Twenty Essex

With established expertise in shipping, trade, and public international law, the 'high quality commercial set' Twenty Essex is well versed in advising on a broad spectrum of commercial disputes, often involving complex cross-border elements. Duncan Matthews KC is representing the claimant in an ongoing dispute arising from a share purchase agreement between a Brazilian buyer and a Dutch-Indonesian seller, involving the enforcement of a Brazil-based ICC arbitration award. Among the juniors, Susannah Jones is 'able to succinctly evaluate complex disputes and provide commercially focused advice'. Angharad Parry KC was appointed to silk in March 2025.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Chris Theobald is excellent - highly responsive, commercial and a real pleasure to deal with.'
'Christopher Theobald is a stand-out.'
'Arron Zitver is great.'
'The clerking team is forward-thinking and user-friendly.'
'First rate set for big ticket litigation and arbitration.'
'There’s real depth and talent across chambers.'

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.

Duncan Matthews KC

Philip Edey KC

‘Philip is brilliant on his feet, an excellent strategist and a wonderful team player - a rare combination indeed.'

Charles Kimmins KC

‘ He is exceptionally good at identifying the arguments that will appeal to the judges.’

Paul Lowenstein KC

‘Paul is a standout figure in the commercial and civil fraud Bar.'

Stephen Atherton KC

‘Stephen is an exceptional advocate, known for his strategic insight and unparalleled understanding of the intricate legal and factual issues.'

Andrew Ayres KC

‘He is brilliant on his feet, really takes control of the situation and is confident in his approach.'

Andrew Fulton KC

‘Andrew is incredibly bright and very commercial. His written work is clear, compelling and persuasive.'

David Lewis KC

'Simply outstanding and a pleasure to deal with.'

Philip Riches KC

‘Philip is a well respected and excellent silk.'

Lawrence Akka KC

‘Lawrence is terrifically knowledgeable and has a canny understanding of what interests judges.'

Michael Ashcroft KC

‘Formidable technical knowledge and intellectual insight.'

Tony Beswetherick KC

‘Clever and hardworking. His advocacy is pitched at just the right level.'

Blair Leahy KC

‘Extremely bright and hardworking and an excellent advocate and unflappable on her feet.'

Luke Pearce KC

'Luke is an excellent junior silk. He is supremely intelligent with a great sense of judgement. He is at home with the most complex of disputes and is a future leader of the field.'

Sudhanshu Swaroop KC

‘Sudhanshu combines extensive experience and top notch attention to detail precision and concision.'

2024 Silks

Josephine Davies KC

‘Josephine is able rapidly to distil the key issues from the documents and to formulate the legal arguments to support the client's case. She is a tenacious fighter when she needs to be - a great person to have in your corner when dealing with difficult opponents.'

2025 Silks

Angharad Parry KC

‘Angharad is a very bright and creative lawyer.’

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.

Susannah Jones

‘Susannah is the complete junior. She is the safest pair of hands around and knows her cases backwards.’

Belinda McRae

‘Belinda is an exceptional barrister, with strong analytical skills and a deep understanding of the law.'

Sam Goodman

‘Sam is genuinely ahead of his time. His understanding of complex, high-value disputes is exceptional. He operates with the skill, judgement, and presence of a silk, consistently outperforming expectations for his level of call.'

Sarah Tresman

Andrew Dinsmore

‘Tough, tenacious, and thorough.'

Andrew Feld

‘Very clever, analytical, thorough, efficient and a pleasure to work with.'

Joshua Folkard

'Joshua gets to grips with the detail of incredibly complex cases in a very short time, being able to contribute insightfully on key strategic questions. He is also willing to be procedurally creative.'

Edward Gilmore

'Eddie is an excellent team player. He has a fantastic manner, which makes him very client-friendly. He explains complicated technical points in an easy to understand way and is good at dissecting the opposing parties' evidence and submissions.'

Richard Greenberg

‘Richard is a very able and diligent junior. His drafting is exemplary and attention to detail is second to none'.

Michal Hain

‘Michal is a fiercely intelligent junior who can hold his own in court against anyone. He has a great awareness of the issues that matter and writes well. A star of the future.’

Rupert Hamilton

‘Rupert's attention to detail is meticulous. He is exceptional with complicated legal issues that are often remarkably difficult to resolve.'

Malcolm Jarvis

‘Malcolm is very thorough, well organised and always on top of what needs to happen. He is very much a team player.'

Mark Tushingham

‘Mark is an excellent barrister. He relishes getting on top of the detail of the case and pulling out all of the key factual issues to use both in pleadings and on cross-examination.'

Fiona Whiteside

Her sharp analytical mind and ability to distill complex issues into clear, persuasive arguments is impressive. Her strategic foresight and calm demeanor, even under pressure, provided confidence and clarity at every stage. She communicates with precision and conviction, and her collaborative, solutions-oriented approach makes her an invaluable asset in any high-stakes dispute.'

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.