4 Stone Buildings is well-regarded for its expertise in handling a broad spectrum of complex commercial disputes. The team has a solid track record in appearing before offshore forums, as well as the Commercial and Chancery courts in the UK. Jonathan Crow KC represented the claimants before the Court of Appeal in Hulley Enterprises Ltd & Others v The Russian Federation, a longrunning dispute concerning the enforcement of an arbitration award against the Russian government. The Court rejected the Russian government's claim of state immunity on the grounds of issue estoppel. Christopher Harrison is 'charm personified with a steel core of no-nonsense capability'. Donald Lilly KC took silk in March 2025.
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Profile
Position
Chancery Commercial, including Company Law and personal and corporate Insolvency, with a particular emphasis on disputes involving offshore and civil fraud aspects. Recent reported cases include: Magomedov v TPG Group [2025] EWHC 59 (Comm), Wang v Tianjin Lantian Gerui [2024 EWHC 2059 (Ch), Sian Participation v Domidias [2024] EWHC 458 (Comm), Gill v Thind [2023] EWCA Civ 1276, SFO v Harbour Fund II LLP [2022] EWHC 3053 and Faulkner v Vollin Holdings Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1371.
Career
Called 2006; Middle Temple. Called to the BVI Bar in 2013 and the Gibraltar Bar (on a case specified basis) in 2019. Publications of note: contributor to Oxford Journal of Trusts & Trustees; Tolley’s Company Law Service; and Butterworth’s Journal of International Bank and Financial Law.
Publications:
“Investigations by BIS”, Tolley’s Company Law Service
“It’s a real privilege: common interests in trust disputes”. Trusts and Trustees, T. & T. 2013, 19(1), 68-78.
“A Tale of Two Insolvencies”, Butterworth’s Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, (2012) 6 JIBFL 348.
Featured in The Lawyer, “Judgment Call”, 21 May 2012.
Memberships
Chancery Bar Association and COMBAR.
Called to the Bar of the British Virgin Islands (2013)
Called (on a case specific basis) to the Bar of Gibraltar (2019).
Education
Wadham College, Oxford (MA, BCL), Scholar.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The service from the clerks is immaculate. The client is always put first. They are flexible, commercial and always a pleasure to deal with. Ryan Tunkel is an absolute star. He is brilliant at understanding the client's needs and nothing is too much trouble.'
- 'Ben and Ryan are superb.'
- 'Ryan Tunkel is outstanding.'
- 'Ben Lashmar, Ryan Tunkel, Ed Tolfts and Louie Millard are highly responsive and professional.'
- '4 Stone Buildings is a very strong set with a number of impressive barristers working on top commercial cases.'
- 'Strong bench of barristers.'
- 'A dependable set for high quality advice.'
- 'An exceptional chambers.'