One Essex Court houses ‘leaders in multiple fields’ making them a popular choice for arbitration counsel appointments in commercial and investor-state disputes seated in various centres across the globe, including the ICC, LCIA, SIAC, DIAC and HKIAC. Alexander Gunning KC leads 2025 silk appointment Alexander Brown KC in Unicredit Bank AG v RusChemAlliance LLC, acting on behalf of the RCA, most recently before the Supreme Court in an anti-suit injunction to prevent RCA pursuing legal proceedings in Russia related to the non-payment of performance bonds by Unicredit. The set often handles complex banking arbitrations, in which Lord Wolfson KC, Alain Choo Choy KC and Daniel Toledano KC often lead. On the junior end, Nehali Shah and Henry Hoskins are highly experienced in arbitrations and related Commercial Court proceedings.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Great, really helpful clerking team.'
- 'Clerks are always polite and provide quick feedback for available barristers.'
- 'Clerks are incredibly responsive and are able to recommend the perfect fit if the first preference is unavailable. Adam Wheeler and Jackie Ginty are both lovely to work with and always happy to help.'
- 'Very kind with a very good service attitude.'
- 'OEC are the go-to for high value matters. They are leaders in multiple fields with some of the smartest minds around.'
- 'I've been impressed with every member of this chambers who I've worked with on matters before the commercial court and in arbitration. They always provide high-quality work.'
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.
Richard Boulton KC
‘Richard is a top drawer barrister, owing partly to his experience prior to coming to the Bar. His advocacy is very credible and persuasive.’
Alain Choo Choy KC
‘Very hands on, sharp and responsive.’
Alexander Gunning KC
John McCaughran KC
John is one of the leading commercial silks. A true class act, and a stand out lawyer.'
Lord Wolfson KC
‘David combines razor like analysis with humour and enthusiasm.’
Marcos Dracos KC
‘Marcos is very good to work with. He is able to focus on the key issues and overlook any noise. He is good at communicating with clients and digesting and presenting very complex cases in an understandable way.’
Charles Graham KC
Neil Kitchener KC
Henry Forbes Smith KC
‘Henry is an exceptionally clever lawyer who can be relied upon to think of creative and effective solutions that no-one else would come up with.’
Michael Sullivan KC
2025 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.
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.
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.
Eleanor Campbell
'Eleanor is an extremely impressive barrister. She is very good at team working on complex technical and contractual matters. In conference she is very comfortable in leading a discussion and working with senior stakeholders who consistently value her input.'
Daniel Hubbard
Tamara Kagan
Michael Kotrly
Rachel Oakeshott
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.
