Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Chancery: Commercial - London (Bar)

2
Band 2

What the Team is Known For

This set's barristers are noted for their expert handling of complex and high-profile commercial chancery disputes, with the team offering significant strength in civil fraud and banking litigation. Members receive regular instructions to handle cases in offshore jurisdictions, and frequently undertake complex shareholder disputes involving the Far East and the CIS. Regularly instructed on both sides of major commercial chancery disputes, barristers here have been involved in some of the most celebrated cases of recent years, including the USD5 billion NMC Healthcare PLC & Ors v Dr Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty & Ors proceedings, the Supreme Court case of Invest Bank v El-Husseini and others, and the USD2 billion oil and gas contracts case of Crescent Petroleum v National Iranian Oil Company. Joe Ferrigno is the senior clerk.

Strengths

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Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

1
Joe Smouha
1
Band 1

Joe is very commercial in what he does and very smooth in court.

Joe is a very good cross-examiner. He comes across as hugely authoritative in the courtroom.

Joe is well regarded and works really hard.

1
Paul McGrath
1
Band 1

Paul is one of the brightest at the Bar. His oral presentations are pitched perfectly.

Paul is a walking textbook on freezing orders and that kind of stuff. You can see that the judge knows his reputation and believes everything he says.

Paul is one of the super silks in the fraud space. He is strategically flawless and very clear in terms of his legal advice.

Paul is extremely bright and also fabulously unpretentious and unfussy. The good thing about him is that the judiciary like him as he delivers in a user-friendly way.

Paul is probably the leading KC for commercial fraud and complex matters at the Bar. He is very user friendly and masterful when it comes to tactical considerations.

1
Richard Millett
1
Band 1

Richard has a command and presence in the room because of who he is. Delightful to watch, he makes incredibly powerful submissions and gives immense confidence to the client.

Richard is a great advocate. He is extremely effective.

Richard is really, really smart and very intellectually able in coming up with creative solutions. He's certainly a fighter for his clients.

2
Christopher Lloyd
2
Band 2

Christopher Lloyd is phenomenally clever, into the detail and very user-friendly.

Christopher is the complete package. His analysis, advocacy and written work are all extremely good.

Chris is a clever junior and very good to work with in terms of his responsiveness and work ethic.

3
James Willan
3
Band 3

Give James any legal problem and he will help you out.

James is both remarkable and very accessible.

James is a very cerebral barrister who is all over the detail.

James is so impressive in written and oral submissions. He is exceptional.

3
Tim Akkouh
3
Band 3

Tim is fantastic, really insightful and an excellent advocate.

Tim Akkouh is very good on his feet and is also fantastic in terms of his written advocacy. An extremely intelligent man, he is creative and dynamic in his problem-solving.

4
David Peters KC
4
Band 4

David is wonderful. He's all over the case and a really nice guy to work with. I think his reputation is going from strength to strength.

4
James Sheehan
4
Band 4

An excellent advocate who is very hard-working and all over the detail in a case. He is particularly good at getting on top of complicated material and delivering his points in a compelling way.

James is extremely bright but humble with it. I trust his judgement.

James is a seriously good counsel who ticks all the boxes. He delivers very well on both the law and the facts, and is good on his feet.

4
Louise Hutton
4
Band 4

Louise is considerate and has great instincts.

Louise is extremely bright and fantastic in court. She's good at taking senior judges through difficult points of law and is someone who argues incredibly well.

Louise has a very thoughtful approach and understands our client base well. She is very good on the technical points of a case.

4
Ruth den Besten
4
Band 4

Ruth is very engaging and has a good manner when dealing with judges. They like her because she is concise in her submissions, both written and oral.

Ruth is user-friendly and good on her feet. She's really strong and very good.

Ciaran Keller
New Silks

Ciaran is fantastic. His written work is first rate, and he's super thorough. He leaves no stone unturned.

Ciaran is a barrister with laser-sharp intelligence who is well prepared and across all the detail in a case. He is able to run rings around barristers who are far senior to him.

Ciaran has really good feel and instinct. He has good judgement about the right strategy and is great both on paper and in cross-examination.

Ranked Barristers at
Essex Court Chambers

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Filter by
Band

Silks (KC)

London (Bar)

Chancery: Commercial

1
Joe Smouha KC
1
Band 1
1
Paul McGrath KC
1
Band 1
1
Richard Millett KC
1
Band 1
3
James Willan KC
3
Band 3
3
Tim Akkouh KC
3
Band 3
4
David Peters KC
4
Band 4
4
James Sheehan KC
4
Band 4
4
Louise Hutton KC
4
Band 4
4
Ruth den Besten KC
4
Band 4
Ciaran Keller KC
New Silks

Juniors

London (Bar)

Chancery: Commercial

2
Christopher Lloyd
2
Band 2