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
Agency; Arbitration; Banking and financial contracts; Commodities and sale of goods; Energy and natural resources; Insurance and reinsurance; Private international law; Shareholder and joint venture disputes; Shipping
Position
Michael specialises in commercial law.
His areas of practice include general commercial disputes, international trade, shipping (including charterparty, contract of affreightment, bill of lading, shipbuilding, and ship sale and purchase disputes), commodities, conflicts of laws, insurance (including marine insurance and protection and indemnity cover), reinsurance, banking, and shareholder disputes.
Michael appears both in court and before a variety of arbitration tribunals. He is registered to appear before the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).
He accepts appointments as an arbitrator. Michael has been involved in a number of references under various regimes, including the LCIA and LMAA terms, UNCITRAL rules, and ad hoc. He is a member of the panel of arbitrators of ARIAS (UK), MOOGAS, SCMA and SIAC.
Languages
French, German.
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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.'