Kenneth MacLean KC
‘He is a superstar who is incredibly clever, a brilliant silk, and an absolute pleasure to work with.'
One Essex Court houses a team of highly sought-after ‘market leaders in commercial litigation’ who are frequently engaged in the most significant commercial cases within the Commercial Court, the Business & Property Courts, and the appellate courts. In Municipio de Mariana v BHP, the largest group action ever brought before the courts of England and Wales, Alain Choo Choy KC represents over 700,000 Brazilian claimants against the BHP Group, seeking damages for the catastrophic collapse of the Fundão dam. On the other side, Daniel Toledano KC leads a team of nine counsel defending the BHP Group. Sonia Tolaney KC, Emma Jones, and Douglas Paine act for a group of over 100 institutional investors in claims under FSMA sections 90 and 90A against Glencore, alleging untrue and misleading statements in the company’s prospectuses, while Laurence Rabinowitz KC and Alexander Polley KC defend Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore’s former CEO. Laurence Rabinowitz KC is also noted for his defence of Credit Suisse against the Republic of Mozambique related to the notorious $2 billion “tuna bond” loans made to the country and arranged by Credit Suisse, leading Andrew Lodder. Nicholas Sloboda KC took silk in March 2024.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Darren Burrows and his clerking team are consummate professionals: commercial and responsive, they are the epitome of excellent commercial clerking.'
- 'Excellent clerking. Robert Smith is always a pleasure to deal with.'
- 'All of the clerks make every effort to assist. They are led exceptionally by Darren Burrows as head clerk, who is hands-on.'
- 'Jackie Ginty is excellent.'
- 'One Essex Court is an outstanding Chambers and can boast some seriously high-quality personnel.'
- 'One Essex Court is the super-set with strength and depth across the board.'
- 'One Essex Court is one of the leading sets in London. It is a go-to set for bet-the-company complex commercial disputes of all kinds.'
- 'An excellent set of chambers. Top of class.'
Lawyers
Leading Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
Laurence Rabinowitz KC
‘Extraordinarily good.’
Sonia Tolaney KC
'Very powerful advocate who identifies and develops arguments naturally and delivers with real force. Energetic and knowledgeable about the market, the law, and practice.'
Daniel Toledano KC
‘Daniel has excellent analytical skills and a good grasp of detail. He is user-friendly but a formidable advocate.'
Stephen Auld KC
‘Stephen is among the best.’
Alain Choo Choy KC
Lord Grabiner KC
Neil Kitchener KC
‘Neil is very strong on his feet and he is an advocate who can make a difference when the merits are finely balanced. A pleasure to work with.'
John McCaughran KC
Jeffery Onions KC
'Jeff has enormous range as an advocate and is capable of carrying judges and arbitrators with him on even the most difficult points.'
Craig Orr KC
Lord Wolfson KC
Camilla Bingham KC
‘Camilla is an all-round superb barrister, adviser and advocate, whom clients love. Her cross-examination is masterful and her advocacy combines erudition and delicious turns of phrase with a perfectly gauged sense of fun.'
Richard Boulton KC
‘Richard is an excellent lawyer, both technically and in terms of judgement and common sense. He is also a pleasure to work with.'
David Cavender KC
'David is an absolute pleasure to work with. He is unflappable, considered, attentive, and listens to all contributions from the team.'
Charles Graham KC
‘Superb intellect and very prepared.'
Sa’ad Hossain KC
excellent at explaining to clients the nuances of complex cases.'
Rhodri Davies KC
Michael Fealy KC
‘He is very knowledgeable and not only great on paper but also on his feet too. He has a very commercial way of approaching matters.'
Simon Colton KC
‘Simon is just excellent. Extremely user-friendly, responsive and commercial, very good on the black-letter law, has great instincts, and very good on his feet.'
Sebastian Isaac KC
‘An incredibly clever and charming advocate who can distil the most difficult issues into crisp submissions. He gives clear and astute advice in the most high-pressured and challenging cases with an authority well beyond his years.'
James MacDonald KC
‘A total class act – the perfect package.’
Anna Boase KC
‘Anna is a star advocate, who dominates the room because of the sheer force of her intellect, poise and eloquence. She is a very systematic thinker and presents her thoughts clearly and with precision, which makes her a compelling advocate and a delight to work with.'
Hannah Brown KC
‘Hannah's advocacy is extremely clear, well-argued, and to the point. Judges listen to her.'
Laurence Emmett KC
'Very good at breach of contract disputes.'
Richard Gillis KC
'Richard is meticulous in his preparation and he is prepared to deal with anything. His written advocacy is particualrly strong, and he is a great team player and leader.'
Orlando Gledhill KC
'Orlando is able to identify issues and grasp huge amounts of complex information very quickly. His advocacy is very smooth and he really knows how to handle strategic decisions.'
Jamie Goldsmith KC
'Jamie is ferociously smart and can synthesise complicated fact patterns and legal analysis at remarkable speed. He writes clearly and persuasively, and his oral advocacy is very good, particularly his cross-examination.'
Alexander Gunning KC
Edmund Nourse KC
‘Edmund's preparation is second to none, as is his approachability. He communicates his advice clearly and concisely and is very effective in court.'
Conall Patton KC
'Conall is an absolute superstar – extremely approachable and user-friendly, offers commercial advice that clients can use, is an incredibly sharp legal mind, and is excellent on his feet. He is brilliant on all accounts.'
Alexander Polley KC
‘Alex is outstandingly bright. What sets Alex apart is how ridiculously user-friendly he is.'
2024 Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
Nicholas Sloboda KC
‘Nick is an excellent barrister. He is quick to get up to speed on complex issues and he is very pragmatic and commercial.'
2025 Silks
KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.
Niranjan Venkatesan KC
Niranjan is truly one of the most remarkable advocates. His eloquence and profound grasp of both common law and statute down to the granule detail make him a formidable presence as an opponent.’
Leading Juniors
Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.
Emma Jones
‘She has a reassuringly calm demeanour and advises on a range of issues confidently and clearly. Her written comments and drafting are superb and clearly exceed the standard of her peers.'
Sandy Phipps
‘An absolutely brilliant junior. Super hard-working and very clever.'
Clare Reffin
‘Clare is extremely knowledgeable. She gives clear advice and is a pleasure to work with.'
Nehali Shah
'Nehali is a razor-sharp technical lawyer. She has an outstanding eye for detail and knows the law inside and out. She is also very user-friendly.'
Michael D’Arcy
‘Michael is very intelligent and able to deal with complex legal and factual issues with ease. His legal advice is clear and succinct and he has a good manner with clients.'
Tamara Kagan
‘Tamara excels at everything. Her advocacy is impressive and her style is thorough, measured, and entirely persuasive.’
Michael Watkins
‘Exceptionally clever, analytical, and produces beautiful paperwork. Also a delight to work with.'
Hannah Glover
Hannah is wonderfully commercial and practical. A real team player and an extension of the solicitor team. Thoroughly modern in approach and unfailingly correct.’
Patrick Harty
‘Incredibly bright and hardworking, responsive, and pulls no punches. A pleasure to deal with.'
Douglas Paine
‘Very clever, hard-working, user-friendly, adaptable, and a great team player.’
Adam Rushworth
‘Adam has incredible attention to detail and is particularly adept at the difficult and technical elements of a dispute. Just the kind of barrister you want on your side when you are under pressure.'
Maximilian Schlote
‘Really developing well as he has become more senior – clever, works ferociously hard, and makes sure things get done.’
Derek Spitz
‘Derek brings huge tactical acumen to any case. Great behind the scenes in advising on the strategy of litigation and simply a superb advocate.'
Joyce Arnold
'Joyce is a highly effective barrister and a real asset. She is hard-working, meticulous and perceptive. She has strong advocacy skills orally and in writing and always formulates effective, persuasive arguments.'
Mehdi Baiou
'Very strong analytical work with strong attention to detail, highly intelligent and easy to work with, and excellent at pointing out the relevant issues in a user-friendly way. His drafting is very strong.'
Daniel Benedyk
'Daniel is a truly outstanding junior barrister. His command of the authorities, facts and evidence is exceptional, and he is able to synthesise those into clear and concise written submissions.'
Nathaniel Bird
Abra Bompas
Abra is highly intelligent, sharp, commercial, able to digest large volumes of information very quickly and distil it into a perfectly drafted document.'
Oliver Butler
Oliver is hands-on and detail-oriented, getting straight to the heart of a matter. He is very responsive and user-friendly. His written analysis is clear and cogent.‘
Eleanor Campbell
Eleanor is thorough, meticulous and highly intelligent. She is a highly gifted advocate, whose oral and written arguments are compelling, succinct, and clear. She has a fine legal mind and can get her head around the most complex problems.‘
David Caplan
Joshua Crow
'Excellent intellect, commercial sense and good on his feet.'
Simon Gilson
'Simon is very user-friendly and he writes very clearly and elegantly. He is consistently responsive and pragmatic in providing advice and offering creative solutions.'
Timothy Goldfarb
‘Tim has a razor-sharp mind and turns around a mean and lean set of written submissions. His drafting style is light yet precise and punchy. He is truly one to watch in the commercial Bar.’
Henry Hoskins
'Very clever and responsive. Very clear and persuasive drafting style of pleadings and other documents.'
KV Krishnaprasad
‘Excellent communicator, great attention to detail, personable, and strategic-orientated.'
Andrew Lodder
'Methodological mind that combs through the detail and produces unbeatable written output. An overall top-notch barrister who is great to work with and very flexible.'
Sam O'Leary
'Unbelievably quick, careful and efficient. Sam is excellent at anticipating which points will concern the judge.'
Rachel Oakeshott
‘Rachel is very responsive and provides detailed and thorough advice which is easy for clients to understand.'
James Ruddell
'James is exceptionally clever but also practical and user-friendly. He is always willing to get on the phone and thrash out the answer as a team, and he is great to work with.'
Stephanie Wood
'She is very bright and hard-working. She also writes very well and has deep knowledge of the law and how best to deploy it. Very impressive.'
Rising stars
Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.
Daniel Fletcher
Tom Foxton
'Tom has strong technical knowledge and his advocacy is high quality.'
Matthew Hoyle
'Matthew is very clever and thinks of every argument. He will research every point to ensure he knows how best to tackle an issue.'
Benjamin Lewy
‘Strong advocate who builds excellent rapport with the court.’
Veena Srirangam
'Her written work is excellent. She is diligent, brilliant at the details and a pleasure to work with.'
Alyssa Stansbury
Alyssa is one of the best junior barristers at the commercial Bar. She is super intelligent, highly dependable, an excellent lawyer, and drafts beautiful documents.’