Joe Smouha KC
'Joe is a go-to leader when the stakes are at their highest. His oral advocacy is impressive - he is both brilliant and devastating to the other side's argument.'
Essex Court Chambers stands out as a ‘strong set with an excellent reputation and quality advocates’, handling a myriad of substantial commercial litigation including civil fraud, insurance, banking and finance, and shipping-related work. In NMC Healthcare v Shetty, Ruth Den Besten KC is defending the founder of NMC Healthcare amidst allegations of fraudulent activity following the Middle Eastern hospital group’s collapse into administration in 2020. Joe Smouha KC is leading Ciaran Keller in Nex Group Limited’s defence against TP ICAP, a case relating to the non-disclosure of alleged liabilities arising from the German cum-ex trading scandal. In another high-profile matter, Nathan Pillow KC and Tim Akkouh KC are representing Eurasian Natural Resources Company in claims against Dechert LLP, Neil Gerrard, and the Serious Fraud Office, pertaining to the SFO’s investigation into and the solicitors firm’s advice about alleged corruption in ENRC’s international operations. Daniel Oudkerk KC is representing hundreds of thousands of claimant vehicle owners in six separate group actions concerning diesel emissions against major motor manufacturers. Adding to the chambers’ distinguished roster, David Peters KC and James Sheehan KC were elevated to silk status in March 2024 and Paul Stanley KC was appointed Deputy High Court Judge with effect from January 2023.
L’éditorial du Legal 500
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Témoignages
Collectés indépendamment par l'équipe de recherche du Legal 500.
- 'Joe Ferrigno runs a top team and is very approachable and helpful.'
- 'Joe Ferrigno and Ollie Butcher are outstanding - without the exceptional levels of organisation, astuteness and dedication of these clerks, the set would not function anywhere near as well as it does. They know their barristers very well and understand exactly what (and who) even the most complex case requires.'
- 'Excellent clerking staff - Sam Wright and Demi Woogler are fantastic to deal with.'
- 'Very ably led by Joe Ferrigno who has a clear vision of the level of service that Chambers should provide and where the future of dispute resolution lies.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers is a strong set with an excellent reputation and quality advocates.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers is the leading commercial litigation set in the country.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers is the best commercial Chambers in London with an amazing bench strength.'
- 'Essex Court's commercial litigation offering is exceptional.'
Avocats
Leading silks
Graham Dunning KC
Jeffrey Gruder KC
'Jeffrey is excellence personified – calm, hugely knowledgeable and incredibly user-friendly.'
Andrew Hochhauser KC
'Andrew has a wealth of experience. He is excellent with clients and elegant in delivery.'
Stephen Houseman KC
'A very succinct but persuasive advocate. Always relishes a challenge.'
David Joseph KC
'David is creative and incredibly knowledgeable. His advocacy is also compelling and you can tell judges really listen to his points.'
Nathan Pillow KC
'Nathan is a great advocate. He is very calm, pleasant to work with, and approachable.'
Jeremy Brier KC
Jeremy is able to understand client needs and deliver a strategy and approach that aligns with their needs. He is always incredibly well-prepared and committed as an advocate.'
Edward Brown KC
‘Edward is a creative thinker and is able to extrapolate existing law to fit novel fact patterns. He is well-liked by clients.'
James Collins KC
‘Mellifluous in his delivery, strategic and hard working in his approach. The perfect all-rounder.’
David Davies KC
Philippa Hopkins KC
'Extremely bright, very personable, and user-friendly. Excellent manner with clients and gives realistic and clear advice.'
Paul Key KC
Paul is superb at quickly reaching the solution to problems. He is extremely bright and knowledgeable about the law and arbitration practice.'
John Lockey KC
Iain Quirk KC
'A pleasure to work with and highly recommended.'
David Scorey KC
'David is a pleasure to work with. His advocacy is absolutely first-class. He is well prepared and has a straightforward and clear matter-of-fact style.'
James Willan KC
'James is a real all-rounder. He is phenomenally bright, hard-working and keeps the details at his fingertips. He is also genuinely easy to work with, fostering a real sense of teamwork, and is well-liked by clients who appreciate his sensitivity and humour in difficult situations.'
Emily Wood KC
'Emily is fantastic to work with, gets stuck into the details, and takes a really pragmatic and commercial view on issues. She adds real value.'
2024 Silks
David Peters KC
'Incredibly bright, and able to cut straight to the core of complex issues on any case. A fantastic advocate, who persuasively puts forward the client's case and has the court's ear.'
James Sheehan KC
'James is incredibly bright and has a depth of knowledge that is, at times, hard to believe. He is totally unflappable, even under the most extreme pressure. His written work is fantastic, and his advocacy is also impressive.'
Meilleurs Juniors
Stuart Cribb
'Stuart is incredibly bright. His drafting is excellent and his advocacy is controlled and compelling.'
Stephen Donnelly
'A very strong junior. Approachable, easy to work with, and very bright.'
Matthieu Gregoire
'One of the best senior juniors on the market. Fully bilingual and a great pleasure to work with.'
Sophia Hurst
‘A star of the future – creative, perceptive and very good judgement. Excellent on paper. One to watch.’
Andrew Legg
‘Andrew is brilliantly persuasive advocate and extremely skillful at managing clients' expectations.'
Owen Lloyd
‘Owen is fantastic. Super committed, very clever and a pleasure to deal with.’
Bibek Mukherjee
'Bibek demonstrates excellent intellect and ability to marshal complex issues in a very short space of time. His preparation and his written advocacy are both first-class.'
Alexander Riddiford
‘Alex has a wonderful drafting style - clear and persuasive. His speed of delivery is phenomenal. He is also a great person to have with you when in a tight spot.'
Benedict Tompkins
‘In a sea of very clever people, he still stands out as being exceptionally intellectually gifted. He is a highly persuasive and accurate writer and oral communicator. One is never left with lingering doubts about whether we are making the right argument.'
Felix Wardle
'Felix is an excellent junior barrister, who is strong on the detail.'
Peter Webster
'Peter is pragmatic, intelligent and responsive. Inevitably a silk of the future.'
Paul C K Wee
'Paul is exceptional. His advocacy, drafting and analytical skills are exemplary. He is certainly someone you want on your team, and he is a pleasure to work with.'
Rising stars
Jeunes avocats collaborateurs ou counsels qui se distinguent régulièrement par leur présence dans des dossiers importants du marché, et qui sont identifiés par le marché comme de jeunes talents à suivre.
Freddie Onslow
'Freddie is a very impressive junior. She is bright, confident and capable - a valuable member of a team.'
Freddie Popplewell
'An absolute star of the future, he punches massively above his year of call. The quality of his work is first class and his advocacy is very impressive. He is a complete joy to work with: diligent, unassuming, funny and commercially savvy.'
Katherine Ratcliffe
‘She punches well above her years of call. Her drafting is persuasive and succinct.'