Essex Court Chambers is praised for its ‘strength in depth when it comes to all types of arbitration’ with members of the set frequently appearing in internationally significant investment treaty arbitrations, arbitration related proceedings in the English courts and commercial arbitrations in arbitration centres across the globe. Away from a the set’s practice across international commercial arbitrations, in the investor-state sphere David Joseph KC led Anton Dudnikov in the English enforcement proceedings related to the Cairn Energy v India investment treaty dispute, with India paying over $1bn to Cairn for unlawful retrospective taxation measures. Key highlights on investor state arbitrations include First Quantum Minerals v Panama, in which Paul Key KC, leading Lucas Bastin KC and Sean Aughey, represents First Quantum Minerals in their dispute over the termination of a mining licence in Panama. Among the lineup changes to the set in the last year was the arrival of Thomas Sebastian from Monckton Chambers in July 2023; David Peters KC and James Sheehan KC being made silk in March 2024; and Tariq Baloch joining from 3 Verulam Buildings in October 2024.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Fantastic and always responsive. Of note is Samantha Wright, who is wise beyond her years.'
  • 'Joe Ferrigno is very much behind the Essex Court success story, and the leading senior clerk at the bar.  Beneath his understated and collegiate, affable engagement lies a visionary approach dedicated to engineering the best service delivery and a set geared for the demands of 21st century, complex global disputes. He understands how the market works on an instinctive level.'
  • 'The clerks are great - so responsive and helpful, in particular Karl Alsleben.'
  • 'Ben Perry, Jack Wood and Katie Myles are very much in Ferrigno's mould, and provide ECC with a particularly strong, user-friendly clerking room.'
  • 'Essex Court is one of the top chambers in London for commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration work.'
  • 'Essex Court are strong in investment treaty arbitration and we use several barristers in this set for our investment treaty work. They have strength in depth.'
  • 'Essex Court are without doubt the leading international arbitration chambers and have strength in depth when it comes to all types of arbitration at all levels of seniority.'
  • 'A strong set of various personalities that offer different approaches and strategies to disputes.  An impressive reputation that does not disappoint.'

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.

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.
1
Tariq Baloch
Essex Court Chambers
 ‘Tariq is very user friendly, responsive and easy to work with. He is very bright and a strong lawyer. His written and oral advocacy is excellent; he is both a real wordsmith and a persuasive, calm oral advocate who represents his client’s interests with skill and resilience.’
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.