Quadrant Chambers

Joe is ranked in the latest edition of Legal 500 as a Leading Junior in four separate categories: International Arbitration, Energy, Civil Fraud and Insolvency, where feedback includes: “He is a dangerous adversary, constantly looking for weaknesses in his opponent’s position and clients love him.”
He qualified as a solicitor at Allen & Overy LLP before transferring to the Bar. He spent the first year of his practice as the Judicial Assistant to Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson in the Supreme Court. Joe soon returned to the Supreme Court as Counsel in Bank of Cyprus UK Limited v Menelaou [2015] UKSC 66.
Recent work includes:
• Acting (as sole Counsel) in c.20 interim hearings and at trial in the Commercial Court for XL Insurance, including a ground-breaking fraud case involving HMRC’s receipt of proprietary funds (XL v IPORS & Others [2021] EWHC 474 (Comm); [2018] EWHC 2251 (Comm.); multiple worldwide injunctions and one of the first contempt applications relating to commercial freezing injunctions under the new CPR 81 (XL Insurance Company SE v Paul Alan Corcoran [2021] EWHC 1407 (Comm))
• Acting with Paul Downes QC and Quinn Emmanuel on live claims in the Commercial Court for a Brazilian Bank against Tranferwise involving currency exchange transactions.
• Acting (with Matthew Reeve) for the family of footballer Emiliano Sala in civil proceedings and Inquest relating to his death and for the successful claimants in a trial in the BVI concerning the landing of a helicopter onto a superyacht (The M/Y “Bacarella” BVIHC (Com) 2018/0062, Judgment 17 May 2021) (Appeal October 2022)
• Appearing (unled) in the Court of Appeal in a second appeal concerning premature execution of registered foreign (Islandsbanki hf, HMRC, Shinclear Holdings Ltd v Kevin Gerald Stanford - [2020] EWCA Civ 480), arising from the largest and hotly contested personal insolvencies against Founder of All Saints fashion brand, including a successful case management appeal ([2019] EWHC 307 (Henry Carr J); [2019] EWHC 595 (Ch.) [2019] (ICC Judge Jones); [2019] 6 WLUK 295 (Fancourt J))
• Acting in c.10 cases involving email frauds, including World Proteins v Persons Unknown [2019] EWHC 1146 (QB) (injunction); [2019] 6 WLUK 500 (judgment).
• Acting (led by Chris Smith QC) in Commercial Court proceedings concerning the sale of crude oil arising from a joint venture with the Government of Turkmenistan, including discharging a freezing order (and resisting a subsequent appeal) - United Petroleum Trading Switzerland SA v Mitro International Ltd [2019] EWHC 1382 (Comm.)
• Acting for the Government of India, most recently (led by David Wolfson QC) resisting enforcement of a c.£70 million award under s.103 of the Arbitration Act 1996 - A v B [2018] 5 WLUK 366; Hardy Exploration and Production vs India [2018] EWHC 1916 (Comm.).
• Ongoing ICC ship-building arbitration (led by Thomas Macey-Dare QC) and several international oil and gas/construction arbitrations (led by Steven Walker QC) which involved near-full time work from 2013-2018 and 2019-2021, and appearing or giving evidence in the Courts of Switzerland, France, Ireland, Poland, Caraco, Mauritius, Nigeran, Scotland and The Netherlands.
• Acting and advising AXA XL on disputes including relating to Covid-19 and acting in multi-party fraud claims against coverholders ([2022] EWHC 985 (Comm); [2022] EWHC 306 (Comm); | [2021] EWHC 3551 (Comm)); and acting for coverholders in a c.£6 million arbitration against a Bermudan insurer.

Called 2011, Lincoln’s Inn

Some Spanish, Italian and Hebrew.

COMBAR (Junior Committee), Chancery Bar Association, ICC YAF, The Travellers Club, Firebird Orchestra, ICC

BA (Hons) (1st Class), LLB (Hons) (1st Class), GDL (Distinction), Hammonds Prize for Contract Law, Equity & Trusts Prize, LPC (Distinction), Allen & Overy Prize for Distinction, Hardwicke Scholarship, Pupillage Scholarship, European Courts of Justice Programme, UK/US Supreme Court Exchange.

Theatre, film, walking, restaurants, poker, cricket, table tennis, politics.