Joe Smouha KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Joe is a go-to leader when the stakes are at their highest. His oral advocacy is impressive - he is both brilliant and devastating to the other side's argument.'
Essex Court Chambers stands out as a ‘strong set with an excellent reputation and quality advocates’, handling a myriad of substantial commercial litigation including civil fraud, insurance, banking and finance, and shipping-related work. In NMC Healthcare v Shetty, Ruth Den Besten KC is defending the founder of NMC Healthcare amidst allegations of fraudulent activity following the Middle Eastern hospital group’s collapse into administration in 2020. Joe Smouha KC is leading Ciaran Keller in Nex Group Limited’s defence against TP ICAP, a case relating to the non-disclosure of alleged liabilities arising from the German cum-ex trading scandal. In another high-profile matter, Nathan Pillow KC and Tim Akkouh KC are representing Eurasian Natural Resources Company in claims against Dechert LLP, Neil Gerrard, and the Serious Fraud Office, pertaining to the SFO’s investigation into and the solicitors firm’s advice about alleged corruption in ENRC’s international operations. Daniel Oudkerk KC is representing hundreds of thousands of claimant vehicle owners in six separate group actions concerning diesel emissions against major motor manufacturers. Adding to the chambers’ distinguished roster, David Peters KC and James Sheehan KC were elevated to silk status in March 2024 and Paul Stanley KC was appointed Deputy High Court Judge with effect from January 2023.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Joe Ferrigno runs a top team and is very approachable and helpful.'
- 'Joe Ferrigno and Ollie Butcher are outstanding - without the exceptional levels of organisation, astuteness and dedication of these clerks, the set would not function anywhere near as well as it does. They know their barristers very well and understand exactly what (and who) even the most complex case requires.'
- 'Excellent clerking staff - Sam Wright and Demi Woogler are fantastic to deal with.'
- 'Very ably led by Joe Ferrigno who has a clear vision of the level of service that Chambers should provide and where the future of dispute resolution lies.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers is a strong set with an excellent reputation and quality advocates.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers is the leading commercial litigation set in the country.'
- 'Essex Court Chambers is the best commercial Chambers in London with an amazing bench strength.'
- 'Essex Court's commercial litigation offering is exceptional.'
Silks
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.
Graham Dunning KC
Essex Court Chambers
Jeffrey Gruder KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Jeffrey is excellence personified – calm, hugely knowledgeable and incredibly user-friendly.'
Andrew Hochhauser KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Andrew has a wealth of experience. He is excellent with clients and elegant in delivery.'
Stephen Houseman KC
Essex Court Chambers 'A very succinct but persuasive advocate. Always relishes a challenge.'
David Joseph KC
Essex Court Chambers 'David is creative and incredibly knowledgeable. His advocacy is also compelling and you can tell judges really listen to his points.'
Nathan Pillow KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Nathan is a great advocate. He is very calm, pleasant to work with, and approachable.'
Huw Davies KC
Essex Court Chambers
Richard Millett KC
Essex Court Chambers
Paul Stanley KC
Essex Court Chambers ‘Paul is at the very top of his game and the perfect choice for any tricky or interesting point of law. An absolute star worthy of a top ranking.'
Tim Akkouh KC
Essex Court Chambers
Anna Dilnot KC
Essex Court Chambers ‘Excellent advocate - clear, determined and reads court well. Extremely intelligent and gets to the heart of issues very quickly.'
John Lockey KC
Essex Court Chambers6
David Davies KC
Essex Court Chambers
Philippa Hopkins KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Extremely bright, very personable, and user-friendly. Excellent manner with clients and gives realistic and clear advice.'
Paul Key KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Paul is superb at quickly reaching the solution to problems. He is extremely bright and knowledgeable about the law and arbitration practice.'
David Scorey KC
Essex Court Chambers 'David is a pleasure to work with. His advocacy is absolutely first-class. He is well prepared and has a straightforward and clear matter-of-fact style.'
Jeremy Brier KC
Essex Court Chambers ‘Jeremy is able to understand client needs and deliver a strategy and approach that aligns with their needs. He is always incredibly well-prepared and committed as an advocate.'
Edward Brown KC
Essex Court Chambers ‘Edward is a creative thinker and is able to extrapolate existing law to fit novel fact patterns. He is well-liked by clients.'
Emily Wood KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Emily is fantastic to work with, gets stuck into the details, and takes a really pragmatic and commercial view on issues. She adds real value.'
James Willan KC
Essex Court Chambers 'James is a real all-rounder. He is phenomenally bright, hard-working and keeps the details at his fingertips. He is also genuinely easy to work with, fostering a real sense of teamwork, and is well-liked by clients who appreciate his sensitivity and humour in difficult situations.'
James Collins KC
Essex Court Chambers ‘Mellifluous in his delivery, strategic and hard working in his approach. The perfect all-rounder.’
2023 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.
Ruth den Besten KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Ruth is extremely strategic and able to direct the most complex and difficult matters. She is a go-to silk for difficult cases.'
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.
David Peters KC
Essex Court Chambers 'Incredibly bright, and able to cut straight to the core of complex issues on any case. A fantastic advocate, who persuasively puts forward the client's case and has the court's ear.'
James Sheehan KC
Essex Court Chambers 'James is incredibly bright and has a depth of knowledge that is, at times, hard to believe. He is totally unflappable, even under the most extreme pressure. His written work is fantastic, and his advocacy is also impressive.'
Juniors
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.
Ciaran Keller
Essex Court Chambers 'Ciaran is one of the best senior juniors in London. He has an enormous work ethic and an incredible mind. His written work in particular stands out as being exceptional.'
Anton Dudnikov
Essex Court Chambers ‘His advocacy, both in writing and orally in court, is superb, and his analysis of factual and legal matters is always clever and thoughtful. He has excellent judgement and can be relied upon.'
Tom Ford
Essex Court Chambers 'A tenacious advocate who fights his client's case very hard. Excellent attention to detail.'
Catherine Jung
Essex Court Chambers ‘Very clever and absolutely delightful to work with. Excellent written advocacy.’
Christopher Lloyd
Essex Court Chambers
Matthieu Gregoire
Essex Court Chambers 'One of the best senior juniors on the market. Fully bilingual and a great pleasure to work with.'
Andrew Legg
Essex Court Chambers ‘Andrew is brilliantly persuasive advocate and extremely skillful at managing clients' expectations.'
Alexander Riddiford
Essex Court Chambers ‘Alex has a wonderful drafting style - clear and persuasive. His speed of delivery is phenomenal. He is also a great person to have with you when in a tight spot.'
Benedict Tompkins
Essex Court Chambers ‘In a sea of very clever people, he still stands out as being exceptionally intellectually gifted. He is a highly persuasive and accurate writer and oral communicator. One is never left with lingering doubts about whether we are making the right argument.'
Bibek Mukherjee
Essex Court Chambers 'Bibek demonstrates excellent intellect and ability to marshal complex issues in a very short space of time. His preparation and his written advocacy are both first-class.'
Felix Wardle
Essex Court Chambers 'Felix is an excellent junior barrister, who is strong on the detail.'
Stuart Cribb
Essex Court Chambers 'Stuart is incredibly bright. His drafting is excellent and his advocacy is controlled and compelling.'
Paul C K Wee
Essex Court Chambers 'Paul is exceptional. His advocacy, drafting and analytical skills are exemplary. He is certainly someone you want on your team, and he is a pleasure to work with.'
Stephen Donnelly
Essex Court Chambers 'A very strong junior. Approachable, easy to work with, and very bright.'
Peter Webster
Essex Court Chambers 'Peter is pragmatic, intelligent and responsive. Inevitably a silk of the future.'
Owen Lloyd
Essex Court Chambers ‘Owen is fantastic. Super committed, very clever and a pleasure to deal with.’
Sophia Hurst
Essex Court Chambers ‘A star of the future – creative, perceptive and very good judgement. Excellent on paper. One to watch.’
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.
Katherine Ratcliffe
Essex Court Chambers ‘She punches well above her years of call. Her drafting is persuasive and succinct.'
Freddie Onslow
Essex Court Chambers 'Freddie is a very impressive junior. She is bright, confident and capable - a valuable member of a team.'
Freddie Popplewell
Essex Court Chambers 'An absolute star of the future, he punches massively above his year of call. The quality of his work is first class and his advocacy is very impressive. He is a complete joy to work with: diligent, unassuming, funny and commercially savvy.'