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About
Provided by Maya Lester KC
Practice Areas
Maya Lester KC has a wide-ranging practice in public law, sanctions, EU & competition law and human rights. She regularly appears in leading cases in England and Luxembourg and is qualified at the Bar of England and of Ireland. She is in the Lawyer Hot 100 for 2024.
Maya has a particular expertise in the law relating to sanctions, and founded and co-writes the leading online resource on sanctions law (globalsanctions.com). She has acted in most of the leading EU and UK cases, including Youssef, Synesis, Graham Phillips, Kadi 2, Tay Za, Central Bank of Iran, Lamesa and IRISL, and has given evidence on sanctions to a number of parliamentary committees.
Her most significant cases include Wightman (the Brexit ECJ case on the revocability of Article 50), R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State (the Chagos Islands litigation in the UK and ECHR), Enron v EWS (the first follow-on competition damages trial in the UK), the Shambo judicial review (on bovine TB), Walker v Innospec (civil partners pensions). She appears in judicial reviews of regulatory decisions (eg Cityhook, UniChem), on proscribed terrorist organisations (LTTE, ISYF), competition appeals (including EURIBOR, Pay TV, horseracing, dairy, and construction recruitment forum) and damages actions (including Enron & National Grid).
Chambers Review
UK Bar
Maya Lester KC is the leading sanctions mind at the Bar, providing unparalleled expertise to companies and individuals on listing and relisting challenges, enforcement matters and related commercial litigation and arbitration. She has a superb command of EU and US sanctions regimes, including legal developments concerning US secondary sanctions.
Maya Lester KC attracts considerable attention both for her sanctions practice and for her work in key CJEU referral cases, as well as her involvement in the leading Brexit-related litigation. She has advised in commercial disputes arising within the sensitive context of conflicting sanctions regimes. She also appeals EC competition decisions before the CJEU and assists with important cases on the execution of European arrest warrants.
Maya Lester KC brings deep expertise in EU, human rights and sanctions law to domestic and international public law proceedings. Recently she has been involved in high-profile national security disputes. She receives instructions from corporations, NGOs and public bodies.
Maya Lester KC routinely acts for both private and public respondents and applicants in human rights cases. She has vast experience of appearing before domestic and EU courts, and is particularly knowledgeable on the subject of EU sanctions. She fields further expertise in matters involving torture, religious freedom and freedom of speech.
Maya Lester KC acts for key financial services clients seeking to overturn EC cartel decisions. She also defends follow-on damages claims, as well as acting for claimants on standalone and collective action claims. Lester also has a number of clients in the pharmaceutical, energy and technology industries.
Maya Lester KC offers especial expertise in economic sanctions and undertakes significant work in a range of international legal disciplines, with recent work involving close scrutiny of the Treaty on European Union. Among other clients, she acts on behalf of investors in various arbitral proceedings.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"Maya is the undisputed queen of sanctions and EU competition law."
"Maya is probably the leading barrister in sanctions. Her knowledge of the subject across the whole spectrum is platinum class."
"Maya possesses extraordinary communication skills and is remarkably efficient in her drafting."
"What she doesn't know about sanctions isn't worth knowing. She's brilliant and makes complex areas accessible."
"I find Maya Lester KC's responsiveness extraordinary and the level of her drafting is very high. She turns difficult situations into very easy-to-understand concepts, which I think is a rare skill."
"Maya Lester KC goes above and beyond. She is bright, supportive and engaging with all issues in front of her."
"Maya has really great broad knowledge of European, public and human rights law. She is a fluent advocate and respected by judges. She is very thorough and hardworking."
"She has very encyclopaedic knowledge in sanctions. She is very good tactically and very good on her feet."
"Maya is an excellent advocate."
"Maya is one of the most formidable legal brains and intellects at the bar."
"Maya has encyclopaedic knowledge."
"She is incredibly knowledgeable and I like working with her."
"Maya is fantastic in this field. She never lets a case out of her sight and has that stellar quality of being able to move the dial in a case."
"Maya is a great advocate. She's really great on her feet, and when difficult questions come up she finds the right thing to say."
"She provides excellent attention to detail and analysis."
"Maya is the undisputed queen of sanctions and EU competition law."
"Maya is probably the leading barrister in sanctions. Her knowledge of the subject across the whole spectrum is platinum class."
"Maya possesses extraordinary communication skills and is remarkably efficient in her drafting."
"What she doesn't know about sanctions isn't worth knowing. She's brilliant and makes complex areas accessible."
"I find Maya Lester KC's responsiveness extraordinary and the level of her drafting is very high. She turns difficult situations into very easy-to-understand concepts, which I think is a rare skill."
"Maya Lester KC goes above and beyond. She is bright, supportive and engaging with all issues in front of her."
"Maya has really great broad knowledge of European, public and human rights law. She is a fluent advocate and respected by judges. She is very thorough and hardworking."
"She has very encyclopaedic knowledge in sanctions. She is very good tactically and very good on her feet."
"Maya is an excellent advocate."
"Maya is one of the most formidable legal brains and intellects at the bar."
"Maya has encyclopaedic knowledge."
"She is incredibly knowledgeable and I like working with her."
"Maya is fantastic in this field. She never lets a case out of her sight and has that stellar quality of being able to move the dial in a case."
"Maya is a great advocate. She's really great on her feet, and when difficult questions come up she finds the right thing to say."
"She provides excellent attention to detail and analysis."
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