Twenty Essex is described as “very user-friendly,” particularly in commercial shipping matters, where its barristers frequently act in high-profile international disputes. A standout case is Angeliki Frangou v John Frangos, where Timothy Hill KC and Andrew Feld are acting against Oliver Caplin KC, who leads Patrick Dunn-Walsh in a dispute between two members of a Greek shipping dynasty concerning loss-pooling arrangements among a group of vessels. In Briety Shipping Inc v Trafigura Maritime Logistics Pte Ltd, a dispute concerning a hire adjustment mechanism after the spike of LNG prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Michael Ashcroft KC and Daniel Bovensiepen act for the claimant, opposing Philip Edey KC and Michal Hain. Julian Kenny KC and Hain also appeared in the Supreme Court in the litigation concerning the MSC Flaminia, a container ship which exploded in the mid-Atlantic, killing three crew members and causing extensive damage to the vessel and its cargo.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Position
Michal’s broad commercial practice is evenly split between English courts and international arbitral tribunals. He acts in general commercial cases with an emphasis on complex multi-jurisdictional litigation. Michal is also experienced in specialised areas, including investor-state disputes, insurance, and insolvency.
In the legal directories, he is described as “superbly gifted and a pleasure to work with”.
Michal is increasingly instructed to act as sole counsel, including in a one-week, high-value Commercial Court trial (Albion v Heritage and another [2022] EWHC 162 (Comm). He also frequently works in larger teams, not least in appellate cases, where he draws on his experiences as a Judicial Assistant to Lord Reed, then Deputy President, and now President of the Supreme Court.
He was recently instructed in two Supreme Court appeals: The CMA CGM LIBRA [2021] UKSC 51 about the proper construction of the Hague Rules and SAS v WPL regarding the jurisdiction of the English court to prevent, by injunction, the enforcement of a foreign judgment that was inconsistent with a prior domestic judgment and inconsistent with domestic public policy (in which the appeal settled).
As a Judicial Assistant at the UKSC in 2018-19, Michal worked on a number of leading commercial cases, including Vedanta [2019] UKSC 20 (jurisdiction in the context of a parent company’s liability for a subsidiary’s torts), Poole BC v GN [2019] UKSC 25 (assumption of responsibility in tort law), and Marex [2020] UKSC 31 (reflective loss rule in company law).
Prior to joining chambers, Michal taught contract and tort law at various Oxford colleges and, whilst at Harvard Law School, worked as a mediator in the Harvard Law School Mediation Programme, as a Student Attorney in the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project, and as a Judicial Intern in the Massachusetts Superior Court.
As a native German and Slovak speaker, Michal can work with original documents in German, Slovak and Czech.
Languages
German (native); Slovak (native); French (conversational)
Content supplied by Twenty Essex
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The clerks are consistently practical, approachable, and highly responsive. I work most often with Chris Theobald and Arron Zitver, both of whom are a genuine pleasure to deal with.'
- 'Historically, this set has produced very good pupils and juniors.'
- 'Twenty Essex are strong chambers when it comes to dry shipping litigation, and one of our preferred sets for this type of work.'
- 'The clerks at Twenty Essex have been a pleasure to deal with over the years. They’re straightforward, reliable, and always quick to respond – no fuss, just very capable.'
- 'The clerks turn around requests very quickly.'
- 'Twenty Essex is an excellent set.'
- 'Very user-friendly. Very strong barristers.'
- "One of the leading shipping sets."