Conall Patton KC
‘Conall is well-versed in competition litigation practice, a good advocate and overall a person not to underestimate.’
With an increasingly ‘growing strength in competition law’, One Essex Court offers a broad range of expertise which spans regulatory enforcement and appeals, UK private damages actions, collective proceedings, and allegations of abuse of dominant position. Conall Patton KC continues to represent Google and its parent company Alphabet in a £13.6 billion opt-out class action in the CAT, defending allegations that the tech powerhouse abused its dominant position in the market for online advertising. Derek Spitz acts as lead counsel for Utilita Energy Limited as it pursues a damages claim alleging abuse of dominant position against Paypoint, while Owain Draper continues to represent Mastercard in the Merchant Interchange Fee Umbrella Proceedings before the CAT.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The clerks room has to be one of the best in London. The clerks are all utterly committed and client focused. They are incredibly human and easy to deal with. Adam Wheeler and Jackie Ginty are standouts.'
- 'Jordan Foley is very capable and helpful.'
- 'The clerks are generally very user-friendly.'
- 'One Essex Court is a superb Chambers, their strength in depth is a good as any Chambers and their leading advocates - precisely because of the quality of their advocacy - are increasingly taking lead roles in competition cases.'
- 'OEC is a go-to set for commercial work.'
- 'The set does much with a relatively small number of competition barristers. Their depth is growing.'
- 'Growing strength in competition law.'
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.
Thomas Sharpe KC
Thomas is a good advocate who has the ear of the judge and does not get diverted from the message.’
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.
Derek Spitz
‘Derek is fabulously effective. There is no issue too difficult – he is the quintessential safe pair of hands.’
Owain Draper
‘Owain masters his briefs in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. A big talent.’
Benjamin Lewy
‘Ben is very commercial and user friendly. He is very approachable, practical and makes the difficult concepts easy for clients.’
Andrew Lomas
Andrew is really user friendly and commercial. He understands clients' priorities in their broader context and is extremely responsive and proactive in suggesting solutions.'
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.