Elizabeth Blackburn KC > The 36 Group > London, England > Barrister Profile
The 36 Group Offices
Gray's Inn, 4 Field Court
London
WC1R 5EF
England
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Elizabeth Blackburn KC
Work Department
36 Stone
Position
Elizabeth Blackburn QC has been in practice at the Admiralty/Commercial Bar since 1980 and took silk in 1998. She is recommended as a top-tier leading shipping silk in all the main directories. She is also a registered practitioner in the ADGM Court of Abu Dhabi and in the DIFC Court in Dubai. In addition to her commercial work, she is one of the most experienced KCs at the Bar in the field of large-scale casualty work and regularly advises on and acts in high profile maritime cases. Most recently she has been heavily involved as Leading Counsel in the major EVER GIVEN incident in the Suez Canal. After the successful outcome of an important preliminary issue in the Admiralty Court in March 2023, the case is now due for hearing in the Court of Appeal in February 2024.
Her professional standing as an experienced commercial arbitrator has been recognised globally with membership of all the main commercial panels worldwide including the HKIAC, AIAC, SIAC, SHIAC, BVI IAC, LCIA Europe and the SCMA. She is also a Member of the Baltic Exchange and a supporting member of the LMAA. She has acted as Chairman and sole Arbitrator in ICC commercial arbitrations, including not only international trade disputes and shipbuilding contracts, but also supply contractual disputes in the energy sector. She has been a LOF Salvage Arbitrator since 2009.
Career
Called Middle Temple 1978; QC 1998; bencher of the Middle Temple 2008; first instance arbitrator on the Lloyd’s Open Forum Arbitration Panel 2009 – ; specialist advocate and adviser at the Commercial and Admiralty Bar since 1980.
Memberships
Bencher of the Middle Temple and a Member of the Baltic Exchange.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Shipping
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Elizabeth Blackburn KC –The 36 Group ‘Elizabeth has a well-deserved reputation as one of the heavyweights at the Admiralty and Commercial Bar.’
Hailed as ‘an excellent shipping set with real depth‘, The 36 Group is noted for its strengths across shipping, where the set’s capabilities extend to issues arising out of contracts, transactions, as well as collisions and salvage. Elizabeth Blackburn KC continues to have a vibrant practice, with cases including the infamous Ever Given. A collision in the Singapore Strait was at the centre of The Wilforce, which saw involvement from Vasanti Selvaratnam KC and constituted the first time that liability for a collision in a precautionary area was considered. Mark Jones features in the Polar, a long-running case arising out of the hijacking of a vessel by Somali pirates that has been granted permission to appeal by the Supreme Court in 2022. Turning to more junior names, Emile Yusupoff and Andrew Ng are being led by leading silks or acting as sole counsel in shipping arbitration and litigation.