Twenty Essex

Brendan Plant

Brendan has a broad practice covering all aspects of public international law and commercial arbitration. Brendan has advised states, NGOs and private entities on a wide range of issues, including territorial sovereignty and land boundaries, maritime delimitation and the law of the sea, international environmental law, international investment protection, the law of treaties, human rights, refugee law, and international cultural heritage law. He also has experience in commercial arbitration. Brendan has acted in cases before a variety of international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights, the UN Committee Against Torture, and the East African Court of Justice. He has also acted in cases before national courts, including the UK Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia. Brendan was previously an Academic Research Panelist at Blackstone Chambers (2015–2021), where he assisted on questions concerning human rights and refugee law, media law, privacy and data protection, and he has practiced at major law firms in Sydney and London, including Allens Arthur Robinson (now Allens Linklaters) and Latham & Watkins. Alongside his legal practice, Brendan has enjoyed an extensive and far-reaching career in academia. At the University of Cambridge, he is Associate Professor at Downing College and a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, and was previously a Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. He is co-author of Evidence before the International Justice (2009, BIICL), and author of Effectiveness and the Adjudication of Territorial Disputes (2022, OUP). He teaches international law and contract law at the University of Cambridge, and has lectured on all aspects of public international law at universities around the world. https://www.twentyessex.com/people/brendan-plant/

Courtney Grafton

Courtney has developed a broad practice in commercial litigation, international arbitration and public international law. Courtney is instructed on a broad spectrum of litigation in the English courts and in international arbitrations under a variety of institutional rules, and she regularly advises the UK Government on a range of public international law issues. Before joining Twenty Essex, Courtney qualified as a solicitor-advocate and worked at a leading Wall Street firm. Courtney was also an Assistant Legal Adviser at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, where she advised on urgent issues arising in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtney also served as a Judicial Assistant to Lord Hodge and Lord Lloyd-Jones at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, where she worked on over 40 cases.

Daniel Kalderimis

Daniel Kalderimis has over 20 years’ experience as a versatile, effective and proven advocate who provides an edge in a wide range of complex disputes. With broad experience and interests, he has a dedicated focus on advocacy in international arbitrations across the Asia-Pacific region. Daniel is also active in commercial and public law litigation, including in the emerging area of legal duties and climate change. Daniel has appeared at all levels of the New Zealand court system and before numerous international tribunals in Singapore, London and elsewhere. Until December 2020, he was a partner in the dispute resolution team of Chapman Tripp where, after returning from practising international arbitration and public international law at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in London, he founded and led the firm’s international law practice. He is admitted in New Zealand, New York and England & Wales. Daniel is widely recognised for his expertise in international arbitration, public and private international law and cross-border dispute resolution. He regularly acts as counsel in international arbitrations and has experience as an ICC arbitrator. Daniel acted on the first bilateral investment treaty arbitration held in New Zealand. Daniel is New Zealand’s national correspondent to UNCITRAL for the New York Convention and the Model Law. Daniel has taught at Columbia Law School, Victoria University of Wellington Law School and Otago Law School. He is a Fellow of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand.

Edward Gilmore

Edward’s practice spans the range of Chambers’ expertise in commercial litigation and international arbitration, with particular expertise in civil fraud, banking, international trade and energy disputes, typically with an international element. Edward is admitted to the bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, BVI. Edward is comfortable working as part of counsel teams of different sizes and is regularly instructed as sole counsel. He has appeared unled in the Commercial Court, Chancery Division and County Court. Edward is currently instructed by the Republic in The Republic of Mozambique v Credit Suisse and others; Commercial Court proceedings worth at least US$2 billion concerning, inter alia, the enforceability of sovereign guarantees in the wake of the ‘Tuna Bond’ scandal, claims in conspiracy, bribery, dishonest assistance and knowing receipt, and a number of state immunity issues. From January to April 2020, Edward worked as a judicial assistant in the Commercial Court to Mr Justice Andrew Baker and Mr Justice Foxton. He worked on a variety of interlocutory and injunctive hearings as well as applications under the Arbitration Act and a full trial.

Jonathon Redwood SC KC

Professor Hi-Taek Shin

Professor Hi-Taek Shin is a full-time arbitrator based in Seoul, Korea. He accepts appointments as arbitrator in international commercial and investment disputes. He has unique experience combining a successful career as counsel, academic and arbitrator, as well as in the public service. Until 2007, he had long been a partner at Kim & Chang, a leading Korean law firm, specialising in cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and shareholders’ agreements, various commercial transactions and the resolution of disputes arising from such transactions. Since 2007, he has been teaching on international business transactions and the resolution of investment disputes arising from cross-border transactions at Seoul National University School of Law. From 2016 to 2019, he served as the Chairman of the Korea Trade Commission − the trade-remedy authorities of the Korean Government. Hi-Taek’s professional expertise includes international investments and business transactions, purchase and sale of corporate entities and assets, joint ventures and shareholder agreements, distribution, agency, licensing and franchising contracts, financial transactions including derivatives, research and development of new pharmaceutical products, and arbitrations arising out of such transactions. He also has expertise in complicated disputes in the energy, infrastructure, construction projects and defence industries. He has been appointed as a sole, presiding and co-arbitrator in international commercial arbitrations under the rules of major international arbitral institutions. He is on the panel of arbitrators of HKIAC, AAA/ICDR, ICSID, JCAA, KCAB, SCIA, SIAC and THAC. He is also listed on the general list of Neutrals of the WIPO. He is a member of International Commercial Expert Committee, Supreme People’s Court of China. He is also listed as a mediator of SIMC. Since 2018, Hi-Taek has been serving as the Chairman of KCAB INTERNATIONAL, Korean Commercial Arbitration Board’s international division. https://www.twentyessex.com/people/professor-hi-taek-shin/