‘Developing a best-in-class competition practice’, One Essex Court is an increasingly prominent set in large cases of competition litigation. Conall Patton KC has represented the defendant in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation v Cooperative Rabobank UA, a matter concerning accusations of unlawful collusion between financial institutions concerning LIBOR, in a number of CMCs. Matthew Cook KC and Sonia Tolaney KC have both been recently instructed by Mastercard on a number of high-value and prominent CAT proceedings, integrating existing practices in banking and commercial litigation. At the junior level, Derek Spitz acted for the class representative in the Le Patourel v BT case, and the ’sensible, pragmatic, fiercely intelligent’ Oscar Schonfeld is currently instructed by prominent defendants in the long-running trucks litigation, which is due to have further trials in 2026.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The clerks room are the best in London. Adam Wheeler and Jackie Ginty are composite professionals.'
- 'Adam Wheeler works hard for his charges. He is responsive and competent.'
- 'Very good clerking.'
- 'One Essex Court are developing a best-in-class competition practice'
- 'It's a good set - a few good competition barristers, plenty of good commercial barristers.'
- 'They are growing, and taking on very good juniors.'
Lawyers
Leading Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
Matthew Cook KC
Sonia Tolaney KC
‘Very strong oral advocate.’
Leading Juniors
Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.
Derek Spitz
'Derek, is solid and unflappable. He has a strong eye for detail and exudes quality on his feet.'
Daniel Benedyk
Owain Draper
Ben Lewy
Andrew Lomas
Oscar Schonfeld
‘Oscar is an absolute star. His understanding of economics is simply amazing – he is a huge asset to a competition litigation team as he is able to engage with the economic experts as if he himself is on their team.’
Rising stars
Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.