Essex Court Chambers

Stuart is first and foremost a commercial litigator. He is an experienced advocate, regularly appears against leading counsel, and is one of few junior counsel to have argued orally before the Supreme Court.

The main focus of Stuart’s practice is fraud and asset recovery. He has acted in heavyweight disputes before the English Courts and offshore, and has substantial experience of urgent applications for pre-action relief, including freezing injunctions.

Stuart’s English litigation practice features a high proportion of appellate work. Since December 2020, he has appeared in the Court of Appeal three times, the Privy Council once, and the Supreme Court once, and he has another case going to the Privy Council next year.

Stuart’s offshore litigation practice is focused on the Caribbean. He was admitted as a barrister of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Territory of the Virgin Islands) in March 2022 and spent 4 months on secondment with a leading BVI law firm from April to July 2022. He appears regularly in the Commercial Division of the BVI High Court on a range of matters, usually unled, and has significant recent experience before the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.

The other major part of Stuart’s practice is international arbitration, with an emphasis on energy and natural resources. He has acted in arbitrations seated in various jurisdictions and governed by a range of institutional rules, and also appeared in the leading case on challenges to arbitration awards for serious irregularity under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996.

Essex Court Chambers 2013 to present. Called to the bar of England and Wales 2013. Called to the bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Territory of the Virgin Islands) 2022.

Selwyn College, University of Cambridge, MA Law; First Class; ranked second in final year (2008-11) St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, BCL; Distinction (2011-12) Kaplan Law School, BPTC; Outstanding (2012-13).

Rugby, weightlifting.