On 29 March 2022 the Bermudan Supreme Court (Chief Justice Hargun) handed down judgment following the trial of the dispute between Bidzina Ivanishvili (the former Prime Minister of Georgia) and other plaintiffs and Credit Suisse Life (Bermuda) Limited (“CS Life”), a member of the Credit Suisse group. The claim arose out of a long-running fraud […]

On 24 March 2022, Mr Justice Nicklin handed down judgment rejecting the Defendant’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the English Court on the basis of state immunity in the case of Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Zayn v His Majesty Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón [2022] EWHC 668 (QB), which was heard on 6-7 […]

Edward Brown QC has a broad practice and acts in matters across a wide spectrum of commercial, employment, media and entertainment, VAT and judicial review disputes. Ed has acted in high value and complex disputes in a range of courts and trials. In addition to trials and heavy applications, Ed frequently acts in appeals up […]

Tim Akkouh QC is a commercial litigator, with a strong reputation for civil fraud and asset recovery. He has acted in some of the largest actions to come before the courts, such as JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov, Pinchuk v Bogolyubov, Mezhprom v Pugachev, Republic of Djibouti v Boreh, PrivatBank v Kolomoisky, Chernukhin v Deripaska […]

Lucas Bastin QC’s practice covers a wide array of commercial and international law work, drawing especially on his expertise in international arbitration (commercial and investment), public international law, and commercial litigation relating thereto.  He has acted in matters before all levels of English courts.  He has been engaged in much of the recent litigation relating […]

Jeremy Brier QC’s practice specialises in complex and heavy commercial litigation, including insurance, banking and funds, all aspects of commercial fraud, shipping and international arbitration. He appears regularly in the Commercial Court and has advised and acted in numerous commercial disputes at all levels in the English courts. In 2021 Jeremy was the Junior Counsel […]

Neil Hart QC’s practice covers a hugely diverse range of commercial disputes, in UNCITRAL, ICC, SIAC, LCIA and LMAA arbitration, and hard-fought litigation in the Commercial Court and on appeal.  He is currently acting for a US based internet gaming company in a high-value dispute with Russian investors over the development of, and intellectual property […]

Members and staff of Essex Court Chambers are celebrating the appointment of six new Silks today. Neil Hart, Edward Brown, Jeremy Brier, Tim Akkouh, Emily Wood and Lucas Bastin will be sworn in as Silk at a ceremony taking place today at the Palace of Westminster, following their appointment earlier this year. Senior Clerk Joe […]

In WSB v FOL [2022] EWHC 586 (Comm) Mr Justice Calver gave judgment containing authoritative guidance concerning applications under ss.67-69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 which are at first dealt with on paper and in relation to which an oral hearing is then sought. He refused the application of WSB to set aside an Order […]

Essex Court Chambers and its members have been highlighted in a recent report published by The Lawyer. The report, published in March 2022 and entitled “The Commercial Court: This is where the relationships lie” draws on data from The Lawyer’s Litigation Tracker, ranking sets and firms according to the number of concluded judgments, case days and […]

On Friday 11 March 2022 the Commercial Court (Butcher J) handed down judgment in General Dynamics UK Ltd v The State of Libya [2022] EWHC 501 (Comm). The Court considered the importance of adjudicative and enforcement state immunity in the context of arbitration enforcement proceedings, and addressed how and when state immunity should be dealt with as […]

In an ex tempore judgment given on 8 March 2022, Mr Justice Calver sitting remotely in the Commercial Court granted an interim negative anti-suit injunction (‘ASI’ for short) to enforce the claimant’s arbitration rights as a matter of English law in the context of civil proceedings commenced by the defendant against the claimant (named as […]