Erskine Chambers

Erskine Chambers is recognised as being pre-eminent in company law and a leading set in associated fields including insolvency, financial services and corporate/commercial litigation (including civil fraud and asset recovery).

The set: Chambers’ size (29 barristers including 11 KCs) allows it to maintain expertise in its core practice areas while fielding effective teams in Commercial Court and Chancery Division litigation. Prominent former members include Lady Arden of Haswal, Sir David Richards and Richard Snowden LJ, while present members sit on various law reform committees and are editors and contributors to the leading texts on company law.

Types of work undertaken

Company law: Erskine is the go-to set for company law disputes and corporate transactions, including: (Peter Waddell Holdco Ltd v Bluebell Cars Holdco Ltd; Kulkarni v Gwent Holdings Ltd & Anor) , joint venture disputes and technical company litigation (Saxon Woods Investments Ltd v Costa ; Eclairs v JKX; Enviroco v Farstad - both Supreme Court) derivative claims (ClientEarth v Shell). Members have advised on all of the largest UK corporate transactions of recent years, including Anheuser-Busch InBev/SAB Miller, Friends Life/Aviva, Invensys/Schneider, Glencore/Xstrata and Vodafone/Verizon. Erskine provides counsel for the majority of schemes of arrangement (William Hill), Part VII transfers (Royal London/CIS, Barclays/ING), and reductions of capital.

Corporate/Commercial litigation and Arbitration: a large proportion of Erskine’s work is litigation at the intersection between company, commercial and insolvency law, including: commercial disputes; directors’ disqualification (Carillion) breach of fiduciary duty (BTI v Sequana - Supreme Court; Hewlett Packard and Autonomy v Lynch); breach of duty (ENRC v SFO)  and funds disputes (Re Charterhouse Capital; F&C Investments v Barthelemy); and civil fraud and asset recovery (PrivatBank v Kolomoisky & Others) Members have particular expertise in freezing injunctions and other forms of interim relief.
Arbitration work has always been an important part of Erskine Chambers’ Skill set, members of Erskine are increasingly being instructed to appear as arbitrators, where their expertise can be pivotal.

Insolvency: Erskine has a strong reputation for both contentious insolvency and corporate restructuring. Insolvency litigation often involves cross-border issues ( Re Snoozebox Limited [2023], Lehman Brothers Holdings Limited; Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) and Omnia (In Liquidation); Singularis v PwC; PwC v Saad; MF Global; Sturgeon Central Asia Ltd). Restructurings include insolvent schemes of arrangement, administrations and CVAs (Regis UK Limited (in administration); Lazari Properties v New Look; SphinX, Halliwells).Chambers had two teams involved in the litigation arising from the well-known collapse of Carillion, recently described as the largest and most complex trading insolvency in the UK, and the highest profile directors’ disqualification proceedings for many years. The claim against the NEDs (represented by one of the Erskine teams) was abandoned by the Claimant (the Secretary of State) at the door of the Court the day before a 13-week trial in October 2023 – a major triumph for the whole defence team.

Financial services: members undertake both contentious and non-contentious FSMA work. Litigation includes: funds, collective investment schemes and public offers of securities; prospectus liability (RBS rights issue litigation); financial conduct, regulation and enforcement (Lehmans client money) and interest rate swap claims against banks. Non-contentious work includes Part VII business transfers, securitisation and structured finance.

International: Erskine’s work is highly international, whether advising on multi-jurisdictional transactions or litigating complex cross-border disputes (Re Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Ltd and Omnia Ltd [2023] SC (Bda) 57 Civ Jardine Strategic Holdings Limited; Nam Tai Property Inc) Members are active in a large number of offshore jurisdictions, including the Channel Islands, Cayman, BVI, Bermuda, Turks & Caicos, St Vincent and Grenadine, Hong Kong and Singapore and have extensive trial experience, from First Instance to Appellate and Privy Council.