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.' 

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.
Conall Patton KC
Conall Patton KC
One Essex Court
‘Conall is well-versed in competition litigation practice, a good advocate and overall a person not to underestimate.’
Thomas Sharpe KC
Thomas Sharpe KC
One Essex Court
‘Thomas is a good advocate who has the ear of the judge and does not get diverted from the message.’

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.
Derek Spitz
1
Derek Spitz
One Essex Court
‘Derek is fabulously effective. There is no issue too difficult – he is the quintessential safe pair of hands.’
Owain Draper
3
Owain Draper
One Essex Court
‘Owain masters his briefs in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. A big talent.’
Andrew Lomas
3
Andrew Lomas
One Essex Court
'Andrew is really user friendly and commercial. He understands clients' priorities in their broader context and is extremely responsive and proactive in suggesting solutions.'
Ben Lewy
3
Ben Lewy
One Essex Court
‘Ben is very commercial and user friendly. He is very approachable, practical and makes the difficult concepts easy for clients.’
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.
Greg Adey
Greg Adey
One Essex Court
 ‘Greg really is a star junior. He has it all – razor sharp intellect, wonderful judgment, unflappable, and extremely collegiate. He also has a real maturity that many juniors often lack. He should be ranked much higher!’