Twenty Essex has a deep bench focused on commodities, shipping and international trade. Among its members are some of the most respected silks and juniors in the commodities space, including those who have established key points of law that govern market practice. In Omni v Samancor, a $7m SIAC arbitration concerning the sale of manganese, standout silk Michael Ashcroft KC achieved a favourable settlement in a matter that involved complex issues regarding applicability of sanctions clause following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Michael Collett KC defended a GAFTA appeal in Sharp Corp Ltd v Viterra BV, which arose from the non-performance of two contracts for the purchase of pulses. New to the top tier of silks is Timothy Hill KC, who is ‘one of the very best’. Turning to the set's juniors, Alex Carless is assisting Glencore in seeking €110m in payment for cargoes of diesel.
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Profile
Work Department
Civil fraud; Commercial arbitration; Commodities; Financial derivatives; General commercial litigation; Insurance/reinsurance; International trade; Investment disputes; Jurisdictional disputes; Mining; Offshore/energy; Oil rig/drilling disputes; Ship sale contracts; Shipbuilding contracts and other construction contracts; Shipping; Super yacht disputes
Position
Michael is an experienced silk with a broad commercial practice, specialising in high value and complex (often highly technical) commercial contractual disputes. He took silk in 2011, at only 38 years of age. He is very well set-up to work remotely in these challenging times, and successfully represented Trafigura in one of the first applications (for a mandatory injunction requiring payment of US$76m security) dealt with under the Covid-19 Protocol in the Commercial Court.
He was awarded the prestigious “International Arbitration Silk of the Year” by Chambers & Partners in 2016 and also won Chambers “Shipping Silk of the Year” in 2019. He has been shortlisted multiple times for other awards by Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500.
Over recent years, he has been ranked as a leading silk by Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 in the following practice areas: shipping, commodities, energy, civil fraud and international arbitration.
Michael has vast experience of jurisdictional disputes, having appeared in several of the leading cases. He is also regularly involved in applications for injunctions and for the enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards. His most recent ongoing work includes advising in relation to offshore decommissioning contracts, acting for a Gulf based bank in a very substantial ICC arbitration concerning bonds, acting for Sunderland FC in a professional negligence dispute in the Commercial Court and advising in relation to multiple mortgage contracts.
He appears regularly in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court. Michael also has a wide range of experience of cases before, and on appeal from, arbitration tribunals in various jurisdictions (including Singapore, Hong Kong, Sweden, Malaysia, Paris and New York) and he has been admitted to the Bar of St Kitts and Nevis (on an ad hoc basis). He is a team player and has led large teams of counsel in significant cases; he works frequently as co-counsel with lawyers qualified in other jurisdictions. Michael also has significant experience of mediation.
Michael accepts appointments as an arbitrator both in London and abroad. He is a member of the MOOGAS panel of international arbitrators and mediators. Michael also acts as an expert on English law in foreign proceedings.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Clerks Arron Zither and Robert Wheeler are both excellent. The clerk's room generally is very amenable to discussing rates and availability.'
- 'Arron Zitver is very approachable and helpful.'
- 'Twenty Essex is my go-to set due to their large number of high-calibre commodities specialists.'
- 'Twenty Essex has considerable depth and real quality. Good service a from clerks. Wide range of suitable counsel at all levels."
- 'Twenty Essex is one of the leading if not the leading set for commodities litigation. The offer strength and depth at both KC and junior level. A real go-to set for commodities litigation.'