One Essex Court's members are active across a broad range of industries and sectors such as banking and finance, energy, construction and infrastructure, where they act in high-value arbitrations and commercial court cases related to arbitration awards and proceedings. The set is also highly regarded for its expertise in investment treaty disputes, including bilateral investment treaty expertise, and investor-state work. Daniel Toledano KC continues to lead 2024 Silk appointment Nicholas Sloboda KC for BHP in a dispute with Vale concerning the Fundão dam collapse; Vale sought to stay the litigation in London in favour of a Brazilian arbitration. On the junior end Michelle Menashy has experience in ICC, LCIA and UNCITRAL proceedings, recently in the oil and gas sector, as does Tamara Kagan who continues to act in high-value arbitration and enforcement proceedings.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Friendly clerking room - Adam Wheeler and Jade Cassell stand out.'
- 'Adam Wheeler is an amazing individual and very commercially minded.'
- 'Darren Burrows is probably the best senior clerk in the city.'
- 'Rob Smith is a tenacious negotiator.'
- 'One Essex Court are one of the best groups of barristers in the UK. I have worked with them as advocates and as arbitrators. Always top notch.'
- 'The set offers various barristers and Silks with extensive international arbitration experience, which is an asset as it becomes a popular method of dispute resolution.'
- 'A go-to set with real strength and depth on an array of commercial matters. Absolutely the top of any list to approach for a complex matter.'
- 'Excellent for all areas of commercial disputes work.'
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.
Daniel Toledano KC
One Essex Court 'He is extremely bright, and a great advocate. But he is also hugely engaging, and a lot of fun to work with, even in the more stressful of environments.'
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Alexander Gunning KC
One Essex Court
John McCaughran KC
One Essex Court
Lord Wolfson KC
One Essex Court
Richard Boulton KC
One Essex Court 'Richard is an absolute pleasure to work with. He is a go to barrister for cases involving complex quantum analysis. Having been a quantum expert for years he knows exactly where to attack quantum experts and his style is death by a thousand cuts. Richard is a clear and responsive leader, well-liked by the team.'
Alain Choo Choy KC
One Essex Court ‘He is extremely meticulous and knowledgeable in his work, and responsive to queries. He expresses himself well before the courts and has rapid replies to sometimes complex queries from the bench.’
Charles Graham KC
One Essex Court
Sa’ad Hossain KC
One Essex Court ‘Sa’ad is absolutely fantastic. He is particularly strong on fraud and is excellent at explaining to clients the nuances of complex cases. He’s very user-friendly. It’s always is a great experience working with Sa’ad.’
Michael Sullivan KC
One Essex Court 'Michael's greatest strength lies in his grasp of the procedural rules, experience in handling multifaceted suits and his advocacy skills that allow him to be an asset over the entire course of the arbitration. He further displays a keen eye for details that is critical when handling disputes that span decades and are inherently document heavy.'
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.
Marcos Dracos KC
One Essex Court 'Marcos is insightful, often thinking outside of the box for arguments and solutions. His expertise in both English and Cypriot law sets him apart from his peers.'
Henry Forbes Smith KC
One Essex Court 'Henry is extremely intelligent and sees the big picture. He is adept at distilling a large amount of information and regulation into a coherent core theory. He therefore excels at the legally complex.'
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
One Essex Court 'The complete barrister. Excellent on his feet, on the page, and in front of clients. One of the leading juniors of his generation who deservedly made silk this year. A fantastic strategic thinker who is (at least) one step ahead of his opponents.'
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.
Michelle Menashy
One Essex Court 'Michelle is a very good team player. She has an impressive ability to stay calm when faced with lots of documents and short deadlines. She keeps things in clear and simple terms.'
Nehali Shah
One Essex Court 'Clearly extremely bright and, as a result, astonishingly quick to think through difficult issues and offer a way forward. A great tactician. Absolutely someone you always want on your team on complex matters.'
Eleanor Campbell
One Essex Court 'Well-grounded and highly competent. Easy to work with as part of a team.'
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Tamara Kagan
One Essex Court3
Joshua Crow
One Essex Court ‘Very good drafting skills, excellent oral advocacy. Very good at breaking down the expert evidence on complex areas into manageable chunks. User friendly.’
Henry Hoskins
One Essex CourtRising 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.
Sabrina Nanchahal
One Essex Court ‘Sabrina is a brilliant mind, destined for Silk. She has a keen eye for detail, always across every document, and is able to think on her feet in court.’