Sean Wilken KC has practiced in high profile, complex, international and domestic litigation for over 20 years. His caseload has included: the major litigation arising from the 1990’s UK domestic property collapse; the consequences of 9/11 and 7/7 domestically and internationally; the international consequences of the 2008 collapse; as well as various international, environmental and commercial crises. He has advised and acted in major disputes dealing with practical and legal ramifications of disease outbreaks; toxic spills; terrorist incidents; local and international lockdowns and no fly orders. He acted in one of the most recent large scale force majeure disputes before the English Courts dealing the impact of border disputes on charterparties. Since March 2020, Sean has been advising and acting for various companies and bodies on the legal impacts of SARS-CoV-2 – including the application of the Coronavirus Act and the Regulations, the various forms of Guidance as well as associated delay. contract, frustration and force majeure, financing, insurance and supply chain issues. Since February 2022, Sean has been advising multinationals and other Ukrainian entities on public international and domestic law issues including: reconstruction, sanctions (UK and international), asset freezing, the law of war, impunity and associated legal remedies and recoveries. He is also an advocate/advisor to the Ukraine Justice Association.
Sean’s recent cases have included:
He has detailed experience resolving or litigating disputes in the financial; energy; infrastructure; insurance; commodities and construction sectors. His extensive domestic caseload ranges from North Sea energy disputes; to large scale PFI Projects (M6 Toll Road; Olympics infrastructure; the National Programme for Infrastructure in IT; numerous schools, hospitals, roads, prisons and light rail systems); to the application of UN sanctions in domestic law; to RIPA; to high value property developments in the UK; to the 2012 Olympics; to national security and telecoms issues.
Internationally, his case load has included: acting as counsel for Leighton Contractors Asia in the Shatin-Central Link Public Inquiry in Hong Kong; a US$5bn dispute over block allocation in the energy sector in Africa; a £1bn dispute over infrastructure in the Middle East; a US$50m dispute over the funding of oil fields offshore Africa; a US$400m dispute over offshore drilling in Africa; disputes totalling over £1.5bn in the UAE; a HK$3bn dispute over infrastructure; a US$1.5bn dispute over energy in the Middle East; a BIT dispute over inbound investment; as well as major mutual and bank collapses in the Caribbean.
In addition to the above, Sean has been instructed in multiple other cases in Hong Kong including: disputes over the design and construction of social housing; a dispute over the renovation of the water systems for Kowloon and Mong Kok; potential disputes over the financial issues arising from the redevelopment of properties in Sha Tin as well as advising on numerous property based HKSE issues.
He has advised and acted in numerous international investment and trade disputes covering international investment treaties, Bilateral Investment Treaties, sovereign guarantees and international financial instruments as well as World Bank, WTO and GATT issues. He also has extensive experience in crisis management in multiple jurisdictions from the Far to the Middle East to Africa.
Sean has experience in all domestic courts and tribunals as an advocate or arbitrator. His institutional experience embraces (in no particular order) the ICC; LCIA; HKIAC; SIAC; DIAC; ICSID; SCC and UNCITRAL as well as ad hoc arbitrations. Sean’s recent arbitral experience includes: six ad hoc arbitrations; two SCC arbitrations; two DIAC arbitrations; HKIAC arbitrations; SIAC arbitrations; four ICC arbitrations; two LCIA arbitrations; 3 UNICTRAL Arbitrations in the energy and projects sectors.
Sean has sat as an arbitrator and as Chair of the Appellate Panel on sports arbitrations arising out of the Winter and Summer Olympics (2010; 2012 and 2018). Sean has also acted as an expert witness on English law before foreign courts and as an examiner taking depositions for US Courts.
As well as being a silk at the English Bar, Sean is licensed to appear before the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).
Since taking silk in 2010, Sean has earned plaudits as a “heavyweight silk” (The Lawyer) who is “fantastically efficient and exceptionally user friendly” and whose intellectual capabilities and understanding of technically important details are widely recognised (Chambers & Partners). He is listed in Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 as a leading silk in Energy, Construction and International Arbitration. Sean was shortlisted for Construction and Energy Silk of the Year at the Legal 500 UK Awards 2018.
Sean was consistently named as a leading lawyer in International Arbitration (Counsel) and Construction Law by Legal 500 and by Chambers & Partners and in Legal Experts 2002-2015. He had been rated as a Leading Junior in Administrative and Employment Law by The Lawyer and Legal Business on three occasions and as one of the top 80 barristers under the age of 40 by Legal Business.
In terms of Scottish experience, Sean has acted in numerous Scottish Adjudications as advisor and expert witness. He has also been involved in a long running Scottish Arbitration as advisor.
Tenant – Keating Chambers, 2019 to date Head of Chambers in 39 Essex Street International, Maxwell Chambers, Singapore, 2012-2014 Queen’s Counsel, 2010 HM Attorney General’s Junior Counsel, 2003-2010 Tenant – 39 Essex Chambers, 1993-2019 Called to the Bar, 1991
French, German and some Spanish.
Bar European Group COMBAR IBA International Law Association London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association TECBAR
City University, London – Diploma in Law (Distinction), 1989-90 Université d’Aix Marseille III – ISCL Diplome in French, 1989 Brasenose College, Oxford – Double First in English, 1986-89