Edward Batrouney

Ed is a dual qualified English and Australian barrister. Ed is available to act as arbitrator in a broad range of commercial matters, including energy disputes, shipping, financial services, insurance & reinsurance, and professional negligence. He is currently sitting as arbitrator on a LCIA panel in a dispute involving parties to a share sale agreement.

As counsel, Ed has substantial experience in international arbitration conducted under a range of arbitral rules.  Ed has also acted as sole counsel and as part of larger counsel teams in high value commercial disputes, class actions, regulatory matters and commissions of inquiry. Since 2020, Ed has been recognised annually in Doyle’s Guide as a leading commercial litigation and dispute resolution barrister in Victoria, Australia. Prior to his call to the Bar in Australia, Ed was an associated in dispute resolution at Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer LLP in London.

Examples of Ed’s recent and ongoing work as counsel in arbitration include:

  • Acting in an ICC arbitration (seated in Toronto) defending a c. $250m claim for alleged misuse of trade secrets and confidential information involving emerging technology in the energy sector.
  • Acting in a substantial LMAA arbitration relating to the management of vessels and involving issues of Greek and Liberian law.
  • Acting in an ad-hoc international arbitration before Sir Bernard Rix.
  • Acting for a US based policyholders in English seated arbitrations in which the policyholders seek coverage under New York law governed excess liability policies.
  • Acting for an insurer in an international arbitration relating to COVID-19 business interruption losses allegedly suffered by a luxury international hotel group.

 

 

John Robb

John specialises in commercial litigation.  He is ranked in the fields of banking and finance, civil fraud, international trade, public & administrative law and shipping.

John has been listed as one of the top 10 juniors for Commercial Litigation under eight years’ call and is regularly praised for being “incredibly hardworking and very bright”, “fiercely intelligent and able to deliver perfectly reasoned and strategic advice quickly“, a “very thoughtful, calm junior with excellent communication and technical skills”, and an “excellent team player”.  He is also described as having “an unparalleled ability to deal with difficult clients in highly-pressured situations”, and as being “a powerhouse of an advocate”.

A substantial part of John’s practice is in the Commercial Court or in arbitrations.  He has acted (led and unled) in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in heavyweight commercial litigations including Tchenguiz v SFO (2013-2014), Tchenguiz v Grant Thornton (2015-2018) and Suppipat v Narongdej (2020-2023).  He has considerable experience of interlocutory and procedural law, including freezing injunctions, jurisdiction, partnership disputes and disclosure-related applications.

Professor Dapo Akande

Professor Akande is the Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford, Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and a member of the United Nations International Law Commission. He acts as counsel, adviser, consultant or expert on international law for states, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, corporations and individuals. Professor Akande has acted as counsel, advocate, adviser or consultant in a variety of cases and accepts arbitral appointments.

He has acted in disputes before a wide range of international tribunals. Notable cases as counsel include:

  • at the International Court of Justice, the Chagos Advisory Opinion (for Zambia), the Armed Activities Case (DRC v Uganda, for Uganda); Land and Maritime Delimitation and Sovereignty over Islands (Gabon/Equatorial Guinea, for Equatorial Guinea) and the Genocide Convention Case (Gambia v Myanmar, for the UK as intervenor);
  • in the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights – Hanan v Germany (for the applicant)
  • the first inter-state case at the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights, DRC v Rwanda (for Rwanda)
  • at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the San Padre Pio case (for Nigeria)

He has acted as expert and adviser in disputes before international arbitral tribunals in mixed disputes, World Trade Organization and North American Free Trade Area Dispute Settlement panels. He has also acted as adviser or expert in cases in national courts in the UK (including the Supreme Court), the US and Australia. In 2019 he was appointed as international law expert for the Public Inquiry into Operation Burnham (established by New Zealand Government) which  dealt with the conduct of New Zealand Defence Forces in military operations in Afghanistan.

In addition to his work in disputes, Dapo is regularly instructed to provide advice on questions of international law to governments and international organizations (including United Nations bodies, the African Union Commission, the Commonwealth Secretariat and ASEAN.) He is or has recently been a member of the

  • the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on International Law (United States Department of State)
  • the UK Ministry of Defence AI Ethics Advisory Panel;
  • the Ukrainian Presidential Working Group on compensation for damage caused to Ukraine as a result of the armed aggression by the Russian Federation;
  • the ICRC’s Global Advisory Board on Digital Threats During Conflict.
  • UK Parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Drone’s inquiry into the Use of Armed Drones (Legal Adviser to the Inquiry 2017/18)
  • the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights (2016-18)

Dapo is one of the authors of Oppenheim’s International Law: The United Nations (2017, OUP), which was awarded the 2019 Certificate of Merit by the American Society of International Law. He is one of the editors of the Oxford Guide to International Humanitarian Law (2020, OUP); of Human Rights and 21st Century Challenges: Poverty, Conflict and the Environment (2020, OUP), and of Practitioners Guide to the Application of Human Rights Law in Armed Conflict (2016, OUP). He was a member of the International Advisory Panel for the American Law Institute’s project on the Restatement Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States (2018).

Dapo is frequently asked to speak to the media on issues of international law and has been invited to address several international bodies including the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council, and the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI) of the Council of Europe.

Ciaran Keller

Ciaran acts in international arbitrations across a wide range of commercial and chancery disputes under various institutional rules (LCIA, SIAC, UNCITRAL, DIFC-LCIA) as well ad hoc arbitrations. Ciaran 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 also acted in a number of claims for and against states and state entities (for which he has been described as “the foremost junior on questions of sovereign immunity at the Bar”).

Ciaran’s practice encompasses the full range of commercial and commercial chancery disputes and has exceptional knowledge and ability to navigate disputes involving: civil fraud, banking and financial services related litigation, company, partnership and insolvency matters, energy and minerals, fiduciaries and professional negligence. He is regularly instructed in complex, large-scale international disputes (including enforcing and challenging arbitral awards, international debt recovery and obtaining and resisting freezing orders) and cases involving questions as to the appropriate choice of law or jurisdiction.

Before being called to the Bar (2004), Ciaran was a HM Fast-Stream Diplomatic, 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). Ciaran was called to the bar in British Virgin Island in 2013 and regularly appears.  He is referred to within directories as “assertive in a charming and diplomatic way. He is also enormously intelligent” “Ciaran shows great judgement and self-possession” and “absolutely phenomenal and has excellent judgement” (Chambers & Partners 2024).  He was also awarded Commercial Dispute Resolution Junior of the Year in 2023 by Chambers and Partners.

Languages: Portuguese (Proficient); French (Proficient)

Stuart Cribb

Stuart specialises in international commercial litigation and arbitration. As an advocate, he has argued at all levels of the English judicial system, including before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. In arbitration, he has advised and acted in disputes seated in various jurisdictions, and has experience of cases under the ICC, UNCITRAL, LCIA, LMAA, CIARB, SIAC, CIETAC and DIAC rules.

Stuart has a particular interest in arbitrations with a connection to:

  • The Caribbean (where he is called to the bar of the British Virgin Islands, and has acted in disputes connected with the BVI, Nevis, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago);
  • Africa (where he has acted in disputes connected with Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Egypt); and
  • The Middle East (where he has acted in disputes connected with Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Iran).

Stuart has substantial experience of litigation and arbitration, with a key focused on energy and natural resources. His cases have spanned issues of force majeure relating to interruptions in supply under long-term gas sale contracts, gas pricing, production sharing agreements, and litigation arising out of catastrophic oil spills. Energy disputes in which Stuart is involved typically involve difficult technical issues of expert evidence, including in relation to the extraction, marketing and behaviour of hydrocarbons or other natural resources.

Stuart also appeared as counsel in the leading English case on challenges to arbitration awards for serious irregularity under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, Therapy Beach Club Incorporated v RAV Bahamas Limited & Bimini Resort Management Limited [2006] 1 A.C. 221.

In June 2024, Stuart was appointed onto the DIAC List of Arbitrators.

Matthieu Gregoire

Matthieu graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2008, completed his masters at Sciences Po Paris in 2010 and his LLM at Georgetown, D.C in 2010.  He was called to the New York Bar in 2011 during his time at an international law firm in Paris before being called to the Bar in England and Wales in 2013.  Since 2015, he has been Adjunct Professor of International Commercial Arbitration at Pepperdine University and appointed to the Attorney General’s PIL C Panel in 2017 whilst studying for the Paris Bar.

Matthieu specialises in commercial litigation, international commercial arbitration, and investor-state arbitrations.  He is recommended in Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 as a leading junior  in international arbitration, public international law, commercial litigation and was a nominee in the Legal 500 Bar Awards for International Arbitration Junior of the Year 2022.

Matthieu’s has acted for governments, corporations and individuals in oil and gas, renewable energy, mining, manufacturing and finance disputes.  Many of which have included issues of civil fraud. Matthieu has recently acted in the following arbitrations:

  • Acted and/or advised in matters before all levels of English courts, in commercial and international disputes.
  • Acted and/or advised in numerous investment treaty arbitrations pursuant to a wide array of investment treaties with issues relating to most major legal sectors.  With exceptional experience of ICSID, SCC, UNCITRAL and ad hoc rules.  Matthieu’s recent experience also includes disputes under the OIC Investment Agreement and intra-EU BITs.
  • Acted and/or advised in numerous commercial arbitrations, with experience of  ad-hoc and institutional rules (ICC, LCIA, SCC, UNCITRAL), across a range of sectors and industries.  Many of which included issues relating to  a variety of international governing laws.
  • Advised States, non-governmental organisations, private commercial entities and private individuals on a diversity of commercial, arbitration and public international law issues, including treaty interpretation, WTO/Trade law, and implications of Brexit.

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).

 

 

Sophia Hurst

Sophia’s practice spans a range of commercial and commercial chancery disputes, both in arbitration and litigation.

She has particular expertise in civil fraud and asset recovery and is recommended as a Leading Junior in the directories, where she is described as “incredibly calm, a super clear and succinct drafter, a real team player” and “Incredibly dependable”.  Sophia’s practice also encompasses contractual claims, M&A, joint venture and shareholder disputes, and matters relating to directors/fiduciary duties, banking and finance, and contentious trusts. Examples of her subject-matter expertise are highlighted below. Sophia has experience acting for a broad range of clients across numerous sectors, including major banks, funds, and energy, construction, telecoms and emerging technology companies.

Sophia’s practice often involves disputes with an international or cross-border element and she frequently advises on issues relating to jurisdiction (including applicability of arbitration or jurisdiction clauses) and enforcement of awards and judgments. As well as her London-based practice, she has particular experience in the BVI, where she has been called since undertaking a secondment in 2018, and the Middle East, where she has a substantial practice before locally-seated arbitral tribunals as well as the courts in DIFC and ADGM.

Sophia has published articles, delivered seminars and  appeared on panels on topics related to her practice, including at ICC FraudNet, and the Private Client Global Elite Rising Leaders’ Forum.

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.