Tariq Baloch KC

Professional practice

Tariq Baloch’s practice encompasses international arbitration (international investment treaty claims and international commercial arbitration), public international law and commercial litigation. He is highly sought after for international arbitration and arbitration related court cases, and on three occasions has been recognised by his peers and the major directories as the International Arbitration junior of the year (2019, 2022 and 2024).  He is regularly instructed by parties and states as a lead advocate to conduct advocacy in high stakes cases most recently in a series of cases in the English Courts for the Kingdom of Spain and in multi-billion dollar arbitrations. His most recent victory was in the Court of Appeal (before Vos (MR), Flaux (Chancellor) and Snowden LJ) where as lead advocate he successfully defended an application to make Spain’s appeal conditional on paying into court c 120 million euros [2024] EWCA Civ 52.

In commercial arbitration, he has represented or advised private parties under all the major arbitral rules in a wide range of sectors. His experience includes acting for some of the world’s largest companies in high value complex arbitrations involving disputes around the world. His cases are often multi-jurisdictional and raise complex procedural and substantive private law questions, calling upon his expertise in the fields of restitution, contract and remedies (having taught the subjects and written a leading text on them). He is often instructed on technical cases to conduct the cross examination of the experts, including on quantum.

In the past few years he has been involved in some of the more important precedent setting investor-state cases concerning issues such as the impact of the landmark Achmea judgment on the validity of investment treaties, the power of tribunals to issues interim measures preventing a state from pursuing criminal procedures, prosecution of pure customary international law claims under an investment treaty, the scope of reflective loss claims and state succession issues. He is also one of the handful of counsel who is equally in demand by investors and states and so has real insight into how both sides typically conduct their investor state cases.

He regularly represents parties in challenge, recognition and enforcement proceedings in the English courts. Most recently he represented the Kingdom of Spain as lead advocate in the Court of Appeal in one of the Lawyer magazine’s Top 10 appeals for 2024, appealing a judgment [2023] EWHC 1226 that has been described as “one of the most significant judgments on state immunity and international arbitration in decades”, as it provides “guidance […] on many issues of the interaction between UK primary legislation, international customary law [sic], the ICSID Convention and EU law”. Other significant cases in recent years include Operafund v Spain [2024] EWHC 82 (first case raising question of partial enforcement of an ICSID award), NIOC v Crescent [2023] EWCA 826 (a rare and probably first summary dismissal of s 67 challenge; and now the lead judgment on s 73 and on the scope of s67(4) of the Arbitration Act 1996); Crescent v NIOC [2024] EWHC 835 (successful invocation of s 423 of the Insolvency Act to retransfer a major asset in London; now on appeal on a novel question of trust law) and Infrastructure v Spain [2024] EWCA Civ 52 (lead judgment on applications to the Court of Appeal for conditions to be attached to the appeal). He is also instructed in another enforcement action against a large Asian state which raises novel issues about the operation of issue estoppel in claims against states.

Prior to entering practice, he was a full time academic and had been a lecturer and tutor at the University of Oxford and assistant professor at the London School of Economics. He regularly writes and speaks on international arbitration, international law, and law of obligations including at the Harvard Law School and the British Institute for International and Comparative Law. His book Unjust Enrichment and Contract (Hart, Oxford, 2009) is cited in leading English texts, including Chitty on Contracts and Goff and Jones: The law of Unjust Enrichment, and was described by the professor of English law at Oxford as the “definitive” work in the area. He is the author of the inaugural chapter on arbitration in Phipson on Evidence (20th ed, 2021), one of the leading English texts on the law of evidence. He was educated at Queen Mary, University of London (Herchel Smith Scholar), Harvard Law School (Kennedy Scholar) and the University of Oxford (Graduate Scholar), where he obtained his DPhil (PhD). He is also a proud trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust.

Ciaran Keller KC

Ciaran actively accepts arbitration appointments. He has experience in arbitrations across a wide range of commercial and chancery disputes under various institutional rules (e.g. LCIA, SIAC, UNCITRAL, DIFC-LCIA) as well ad hoc arbitrations. He also has expertise in claims to enforce or resist enforcement of foreign awards (including against states and state entities) in England and multi-jurisdictional litigation to enforce English awards overseas. He has acted in various claims for and against states and state entities.

Ciaran is an experienced commercial advocate, who is recommended in the latest editions of the Legal Directories in 7 practice areas: commercial dispute resolution; chancery commercial; civil fraud, banking and finance; energy; partnership and offshore.

Prior to his appointment as King’s Counsel in 2025, Ciaran was nominated as the Legal 500 Junior of the Year for 2024 and was the Chambers and Partners Commercial Dispute Resolution Junior of the Year for 2023.

Commentators endorse him as “a superstar”; “outstanding”, “absolutely phenomenal”, “sublime”, and “the complete package”. He has “razor sharp intellect” and “incredible mind”, which “cuts to the heart of the case”. He is “a fantastic strategist” with “a great feel for how a Court will react to an argument”. He is noted as “a really formidable courtroom performer” whose “ability to take complex and intricate arguments and present them compellingly is extraordinary”. He is “a superb cross-examiner” and “an exceptional advocate who will get the result the client wants”. He is also known as a “super responsive”, “practical and commercial”, “a team player”, and “a pleasure to work with”.

Ciaran’s practice encompasses the full range of commercial and commercial chancery disputes, with exceptional knowledge and ability to navigate disputes involving: civil fraud; banking and financial services; company and shareholder disputes and insolvency matters; energy and minerals; fiduciaries; partnership; and professional negligence. He is regularly instructed in complex, large-scale international disputes and cases involving applying foreign law, with recent experience of the laws of Thailand, Portugal, Mozambique, Russia, Uganda, Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

In addition to his arbitration and English court work, Ciaran has a notable offshore practice (BVI, the Cayman Islands, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Hong Kong). Ciaran was called to the bar in British Virgin Island in 2013.

Before being called to the Bar (2004), Ciaran was a Fast-Stream Diplomat, serving at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London and overseas at the United Nations in New York and the British Embassy in Lisbon (1998-2002).

He is a member of the LCIA, ICCA, Commercial Bar Association, Chancery Bar Association, Association of Partnership Practitioners, and the LexisNexis Expert Panel on Arbitration.

Languages: Portuguese (Proficient); French (Proficient)

Helen Morton

Helen is an experienced lawyer with an established practice spanning the full range of commercial disputes. She acts as both sole and junior counsel and regularly appears in the Business and Property Courts and in arbitration.

Helen is particularly experienced in heavy commercial litigation, civil fraud, private international law, shipping, insurance and data protection. She acts in both the advisory and contentious contexts at all stages of the dispute resolution process, from initial advice to trial and enforcement actions.

She is currently acting in the notable s.69 arbitration appeal, Fimbank Plc v KCH Shipping Co, in which the Commercial Court determined in September 2022 that the Article III Rule 6 time-bar in the Hague-Visby Rules applies to misdelivery of cargo post-discharge. The position was previously undecided with debate in the caselaw, commentaries and international community going both ways. As the point arises frequently across the industry, the decision has considerable commercial significance and is currently being appealed to the Court of Appeal.

Other recent work highlights include acting:

  • For the defendants in US$ 2 billion fraud proceedings (Suppipat & Ors v Nop Narongdej & Ors), a multi-party conspiracy claim concerning the shares of Thailand’s largest renewable energy company;
  • For the claimant in one of the high-profile proceedings against the SFO (ENRC v The Director of the SFO, Gibson & Puddick) which includes claims for breach of confidence, misfeasance in public office and unlawful means conspiracy;
  • For the claimant in a major class action in relation to largescale data breaches by a global social media platform (SMO (A child) v TikTok); and
  • On behalf of the UK Government in a long running multi-billion pound damages dispute (Bank Mellat v Her Majesty’s Treasury) in which the Court of Appeal issued an important judgment on disclosure where there is an alleged risk of foreign prosecution.

Helen is co-author of the forthcoming edition of ‘The Common Law Jurisprudence of the Conflict of Laws, Hart’ which is due to be published in May 2023. Her chapter, ‘The Mixed Blessing of Vita Food Products: The Impact and Influence of the Privy Council’s Decision’, addresses issues in the conflict of laws and shipping.

Stephen Donnelly

Stephen accepts arbitral appointments in disputes ranging across the breadth of commercial and shipping law, international investment law, and public international law with experience arbitrating under among others the ICC, LCIA, ICSID, UNCITRAL, and LMAA Rules. Stephen is on the DIAC Arbitration Court List and is a member of the LCIA Users’ Council, Young ICSID, and the ICC Young Arbitration and ADR Forum. He is  also a visiting lecturer in international investment arbitration at King’s College London and a member of the board of the Young Public International Law Group

He has been described in recent directory editions as ‘an exceptional junior’, ‘wise beyond his years and an intellectual powerhouse’, ‘first rate and very hard working’, with ‘remarkable research and drafting skills’ and ‘the ability to fit in and get on with a wide spread of individuals’, who ‘inspires confidence as a safe pair of hands’.

Before beginning his arbitration practice, Stephen studied law at Glasgow, Oxford, and Yale (as a Fulbright Scholar), was judicial assistant to Lord Kerr in the Supreme Court of the UK, and served as assistant to the Tribunal (Sir Frank Berman KCMG KC, Judge Schwebel, and Judge Simma) in Merck v Ecuador PCA Case No. 2012-12.

He is also qualified at the bar in Scotland, a mixed common–civil law jurisdiction, and able to draw on that experience in arbitrations under civilian legal systems.

Stephen is fluent in French and has a working knowledge of several other languages, including Spanish and Arabic (Levantine).

 

 

Freddie Onslow

Freddie has a broad commercial practice and is developing expertise in shipping and employment disputes.

She has appeared unled in the High Court (QBD and Chancery Division) seeking urgent injunctive relief; in applications in the Chancery Division; in week-long trials in the employment tribunal; in an LCIA arbitration and in applications in the Circuit Commercial Court.

As part of a team of counsel, she has appeared in the Commercial Court, the Chancery Division, arbitrations (LMAA and LCIA), including in lengthy trials. Her recent work includes:

  • Representing the Man Group in Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait v Man Group, featured in The Lawyer’s “Top 20 Cases of 2020”, concerning allegations of large-scale bribery.
  • Acting in a multi-phase LMAA arbitration claim for damages of c. US$250m following the shipment of a dangerous cargo.
  • Acting on behalf of an insurer defending claims relating to the alleged detention of aircraft in Russia.
  • Acting in a 2-week LCIA arbitration arising out of the decommissioning of oil wells.
  • Representing a global consulting firm in an ongoing LCIA arbitration against a former employee.
  • Krishna v Gowrie and others – a 6-week trial, in which Freddie acted for the petitioners / claimants in an unfair prejudice petition involving allegations of asset stripping from a joint venture.
  • Acting for the respondent in a multi-week employment tribunal hearing, successfully defending allegations of discrimination on the grounds of race, sex and perceived disability.

Freddie has a particular interest in scientific and technical disputes given her background in materials science.

Freddie is a co-author of The Encyclopaedia of International Commercial Litigation, Anthony Coleman & Simon Bryan (Ed) and has contributed to Supperstone, Goudie and Walker (ed), Judicial Review (6th edition, 2018), Chapter 15: European Union Law.

Naomi Hart

Naomi has a diverse practice in international, commercial, public and human rights law. She was identified as one of the Hot 100 by The Lawyer in 2023. She has appeared in the major directories for several years, with listings in Public International Law, International Arbitration, and International Human Rights Law.

Naomi’s commercial practice encompasses civil fraud, conflict of laws, shipping and general commercial disputes. She acts as junior and sole counsel, having recently appeared in the Court of Appeal, the Commercial Court, the Chancery Division and the King’s Bench Division (including the Administrative Court). She has also been involved in cases before the courts of the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Mauritius, Sweden, Türkiye, Norway, Australia and Malaysia (among others). Her commercial arbitration experience includes proceedings under the DIFC, LCIA, ICC, PCA, SCC, ICSID, UNCITRAL and LMAA Rules.

Naomi has an extensive practice in public international law. She has acted in six cases before the International Court of Justice as well as in proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. She is routinely involved in cases before English and foreign domestic courts which involve questions of public international law as well as in investor-State disputes. Across this range of cases, she has advised and acted for governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and private parties on matters relating to territorial delimitation, self-determination, the law of the sea, occupation of territory, war crimes, genocide, privileges and immunities, climate change, international administrative law, sanctions, international trade law, the act of State doctrine, and inter-State espionage. She also has a wide human rights practice before English, international and foreign domestic courts, much of which is pro bono.

Naomi attained a doctorate from the University of Cambridge on the topic of espionage and public international law, for which she was awarded the Faculty of Law’s Yorke Prize for a thesis “of exceptional quality, which makes a substantial contribution to its relevant field of legal knowledge”. She has published widely on human rights, international refugee law, investor-State arbitration and general international law.

In 2020, Naomi was appointed to both the Public International Law C Panel of Junior Counsel and the Attorney General’s London C Panel of Civil Counsel. She is also a Trustee of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and a member of the Bar Council’s International Committee.

Naomi is admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales. At the University of Sydney, she received First Class Honours in her Law degree (ranking second in her year) and the University Medal and First Class Honours in History (ranking first in her year).

Claudia Renton

Claudia has a broad and diverse commercial practice spanning domestic and international commercial litigation and arbitration with particular expertise in media, art and entertainment law and civil fraud. She has been recognized as a leading junior (Tier 1) for Art and Cultural Property Law by the Legal 500 since 2017 where she is described as an “Art fraud and contractual breach expert…A phenomenal junior, unflappable and extremely hard-working” (2021).

Claudia is an experienced advocate. She has appeared unled before arbitral tribunals and in the High Court, County Courts and the Employment Tribunal; and as junior counsel in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, numerous arbitrations (including under the LMAA Terms (2012), LCIA Arbitration Rules, American Arbitration Association Rules, ICC Rules and DIAC) and in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts.

Her recent cases include: Sotheby’s v Mark Weiss Ltd in which Claudia, led by Joe Smouha KC, was instructed on behalf of an art gallery and its owner in a case concerning the sale of an alleged Old Master (said to be by Frans Hals) under a private treaty agreement, which was then alleged to be counterfeit; ICICI Bank UK plc v Assam Oil Co & Ors in which she was instructed, as junior to David Joseph KC, to resist a summary judgment claim for $70 million under a term loan said to be due. Other recent instructions include: acting (led by Ricky Diwan KC) for a foreign state in relation to the attempted enforcement of a $48 million judgment debt raising issues under the State Immunity Act 1978; acting (led by Richard Millett KC) for the Receivers of the shares of Nevis companies said to be worth in excess of $200 million and the Directors of those companies in multi-jurisdictional litigation concerning the disputed ownership of those shares; acting (led by Paul Stanley KC) in an ad hoc arbitration concerning a dispute between limited liability partners in an investment management business.

Claudia is accustomed to working closely with foreign lawyers; and both as sole counsel and part of a larger team. She is uniquely familiar with the DIFC and she has advised the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Courts on their Arbitration and Court Rules.

Claudia is the author of Those Wild Wyndhams, a biography of the Wyndham sisters (HarperCollins, 2014 (UK and worldwide); Knopf 2018 (US)), which won the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize 2014. She is also co-author of Heroes (Quercus 2007). In her previous career as an actress she appeared on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the National Theatre, and on television in series for the BBC and ITV.

David Walsh KC

David has a strong commercial practice with expertise in insurance and reinsurance, commodities, international trade, energy, transport, shipping and shipbuilding/offshore construction disputes.  David started accepting appointments as arbitrator in 2020 and is a member of the LCIA and LMAA.  David is also on the DIFC Courts’ Register of Practitioners.

David is an editor of the latest editions of: (i) Arnould – Law of Marine Insurance and Average (together with Jonathan Gilman KC, Mark Templeman KC, Claire Blanchard KC, Philippa Hopkins KC, Neil Hart); (ii) Scrutton on Charterparties and Bills of Lading (together with Sir David Foxton, Steven Berry KC, Christopher Smith KC and Professor Howard Bennett); and (iii) Chalmers’ Marine Insurance Act 1906 (together with Simon Rainey KC and Guy Blackwood KC).

David is also a Barrister in England and Wales. He is recognised as being “a stellar performer …” with clients praising David for combining:

  • intellectual rigour (“a first-rate brain”, “incredibly bright”, “super smart”, “always manages to make very complex cases easy to understand”)
  • with skilful advocacy (“his advocacy [is] formidable”, “a forceful advocate, who seems to get the ear of the judge very well”, “unflappable”, “particularly noted for his skilful advocacy”)
  • industriousness (“prodigiously hardworking”, “prepared to roll his sleeves up”)
  • and client service (“a naturally collaborative and inclusive style”, “Clients really like him”, “A very personable and approachable individual, who connects well with clients”, “really easy to engage with”, “responsive and user friendly”).

Anna Dilnot KC

Anna actively accepts arbitration appointments and has over 20 years commercial litigation experience.  Anna qualified as a commercial litigation solicitor in 2002, becoming a solicitor advocate before being called to the Bar in 2008, and taking silk in 2021.

Who’s Who 2023 notes that Anna draws widespread recommendations for her asset recovery expertise, with commentators endorsing her as “an absolutely excellent silk”. Anna was also recognised as an expert (global and national leader) in Who’s Who Legal Asset Recovery 2018 – 2022, she is described as having a “super sharp mind”, being both a “persuasive advocate” and “very impressive on her feet in complex proceedings”. For 2023, Anna is also recognised as a leading silk for commercial dispute resolution and asset recovery in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.

Anna has a broad commercial and commercial chancery practice, with specialisms in conflicts of laws and civil fraud. She is experienced as an advocate in both court proceedings and international arbitration (ad hoc, LCIA, ICC, GAFTA and SIAC). Anna is also accustomed to applying laws other than English law, with recent experience in the laws of Thailand, Russia, Kazakhstan, BVI, France and Spain.

Louise Hutton KC

Louise’s practice covers commercial and commercial/chancery litigation and arbitration, including banking and finance litigation, fraud, insolvency/restructuring and company law.  Louise has been called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (BVI) and also sits as arbitrator.

Before taking silk in March 2021, she had been recommended for many years as a Band 1 leading junior in the fields of Commercial Chancery and Civil Fraud by Chambers UK, which says she is “Sought after for her advice and advocacy in major pieces of fraud litigation incorporating the full spectrum of allegations. Many of her cases are banking-related” and describes her as “impressive in court – unflappable, persuasive in her advocacy and can carry the judges to a conclusion that she wants them to reach” and as having “very good knowledge of the law and good commercial judgment”.

She is also recommended in Chambers Global in Commercial Chancery, and by the Legal 500 for Banking & Finance and for Civil Fraud, which says that “Her combination of expertise in insolvency, banking litigation and fraud is invaluable” and that she has “a great instinct for what will and won’t matter when the chips are down”.  She was named in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 2019.

In addition to her substantial experience of heavy trials, she has particular experience of applications for freezing orders and other interim injunctions, and for anti-suit injunctions (on various grounds including arbitration agreements; exclusive jurisdiction clauses; and vexation and oppression).