Graham Dunning KC
'Eminently sensible. Calm and unflappable when dealing with highly charged complex hearings.'
Praised for its ‘vast experience and remarkable knowledge in international arbitration’, barristers at Essex Court Chambers remain a popular choice across the entire spectrum of international arbitrations and related proceedings, including complex enforcement and interim relief challenges at all levels of the English courts. Graham Dunning KC led Lucas Bastin KC, Peter Webster, and Katherine Ratcliffe in the Czech Republic v Diag Human SE and Josef Stava proceedings, concerning challenges and appeals to a $600m arbitral award handed down in 2022 in favour of Diag Human due to a breach of a fair and equitable treatment obligation by the state. Members of the set are highly experienced in matters at the intersection between international arbitration and public international law with juniors Naomi Hart, Matthieu Gregoire and Sean Aughey appearing in complex investor-state arbitrations before a range of arbitral institutions.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Clerks are personable and user friendly.'
- 'Widely regarded as one of the premier sets in this field. They have extensive experience to some of the most complex and high-stakes international disputes.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers is the leading set for excellent advocates, particularly in public international law and international arbitration.'
- 'Market leading set. Go to chambers for most critical client matters.'
- 'Essex Court is our first port of call for arbitration-related court litigation. This is because they are very good lawyers, they have good commercial sense, they are team players and they have a service culture.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers has vast experience and remarkable knowledge in international arbitration.'
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.
David Joseph KC
‘One of the best legal minds. Technically absolutely a genius. Also one of the most hardworking barristers that solicitors have ever worked with.’
Paul Key KC
'Excellent barrister. Keen legal intellect. Diplomatic. Pleasant to work with.'
Richard Millett KC
Joe Smouha KC
‘Joe is undoubtedly one of the leading silks of his generation and at the Bar today. He is the first choice for bet the company disputes. He is a master at cross-examination – on top of every detail and knows just which levers to pull. He marries this with being an absolute pleasure to work with. He is highly respected by judges and tribunals alike – you want him on your team.’
Huw Davies KC
‘Very competent advocate, thorough and effective.’
Ricky Diwan KC
'A blue sky thinker who is not afraid to take on difficult points and run them very well. Extremely bright and analytically strong.'
Alison Macdonald KC
Hugely experienced, highly intelligent, collegiate and easy to work with. A leading silk.'
David Scorey KC
'Highly analytical, deep sector knowledge, prompt response and service oriented and commercial.'
Paul Stanley KC
Very clever, quick-thinking and astute. Strong oral and written advocacy: persuasive and concise.'
Lucas Bastin KC
Lucas is an all-round star with strengths across the board, from substantive excellence to wonderful client relationship skills.'
James Collins KC
‘Quality at every level. James is a tough and compelling advocate who fights hard.’
Philippa Hopkins KC
Philippa is extremely intelligent, energetic and tremendously well organised.'
Ben Juratowitch KC
‘Ben is an absolute star. He is a compelling and persuasive advocate.’
David Mildon KC
Nathan Pillow KC
An outstanding advocate who is able to present the most complex of cases with ease. Nathan is one of a few stars of the bar who can also turn his hand to arbitration.'
Sam Wordsworth KC
Siddharth Dhar KC
Stephen Houseman KC
‘Stephen is a first choice for arbitration-related court litigation: challenges to awards, challenges to arbitrators, anti-suit injunctions, etc. Stephen is a forceful advocate and is very good at distilling a core message, and this is reflected in his highly condensed and compelling skeleton arguments. He’s also good fun and a great team player.’
Iain Quirk KC
Iain has an incisive mind which he applies well to strategic issues. His advocacy is measured, clear and powerful.'
Dan Sarooshi KC
Combines academic acumen with strong advocacy.'
Angeline Welsh KC
'Angeline is phenomenally hard working, accomplished and deeply knowledgeable in respect of arbitration law. Her written advocacy is excellent and she is equally very assured on her feet and unscripted.'
James Willan KC
James has a razor sharp mind and is quite simply one of the two or three stars of his generation at the bar.'
Emily Wood KC
'She is a compelling and efficient advocate. Her oral advocacy is well structured, measured and highly persuasive.'
2025 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.
Tariq Baloch KC
'Tariq is super-intelligent, very personable and easy to work with. He is both a formidable advocate and leader on arbitration matters, as well as a member of a team that brings everyone together. Tariq is a wordsmith whose written work is always compelling and attractive.'
Anton Dudnikov KC
‘Anton is a star performer. His drafting is clear and strongly persuasive. As an advocate he is calm, collected and able to exploit weakness where it arrives.’
2024 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.
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.
Sean Aughey
'Sean is a standout senior junior at the bar. He can hold his own against any silk. He always punches above his weight. Sean is phenomenally clever - he gets right to the heart of the issues and his drafting is exceptionally strong. Sean is also a very intelligent and persuasive advocate. He has very good instincts and is extremely calm even with the most difficult witnesses.'
Matthieu Gregoire
‘Matthieu is a standout barrister whose work reflects the highest standards of legal excellence. With a sharp intellect and a calm, analytical approach, he consistently demonstrates a mastery of complex legal issues, particularly in the fields of commercial and public international law.’
Naomi Hart
'Highly intelligent and has a knowledge of international law well beyond her years. A gifted advocate also.'
Thomas Sebastian
'Thomas is extremely user friendly and enjoys a very strong reputation in the field of international arbitration.'
Peter Webster
'Peter is exceptionally hard working and calm under pressure. A very good barrister to have as part of the legal team.'
Paul C K Wee
'Paul is someone to have on your side; phenomenally bright, client-friendly and excellent on his feet. As well as excellent technical legal capabilities, he is able to be commercial and apply the client's situation to reach a practical outcome.'
Stephen Donnelly
Catherine Jung
'Catherine is a fantastic junior, with a total command of the matter. She is easy to work with, very intelligent, dedicated to success on even the toughest points and resourceful.'
Jackie McArthur
'Jackie is someone who always produces top quality work. She also is one of the few juniors at the Bar that genuinely does both commercial and investment arbitration.'
Bibek Mukherjee
'Bibek is an impressively bright, conscientious and efficient barrister. He is able to absorb and process large amounts of information astonishingly quickly, and has great tactical instincts. Unfailingly responsive and unflappable, he is always a pleasure to work with.'
Benedict Tompkins
'He has a unique ability to deliver the most careful thoughts and the most polished drafts, working punishing hours, but always with a smile and brilliant client management skills. He is loved by clients, and courts and arbitrators immediately recognise the quality of his arguments and listen to him with focused attention, looking for the answers which will shape their judgments and awards.'
Adam Woolnough
'Adam is ferociously hard working and commits absolutely to a case; he is meticulous and detail oriented and he has an easy manner. He stands head and shoulders above contemporaries.'
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.
