London Bar
Banking and finance (including consumer credit)
Leading silk2Charles Kimmins KC – Twenty Essex ‘Charles is absolutely brilliant. His ability to see the way through complex financial disputes and achieve superb outcomes is masterful.’
Twenty Essex
twentyessex.comtwentyessex.comBarristers
Charles Kimmins KC
Twenty Essex, London
- Phone020 7842 1200
- Email[email protected]
- Profilewww.twentyessex.com
Work Department
Banking and financial services; Commercial dispute resolution; Energy and infrastructure; General commercial and insurance; Insurance and reinsurance; International arbitration; Shipping and commodities
Position
Charles is co-Head of Chambers. Charles specialises in commercial law, and represents clients in both court and arbitration proceedings. His cases tend to be high value and complex, and often involve multiple sets of proceedings in several jurisdictions.
He is recommended in a wide array of disciplines in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500, including international arbitration, commercial dispute resolution, banking and financial, energy, insurance and reinsurance, shipping and commodities.
Charles has represented clients in a wide variety of disputes before the Supreme Court, Privy Council, Court of Appeal and High Court.
He has also appeared in many arbitrations under many different rules, including ICC, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, ARIAS, LMAA, GAFTA, FOSFA, IPE, RSA, LME and the City Disputes Panel. He has particular experience of appeals from awards under s.67, 68 and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (a subject on which he regularly lectures). He also accepts appointments as an arbitrator in commercial disputes. Recent cases relating to arbitration include Tenke Fungurume Mining v Katanga [2021] EWHC 3301 (successfully resisting a s.68 application), STA v OFY [2021] EWHC 1574 (successfully resisting an application for an extension to time to challenge an award). Charles acted for the LCIA in the Supreme Court case Halliburton v Chubb [2021] AC 1093, dealing with issues of arbitrator bias.
Charles was nominated for ‘International Arbitration Silk of the Year’ for both the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2019 and The Legal 500 UK Awards 2020.
He has been involved in numerous cases involving banking and investment disputes, company law and financial services. He has particular experience in derivatives. He also has significant experience in disputes arising in the private equity sector. Between 2018 – 2020, much of his time was spent on a very substantial multi-billion dollar multi-jurisdictional private equity dispute, in which he appeared in numerous hearings in London, Hong Kong, Cayman and Nevis.
He has appeared in numerous cases involving energy and natural resources, and has particular experience in the petroleum and natural gas industries. Likewise, he has acted in many insurance/reinsurance disputes, for both insured/reinsured and insurers/reinsurers, as well brokers. He has been involved in many leading cases in the fields of commodities and shipping, including shipbuilding disputes and disputes under MOAs.
Charles also has extensive experience in civil fraud cases, including cases involving fraud in the banking and shipping sectors. He is instructed in applications for urgent relief arising out of fraud claims.
Mentions
London Bar
Commercial litigation
Leading silk3Charles Kimmins KC –Twenty Essex
‘Charles grasps a case quickly and thoroughly and is able to explain even the most complex of cases clearly. He approaches every matter with humour, which allows him to communicate very well with the lay client.'
London Bar
Commodities
Leading silk2Charles Kimmins KC – Twenty Essex ‘A top advocate who grasps a case quickly and thoroughly.’
London Bar
Energy
Leading silk3Charles Kimmins KC –Twenty Essex ‘Charles approaches every matter with a sense of humour, which allows him to communicate very well with lay clients.’
London Bar
Insurance and reinsurance
Leading silk3Charles Kimmins KC –Twenty Essex ‘Charles is a first rate silk and someone whom we work with extensively. His paperwork is exceptional and his oral advocacy is simply superb. He is also extremely user-friendly and can be relied upon without exception to be available to provide urgent and difficult advice. He is extremely reliable in front of clients and a very safe pair of hands for the toughest of cases.'
London Bar
International arbitration: counsel
Leading silk1Charles Kimmins KC –Twenty Essex ‘Charles is a legal genius. His analytical skills and encyclopedic knowledge of the law are unparalleled. His advocacy skills are first-rate, and he has courts and tribunals eating out of the palm of his hand. Clients cannot rate him highly enough.’
London Bar
Shipping
Leading silk3Charles Kimmins KC –Twenty Essex ‘Charles is a first-rate advocate and rapier-like in cross examination. To back this up he has an excellent analytical insight on cases and is a master of strategy.'
Asia Pacific: The English Bar
Shipping and commodities
Leading silk1Charles Kimmins KC–Twenty Essex 'Charles knows the law relating to commodities trading very well - probably the most able commodities silk around.'