David Walsh > Essex Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Members of Essex Court Chambers continue to act in well-known insurance market disputes, including the Covid-19 business interruption cases, among others. Jeffrey Gruder KC is involved in Corbin and King v AXA Insurance, a Covid-19 test case where the High Court decided that these covers did not provide cover to policyholders in respect of business interruption loss caused by lockdowns. John Lockey KC, David Walsh and Helen Morton have also been involved in the Russian aviation litigation, a series of multibillion dollar insurance claims brought by international lessors and leased to Russian airlines when the Russian state effectively expropriated them after its invasion of Ukraine. Further to this, members have also been involved in a number of political risks and trade credit disputes both domestically and cross-border. David Peters KC was appointed as a silk earlier in 2024, while Paul Stanley KC and Mubarak Waseem  are further key names from the set.

Essex Court Chambers fields a deep bench of both barristers and juniors regularly involved in the market’s most significant disputes. The salvage of a large amount of silver in 2017 from the SS Tilawa, a ship sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Indian Ocean in 1942, raised questions surrounding state immunity in Argentum Exploration Ltd v Republic of South Africa, where Christopher Smith KC acted on behalf of the Republic of South Africa, whom the Supreme Court ruled in favour of in 2024. Jeremy Brier KC appeared in Sangamo v Prosperity, one of the cases arising out of the dispute between Greek shipowner siblings Angeliki Frangou and John Frangos and dealing with contractual relationships within the family. Elsewhere, Philippa Hopkins KC has led David Walsh in the Win Win, a claim under war risks policy for an indemnity for constructive total loss resulting from the detention of a bulk carrier by Indonesian authorities.