Stephen Donnelly

Stephen started his arbitrator journey as Tribunal Secretary to many of the worlds most recognised arbitrators. Stephen is versatile with a practice that encompasses commercial and chancery disputes and cases raising issues of public international law in international and domestic courts. He has appeared as sole counsel at all levels, including in the Privy Council, and is regularly instructed in heavy cases before courts and arbitral tribunals. The Legal 500 describes him as, ‘First rate and very hard working. He is also a good team player with the ability to fit in and get on with a wide spread of individuals. Incredible attention to detail, wise beyond his years and an intellectual powerhouse.’  He is also a practising advocate in Scotland, and is a Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Government.

In 2020 Stephen was appointed to the Attorney General’s public international law C panel of counsel. In 2021 he was promoted to the London B panel.

Stephen is an author of the forthcoming edition of Company Directors (OUP), has had articles on international law and on human rights published in leading journals, and is an assistant editor of the European Human Rights Reports.

Before coming to the bar, Stephen was judicial assistant to Lord Kerr in the Supreme Court and Privy Council, and taught public international law at the University of Edinburgh and King’s College London. He studied law at Glasgow, Oxford, and Yale (as a Fulbright scholar and board member of the Yale Journal of International Law).

Stephen is fluent in French and has a working knowledge of several other languages.

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).