Praised for its ‘extremely strong bench strength in the shipping space’, Twenty Essex’s members are routinely instructed in complex shipping cases at all levels of the English court system as well as internationally. In UK P&I Club v Venezuela, the Court of Appeal in London blocked a claim by the Venezuelan regime, owing to state immunity, in a case after a collision between a navy patrol vessel and a cruise liner; David Lewis KC led Alexander Thompson for the shipowners. A number of the set’s barristers were involved in Frangou v Frangos, which dealt with a contractual dispute between members of a Greek shipping family concerning costs and losses arising out of the operation of a commercial vessel; Oliver Caplin KC led Patrick Dunn-Walsh on the defendant side, while Timothy Hill KC led Andrew Feld for the claimant. Elsewhere, the MSC Flaminia has continued to occupy courts, with Julian Kenny KC leading Michal Hain on behalf of MSC in limitation proceedings in the Court of Appeal, which upheld that charterers cannot limit an owner’s claim for its own losses.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The service rendered by the clerks and Arron Zitver in particular, at Twenty Essex is always of extremely high level. Arron always tries to a find proper slot for the barrister to work on instructions so that matter is dealt in the most time efficient manner.'
- 'Rob Wheeler is an excellent clerk - he is very prompt, understands the needs of the client and is excellent in dealing with the Court and the other side.'
- 'Excellent. Long-standing relationships with senior clerks Arron Zitver and Chris Theobald - they have all the bases covered - responsive, commercial and pragmatic.'
- 'Arron Zitver is a stand-out clerk.'
- 'Extremely strong bench strength in the shipping space, my 'go-to' Chambers.'
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.
Timothy Young KC
Twenty Essex ‘An outstanding barrister, equally at home on his feet (where he is an eloquent advocate) or in providing cutting-edge written advice. Known for his proficiency in taking on difficult cases and ability to argue from a tight corner.'
Christopher Hancock KC
Twenty Essex ‘Top of the game: his very commanding advocacy is well-respected by both opponents and the bench.’
Timothy Hill KC
Twenty Essex ‘Timothy is very quick to understand the practical nature of the dispute. He is a fierce advocate and tenacious in his pursuit of a point.'
Duncan Matthews KC
Twenty Essex ‘Enormous capacity to absorb things quickly. Outstanding and brilliant legal mind.’
Philip Edey KC
Twenty Essex
Charles Kimmins KC
Twenty Essex ‘Charles is a first-rate advocate and rapier-like in cross examination. To back this up he has an excellent analytical insight on cases and is a master of strategy.'
David Lewis KC
Twenty Essex ‘David is incisive and has an eagle-eye commercial strategy. His cross-examination style is concise and pointed, and he can be counted on to work very quickly and effectively.'
Michael Coburn KC
Twenty Essex ‘ Michael is sharp with an impressive turnaround time in providing advice under urgent circumstances. He is able to break down complex issues into understandable points to clients whose English is not their first language.'
Michael Collett KC
Twenty Essex ‘Michael is an extremely bright and affable KC. Very responsive and meticulous in his presentation of the arguments, on paper and in writing.'
Julian Kenny KC
Twenty Essex ‘Very bright and user friendly. Works well in a team and has a very confident and clear advocacy style that is quietly authoritative.'
Henry Byam-Cook KC
Twenty Essex ‘Henry has a good situational sense of the court or arbitration room, and knows what arguments to push and when, but more importantly when not to push certain arguments. He is clear in his advocacy.’
Sara Masters KC
Twenty Essex
Philip Riches KC
Twenty Essex
Simon Milnes KC
Twenty Essex 'Excellent and swift grasp of facts, patterns and issues of any technicality and amazing legal skills.'
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.
Luke Pearce KC
Twenty Essex2024 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.
Oliver Caplin KC
Twenty Essex 'Oliver is a superb advocate. He delivers the points that need to be made in a clear and measured way.'
Josephine Davies KC
Twenty Essex 'She is not afraid to give a direct view on the merits of a point, without hedging her opinion with unnecessary caveats.'
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.
Daniel Bovensiepen
Twenty Essex ‘Daniel is meticulous in his work. He leaves no stones unturned and his knowledge of the law is excellent. He is definitely at a KC standard.'
Tom Corby
Twenty Essex ‘Super diligent and responsive. Drafts very good submissions and gives very clear opinions.'
Colleen Hanley
Twenty Essex ‘Colleen is incredibly thorough. Her pleadings nevertheless strike an excellent balance between covering whatever needs to be said fully, whilst not expanding on issues unnecessarily.'
Alex Carless
Twenty Essex ‘He is extremely intelligent but retains a practical and common-sense approach and is always approachable. His advocacy, both written and oral, is top-notch.’
Angharad Parry
Twenty Essex ‘Clear precise advice and she tries to think outside of the box. A joy to work with and a great team player.’
Sean Snook
Twenty Essex ‘Sean is very thorough, has a phenomenal eye for detail and an extraordinary capacity to assimilate and distil complex technical issues into digestible points. He is very strong on the law and advocates in a clear and compelling way.'
Alexander Thompson
Twenty Essex
Andrew Dinsmore
Twenty Essex
Patrick Dunn-Walsh
Twenty Essex ‘Patrick has excellent attention to detail, incisive legal thinking and is very timely and accommodating of late instruction. On his feet, Patrick is impressive, sharp, attentive and measures the tribunal with skill.'
Andrew Feld
Twenty Essex ‘Andrew is great to have on your team; his technical knowledge in this area is excellent, and he is able to explain complex concepts in a client-friendly way.'
Susannah Jones
Twenty Essex 'Susannah is a really superb counsel. She leaves no stone unturned, and her drafting of pleadings, witness statements and submissions is outstanding.'
Karen Maxwell
Twenty Essex ‘Karen is a superb barrister with fine judgement and extremely hardworking. She is very knowledgeable on all aspects of dry maritime law and turns around paperwork very quickly.'
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.
Matthew Chan
Twenty Essex ‘Matthew has strong legal expertise in shipping law and provides insightful and effective advice to clients. He has strong analytical skills and is able to work effectively with senior counsel to provide timely advice.'
