2) The Trustees of the Timis Trust, advised the trustees of a Cayman trust in a major case about potential claims against a third-party and the obtainment of Beddoe relief. This year sees Edward Cumming QC enter the silks rankings, Daniel Warents join the junior list, and Timothy Sherwin recognised as a rising star of the Bar.
Rising stars
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Aviation Tier 2
Increasingly viewed as an ‘impressive' set in the aviation space, XXIV Old Buildings acts for airlines, lessors, and manufacturers, among other aviation stakeholders, mostly in commercial disputes. One notable highlight for Philip Shepherd QC includes Wallis Trading Inc v Air Tanzania Corporation Limited, a claim for over $30m against Air Tanzania and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania. Steven Thompson QC is praised for sector knowledge, while at the junior end Bajul Shah and Arshad Ghaffar are the names to note; Tom Stewart Coat is a rising star in the field.
Rising stars
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Commercial litigation Tier 2
XXIV Old Buildings is 'one of the leading sets of commercial and Chancery chambers' and noted for its 'strength in offshore and international cases'. The set has several 'first-class silks and excellent juniors at all ends of the experience spectrum' who represent 'fantastic value'. Clients also appreciate the 'fantastic training programmes'. Significant mandates include the liquidation of the Herald Fund, one of the largest Madoff feeder funds, in which Francis Tregear QC, Michael Black QC and Bajul Shah were all involved. Robert Levy QC and Hugh Miall have also been representing over 100 claimants in Ward & Ors v Savill & Ors.
Leading Silks
Philip Shepherd QC - XXIV Old Buildings ‘Just the type of senior silk you want in your corner in a challenging commercial case.’
Leading Juniors
Elizabeth Weaver - XXIV Old Buildings ‘She is smart, efficient, pragmatic and gets straight to the heart of contentious issues cost effectively.’
Fraud: civil Tier 2
XXIV Old Buildings is 'one of the go-to chambers' with 'brilliant strength in depth' and ' a large number of barristers from silk down to the lowest junior who are outstanding on this field'. The chambers is especially noted for its 'strong links to offshore centres and Dubai'. Noteworthy cases include RAK Investments v Bestfort Development Ltd, a $42m fraud claim from Georgia in which Stephen Moverley Smith QC and Alexander Pelling are both involved. Robert Levy QC and Hugh Miall also acted for over 100 claimants in the long-running asset tracing dispute, Ward & Ors v Savill & Ors. The 'highly effective and dependable' Timothy Sherwin is a rising star in chambers.
Rising stars
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Insolvency Tier 2
Members of XXIV Old Buildings handle all aspects of domestic and international insolvency law, drawing on specific expertise in arbitration, Chancery, commercial and trusts work. Among high-profile matters that exemplify the set's strengths, Elspeth Talbot Rice QC is acting for the trustees of Boris Berezovsky's estate in Gorbunova v Berezovsky, while Francis Tregear QC is instructed on behalf of the additional liquidator for the Herald Fund, one of the largest feeder funds with claims against the Madoff estate, in Re Herald Fund SPC. Also of note, Edward Knight, who is also a qualified chartered accountant, is noted for handling cases at the intersection between fraud and insolvency.
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
International arbitration: arbitrators Tier 2
Michael Black QC - XXIV Old Buildings ‘His experience and abilities are such that he is the go-to arbitrator for any disputes in the Middle East region.’Financial services regulation
Leading Juniors
International arbitration: counsel
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Charities
Leading Silks
Banking and finance (including consumer credit) Tier 3
XXIV Old Buildings is 'a fantastic set' where 'everyone has been great - really down to earth and user friendly'. The chambers has 'really increased the depth of its expertise over recent years' and its members are 'extremely cost effective'. Its members have good expertise in hedge fund and structured investment vehicle-related matters, mis-selling claims and cross-border insolvencies. Highlight cases include Al Sadik v Investcorp BSC where Michael Black QC and Sarah Bayliss represented the claimant. Stephen Moverley Smith QC also represented the defendants Société Générale v Goldas, while Francis Tregear QC led Alexander Pelling in Janus Capital Management LLC v Safeguard World International Ltd.
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Construction
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Pensions
Leading Silks
Mediators Tier 4
Michael King - XXIV Old Buildings Michael King at XXIV Old Buildings is 'a brilliant mediator who will not allow parties to let matters drift; he is thoroughly effective in achieving a resolution'. He is highly experienced and acts across London and the regions in complex, trust, probate, estates and inheritance disputes. He has acted in approximately 180 mediations to date.
Professional negligence Tier 4
XXIV Old Buildings handles claims against solicitors, barristers, accountants, auditors, surveyors, valuers and trustees, and is particularly experienced in professional negligence cases involving financial mismanagement. Highlights include Francis Tregear QC acting for a Swiss investment bank in The Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan, which relates to breach of fiduciary duty and tracing claims, as well as appearing in Jackson & Money v Gershinson & Others, which concerned a claim of breach of duty against the directors of a company in liquidation. In addition, Helen Galley appeared in Southwark Living Ltd v Cramer Pelmont, a solicitors' negligence claim.
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Property litigation
Leading Juniors
Company and partnership
Experts in company and partnership law, barristers in XXIV Old Buildings lead the way in Chancery and offshore work, as well as domestic and international partnership disputes in the professional services industries. Elspeth Talbot Rice QC's practice spans both company and partnership; she is acting for BVI company Ben Nevis in a case involving a claim by the South African Revenue Service for the wrongful transfer of assets for the purposes of evading tax. Elizabeth Weaver is acting for the defendants in Carlyle Capital Corporation Limited (in liquidation) and others v Conway & others, a $2bn breach of contract and fiduciary duty claim arising out of the failure of a US hedge fund incorporated in Guernsey. Making a name for himself as 'years ahead of his call', rising star Timothy Sherwin has an increasingly active practice in section 994 petitions and companies held in trust structures.
Company - Rising stars
Company - Leading Silks
Partnership - Leading silks
Company - Leading juniors
Partnership - Leading juniors
XXIV Old Buildings > Set Profile
The Chambers
XXIV Old Buildings is a specialist commercial and chancery chambers based in London with an office in Geneva. The members have an unrivalled reputation for their commercial and chancery work both internationally and domestically.
A leading set in Offshore; Private Client: Trusts and Probate; Commercial Litigation; Banking and Finance; Insolvency; Company and Partnership; Aviation; Fraud: Civil; Professional Negligence, their strength and breadth of expertise can be demonstrated by the frequency of their appearance in courts of other jurisdictions, with members called to the Bars of Jersey, the BVI, Bermuda, St Vincents, the Cayman Islands, Dubai (DIFC), and other leading international financial centres such as the ADGM Abu Dhabi and the court in Astana (AIFC) in a judicial capacity. They are recognised as one of the most forward-thinking and innovative sets at the London Bar.
Work Undertaken
The calibre of XXIV Old Buildings’ practice is evidenced by the cases in which members are routinely instructed undertaking litigation, arbitration and the provision of advice across the full range of commercial and chancery work, from UK commercial litigation and insolvency work to truly international litigation and arbitration involving large-scale business disputes, fraud and asset tracing, and cross-border insolvency and restructuring; and to ‘traditional’ chancery matters such as private family trust and succession disputes. This broad base of expertise is supplemented by members’ specialist experience in fields such as hedge funds/SIVs; financial derivatives (including spread betting/CFDs); and aviation. Members are also highly experienced arbitrators and mediators. Examples of our work are set out below:
Wallis Trading Inc v Air Tanzania: A US$40 million award against the Defendants, Air Tanzania and the Tanzanian Government, following a 2-week trial in a dispute arising out of an aircraft leasing transaction. The judgment illustrated why English law is routinely chosen as the governing law in aircraft leasing transaction between international parties.
Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait v Man Group PLC plus 37 other defendants: A large-scale fraud claim concerning a lawsuit launched by the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) in Kuwait which alleges it is owed £639.5bn as a result of a large-scale fraud by its former director general.
Routier and another v HMRC: A Supreme Court case concerning a testamentary gift of property on trust for purposes which were agreed to be exclusively charitable under English law.
Ciban Management Corp v Citco: This Privy Council case explored the scope of duties of nominee directors of BVI companies when the ultimate beneficial owner of such companies effectively pull the strings to control the company but seek to keep entirely out of sight.
Lehtimaki and others v Cooper: A landmark Supreme Court judgment on issues of equity and charity law which potentially has significant ramifications for trust law and company law.
Byers & ors v Samba Financial Group: One of the most important pieces of commercial-chancery litigation before the English courts. It centres on a US$300 million transfer made by the director of a company in liquidation to the defendant bank.
Wong v Grandview: Claim that very large Bermudian non-charitable purpose trusts, or the transfers of very substantial assets into them, are void or should be set aside.
Dawson-Damer v Grampian Trust Company Ltd: A £400 million breach of trust/set aside claim in the Bahamas that has clarified the law on DPA/GDPR disclosure by trustees in England, and which involves ancillary injunction proceedings in Bermuda.
Times Travel Limited v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation: Supreme Court case on economic duress where airline held to have used illegitimate pressure to force IATA agent into agreement to abandon claims for commission.
Re Blackstar: A complex and substantial trustees’ remuneration dispute.
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
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Practice Management | Clerks | clerks@xxiv.co.uk | +44 (0) 20 7691 2424 |
Practice Management | Paul Horsfield, Head of Clerking | ||
Practice Management | James Ladbrook, Senior Practice Manager | ||
Practice Management | Perry Brown, Senior Practice Manager | ||
Members of Chambers | MANN QC, Martin (1968) | ||
Members of Chambers | STEINFELD QC, Alan (1968) | ||
Members of Chambers | BLACK QC, Michael (1978) | ||
Members of Chambers | MOVERLEY SMITH QC, Stephen (1985) | ||
Members of Chambers | SHEPHERD QC, Philip (1975) | ||
Members of Chambers | TREGEAR QC, Francis (1980) | ||
Members of Chambers | BROWNBILL QC, David (1989) | ||
Members of Chambers | TALBOT RICE QC, Elspeth (1990) | ||
Members of Chambers | LEVY QC, Robert (1988) | ||
Members of Chambers | THOMPSON QC, Steven (1996) | ||
Members of Chambers | MONTAGU-SMITH QC, Tom (2001) | ||
Members of Chambers | DE MESTRE QC, Lyndsey (1999) | ||
Members of Chambers | CUMMING QC, Edward (2006) | ||
Members of Chambers | KING, Michael (1971) | ||
Members of Chambers | GADD, Michael (1981) | ||
Members of Chambers | WEAVER, Elizabeth (1982) | ||
Members of Chambers | GALLEY, Helen (1987) | ||
Members of Chambers | MEAKIN, Ian (1991) | ||
Members of Chambers | GHAFFAR, Arshad (1991) | ||
Members of Chambers | STAFF, Marcus (1994) | ||
Members of Chambers | ADAIR, Stuart (1995) | ||
Members of Chambers | PELLING, Alexander (1995) | ||
Members of Chambers | SHAH, Bajul (1996) | ||
Members of Chambers | HUGHES, Jessica (1997) | ||
Members of Chambers | LANGLOIS, Nicole (2008) | ||
Members of Chambers | KNIGHT, Edward (1999) | ||
Members of Chambers | BAYLISS, Sarah (2002) | ||
Members of Chambers | ASSERSOHN, Oliver (2003) | ||
Members of Chambers | CLOHERTY, Adam (2005) | ||
Members of Chambers | HITCHENS, Erin (2006) | ||
Members of Chambers | HOLDEN, Andrew (2007) | ||
Members of Chambers | CURRY, Owen (2009) | ||
Members of Chambers | WARENTS, Daniel (2009) | ||
Members of Chambers | MIALL, Hugh (2009) | ||
Members of Chambers | MURPHY, Heather (2009) | ||
Members of Chambers | KING, Kira (2011) | ||
Members of Chambers | WATSON, Matthew (2012) | ||
Members of Chambers | SHERWIN, Timothy (2014) | ||
Members of Chambers | STEWART COATS, Tom (2014) | ||
Members of Chambers | GERASIMENKO, Alina (2015) | ||
Members of Chambers | WAISTELL, Ben (2015) | ||
Members of Chambers | FENNEMORE, James (2017) | ||
Member of Chambers | GARG, Sparsh (2017) | ||
Member of Chambers | HUGHES, Emma (2018) | ||
Member of Chambers | HARTSTON, Catherine (2018) | ||
Member of Chambers | PEPLOW, Alex (2019) | ||
Members of Chambers | VIRGO QC, Graham* | ||
Members of Chambers | CONAGLEN, Matthew* | ||
Members of Chambers | * Door tenant |
Barrister Profiles
Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
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Stuart Adair | Stuart has an extremely successful commercial chancery practice which focuses on commercial… | View Profile |
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Mr Oliver Assersohn | Financial services, banking, commercial/ Chancery. | View Profile |
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Sarah Bayliss | Barrister specialising in traditional and commercial Chancery, company/insolvency, and banking/financial services disputes. | View Profile |
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Michael Black QC | Advocate and arbitrator in international commercial disputes. | View Profile |
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David Brownbill QC | Barrister specialising in all aspects of trusts and related company matters, contentious… | View Profile |
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Adam Cloherty | Adam’s practice covers a broad range of contentious and non-contentious international and… | View Profile |
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Edward Cumming | Edward is a barrister specialising in most areas of chancery and commercial… | View Profile |
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Owen Curry | Trusts and estates, company law, insolvency and commercial. | View Profile |
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Lyndsey De Mestre | Barrister specialising in insolvency and company law (including directors’ disqualification); commercial litigation,… | View Profile |
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Michael Gadd | Specialises in commercial Chancery. Frequently engaged in cases that cross international boundaries… | View Profile |
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Helen Galley | Private client work – probate, estates, trusts and family provision, including the… | View Profile |
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Arshad Ghaffar | Barrister specialising in commercial law: agency, arbitration, aviation, bills of lading, carriage… | View Profile |
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Erin Hitchens | Erin specialises in traditional and commercial Chancery work, including contentious probate matters,… | View Profile |
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Andrew Holden | Since joining chambers in October 2008, Andrew has enhanced his strong academic… | View Profile |
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Jessica Hughes | Barrister involved in a wide range of contractual and trust disputes, from… | View Profile |
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Edward Knight | Barrister with a practice directed towards commercial matters, including their interaction with… | View Profile |
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Nicole Langlois | Main areas of specialisation are trust and company disputes; commercial contractual disputes;… | View Profile |
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Robert Levy QC | Robert specialises in substantial commercial litigation. His cases frequently span international borders,… | View Profile |
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Martin Mann QC | Senior Chancery Commercial Silk with a very wide-ranging civil fraud, company, professional… | View Profile |
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Ian Meakin | Ian has extensive experience in dispute resolution, international business law, trusts and… | View Profile |
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Hugh Miall | Hugh has a busy junior commercial chancery practice with a particular emphasis… | View Profile |
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Tom Montagu Smith QC | Barrister practicing in commercial litigation and arbitration, including shareholder disputes, civil fraud,… | View Profile |
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Stephen Moverley Smith QC | Barrister specialising in international litigation and arbitration in the fields of commercial,… | View Profile |
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Heather Murphy | Heather has a rich and varied commercial chancery practice. She welcomes instructions… | View Profile |
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Alexander Pelling | Barrister with breadth and depth of knowledge in commercial and chancery litigation… | View Profile |
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Bajul Shah | Bajul has a broad commercial Chancery practice with an emphasis on aviation,… | View Profile |
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Philip Shepherd QC | Commercial barrister specialising in business disputes often involving an international element. Philip… | View Profile |
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Marcus Staff | Barrister specialising in private and commercial trust and fund disputes resolved in… | View Profile |
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Alan Steinfeld QC | Barrister specialising in trusts, partnership law, trust-related and general insolvency, company law,… | View Profile |
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Elspeth Talbot Rice QC | Described by opponents as “the smiling assassin”, and crowned Legal 500’s Trusts… | View Profile |
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Steven Thompson QC | Barrister specialising in corporate and personal insolvency, company law, aviation law and… | View Profile |
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Francis Tregear QC | Francis’ practice focuses on business disputes, company and insolvency matters, funds and… | View Profile |
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Daniel Warents | Daniel specialises in most areas of chancery and commercial work both in… | View Profile |
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Matthew Watson | Arbitration, aviation, civil fraud, commercial litigation, insolvency, partnerships, professional negligence and contentious… | View Profile |
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Elizabeth Weaver | Elizabeth has a general commercial chancery practice handling a wide range of… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Practice Management & Chambers Administration : 13Top Tier Set Rankings
Set Rankings
- London Bar Aviation
- London Bar Commercial litigation
- London Bar Fraud: civil
- London Bar Insolvency
- London Bar International arbitration: arbitrators
- London Bar Financial services regulation
- London Bar International arbitration: counsel
- London Bar Charities
- London Bar Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
- London Bar Construction
- London Bar Pensions
- London Mediators
- London Bar Professional negligence
- London Bar Property litigation
- London Bar Company and partnership