Leading Silks

Michael Ashcroft KCTwenty Essex 'He has a wonderful courtroom manner.'  
Simon Croall KC – Quadrant Chambers 'Simon is an excellent lawyer. He provides nuanced, commercial, and excellent strategic advice.'  
Timothy Hill KC – Twenty Essex 'When Timothy is involved in a case, he leaves no stone unturned.'
Chirag Karia KCQuadrant Chambers 'A very responsive and clear-minded silk. He is also very user-friendly.'  
Charles Kimmins KCTwenty Essex 'Charles knows the law relating to commodities trading very well - probably the most able commodities silk around.'
Yash Kulkarni KCQuadrant Chambers 'A future heavyweight at the shipping Bar.'
David Lewis KCTwenty Essex 'A silk with a very good nose for how a tribunal will react to an argument.'
Duncan Matthews KCTwenty Essex 'The equivalent of unleashing a hungry wolf onto your opponents.'
Michael Nolan KCQuadrant Chambers 'A concise silk who grabs the attention of the court.'
Luke Parsons KCQuadrant Chambers 'An excellent silk.'  
Simon Rainey KCQuadrant Chambers 'Simon is simply excellent. A brilliant advocate with a superb intellect.'
Vasanti Selvaratnam KC – The 36 Group 'A silk with a meticulous eye.'
Nigel Cooper KCQuadrant Chambers 'An unflappable advocate and highly effective cross examiner who knows just when to turn up the heat.'
Michael Davey KCQuadrant Chambers 'An assured silk. Clients like him.'
Jern-Fei Ng KC7BRJern-Fei is outstanding – a first-rate lawyer and advocate. He has sound judgement and is incredibly hard working.’
Colin Ong KCThe 36 Group ‘Colin has a superb analytical mind. He is articulate on his feet and tactically astute.'
John Russell KCQuadrant Chambers 'John is an engaging advocate. He is a tenacious and formidable cross examiner.'
Timothy Young KCTwenty Essex 'He thinks fast on his feet, and tailors arguments to the particular tribunal.'  

2022 Silks

Simon Milnes KCTwenty Essex 'A very congenial silk who is easy to work with.'
Alexander Wright KC –4 Pump Court 'An extremely bright silk. He demonstrates great clarity of thought, and is approachable. Someone you want on your team.'

Leading Juniors

Tom BirdQuadrant Chambers 'Tom always provides concise and incisive input on any matter, and has an impressive ability to grasp the key issues and dive into the heart of a case within a very short time.'
Henry EllisQuadrant Chambers 'Henry is outstanding. He provides timely, considered and pragmatic advice.'
Nevil PhillipsQuadrant ChambersNevil has a commanding courtroom manner, and is very user-friendly with clients.’
Caroline PoundsQuadrant Chambers 'A diligent, quick and intelligent junior.'  
Colin WrightThe 36 Group 'Colin has significant marine experience - he knows the sector well and is well informed in relation to the substantive issues underlying a wide variety of claims. He is detail-oriented and prepares meticulously.'
Ravi Aswani The 36 Group 'Ravi is very diligent, and is very good at boiling down complex legal principles into client- and solicitor-friendly summaries.'
Ben Gardner – Quadrant Chambers 'A very user-friendly junior.'
Christopher JayQuadrant Chambers 'Calm, composed and very capable.'
Susannah JonesTwenty Essex 'A junior who has super attention to detail and a concise and succinct manner of drafting pleadings.'
Andrew LeungQuadrant Chambers 'A responsive, prompt and efficient barrister.'
Natalie MooreQuadrant Chambers 'She is a great communicator.'
Rani Noakes  – 4 Pump Court 'Rani is fiercely intelligent. She has great commercial acumen and provides sound, concise and timely legal advice.'
Saira ParukQuadrant Chambers 'A pragmatic junior who quickly gets on top of her brief.'
Gideon Shirazi4 Pump Court 'Gideon is very responsive and proactive.'
Andrew Stevens4 Pump Court 'Andrew shows exceptional legal prowess, unwavering dedication, and an unparalleled commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for clients.'
Mary ThomsonThe 36 Group 'A highly regarded junior. She is first-class in the shipping area.'
Paul TomsQuadrant Chambers 'An extremely proficient junior.'

Shipping and commodities in Asia Pacific: The English Bar

36 Stone Chambers

Part of The 36 Group, 36 Stone is very well known for its established strength in handling on a wide spectrum of matters concerning shipping contractual documents, as well as commodities issues within the shipping space. Vasanti Selvaratnam KC is highly regarded for her expertise in maritime law, and the ‘conscientiousColin Ong KC regularly acts in high-value shipping and commodities arbitrations across multiple Asian jurisdictions. Colin Wright is ‘a confident and articulate advocate‘, and the ‘very responsiveRavi Aswani counts dry and wet shipping disputes as a core pillar of his practice.

Les références

Sam Medlock is an up and coming clerk.’

4 Pump Court

4 Pump Court is a ‘great set for shipping disputes‘. Members are well known for appearing in Hong Kong, China and Singapore in complex, long-running disputes in the maritime sector, and are equally adept at advising on a broad range of commodities matters. Sean O’Sullivan KC is singled out for his strength in handling commodities and dry shipping disputes. Alexander Wright KC‘s busy practice includes charterparties, bills of lading, contracts of affreightments, commodity sale and purchase agreements and shipbuilding matters. At the junior end, Rani Noakes is ‘a powerhouse‘, and Andrew Stevens is regularly instructed by Chinese owners and charterers in shipping mandates.

Les références

James Tanner is an excellent clerk.’

James Tanner is always very helpful.’

4 Pump Court has a good mix of breadth and talent.’

Quadrant Chambers

With a reputation for having the ‘best strength in depth for shipping work‘, Quadrant Chambers‘ ‘simply brilliant‘ barristers ‘have a deep understanding of the shipping industry and their legal acumen is exceptional‘. In a prominent example of the set's expertise demonstrated before the English courts, Simon Rainey KC and Tom Bird represented the appellant before the Court of Appeal in the longrunning case of K Line Pte Ltd v Priminds Shipping (HK) Co Ltd, known as The Eternal Bliss. The case involved a major point of shipping law, namely the availability of damages in addition to demurrage arising from a charterer’s failure to complete cargo operations. The Court of Appeal ruled that demurrage liquidates the whole of the damages arising from a charterer’s breach. The Supreme Court granted permission to appeal, however the case was settled in April 2023.

Les références

The clerks led by Simon Slattery are extremely helpful and proactive and always respond to queries promptly.’

Simon Slattery is exceptionally responsive and helpful.’

Quadrant have by far the greatest strength in depth for shipping related work.’

Twenty Essex

Twenty Essex ‘has the biggest stable of commodities counsel‘ and maintains a close relationship with the Singaporean legal market, with members bringing their expertise to complex litigation in the shipping space. High-value arbitration matters have also been prominent in the group’s caseload, an area in which the ‘strong and dynamicTimothy Hill KC excels. Timothy Young KC has ‘a fearsome legal mind, and he is very creative on legal argument and strategy‘. The ‘sharpDuncan Matthews KC advises on a range of shipping issues, including bills of lading, cargo claims and contracts of affreightments. At the junior end of chambers, Oliver Caplin specialises in handling dry shipping and commodities disputes.

Les références

Arron Zitver – always helpful and accommodating.’

Twenty Essex is a very strong chambers.’