Public International Law

A benchmark to which others aspire, Sir Daniel Bethlehem KC handles high-profile State-on-State, diplomatic immunity and BIT cases. He has strong ties to the FCO and has vast experience of both counsel work and arbitral appointments.

"Daniel Bethlehem KC is in a class of his own. He's peerless when it comes to his insights on public international law. He's the full package."

Active in all areas of public international law, Sir Michael Wood KC (Hon) has devoted a significant portion of his career to advising the FCO. He is well versed in complex land and maritime boundary disputes, and has enviable experience appearing before international courts and tribunals.

"Sir Michael is a superb advocate. The court likes to listen to and hear from him."

Philippa Webb acts for States and non-governmental bodies, advising on a wide range of PIL issues including State and diplomatic immunities, as well as maritime, boundary and treaty disputes. She is a professor of public international law at King's College London.

"Philippa Webb is a truly outstanding barrister."

"Dr Webb is a superlative lawyer. She's brilliant and collegial, with a superb depth of knowledge in PIL. Her oral submissions never fail to inspire."

"She is, in my opinion, the best of her generation (and probably well beyond) when it comes to public international law matters."

"Philippa is one of the PIL stars at the Bar. She is an absolute go-to barrister when it comes to any questions relating to immunities and operates at silk level."

Highly regarded for investment treaty arbitrations and inter-state disputes, Kate Parlett has appeared as an advocate before the ICJ in multiple cases concerning a range of PIL issues, including arbitration over terrestrial and maritime delimitation. She also teaches international law at both Cambridge and Geneva.

"Kate's strategic vision and insight into the International Court of Justice is invaluable. She is a very talented advocate and a true expert in public international law."

"Kate is an absolutely first-rate legal thinker. She will know a case inside out. When you have her on a team, you know that you can fight a case with an extra gear."

"She is an unwavering and efficient advocate in hearings, a very effective cross-examiner and always on top of all procedural aspects of the case. You intuitively feel safe with her on your side."

"Kate blows away the courtroom with her excellent, clear, persuasive submissions."

Formerly a practising solicitor in New Zealand, Penelope Nevill advises on all aspects of PIL law. She regularly lectures on the topic at Cambridge University and King's College London, and attacks a wide variety of leading cases including heavy investor-state arbitration and work examining the jurisdiction of sovereign states in relation to foreign nationals.

"Penelope is superb. She is hard-working, friendly and clear."

"Penelope speaks with authority and confidence, which makes it easier to trust her knowledge and judgement."

"Penelope provides pragmatic, commercial advice built on the foundations of excellent experience. She is accessible and able to deliver her advice in front of solicitors and clients alike."

"Penelope is phenomenal on matters of public international law. She's a very safe pair of hands and a great advocate in court, even in the most complex of cases."

Simon Olleson has a strong academic background in PIL and a keen interest in the law of state responsibility. He has recently advised on the PIL angles of environmental disputes and shown himself to be an expert in maritime delimitation cases and BIT arbitration. He has acted in ICJ, PCA, ICSID and ad hoc arbitration proceedings.

"Simon has serious legal horsepower. He is a silk in waiting and a consummate modern counsel. His drafting and advocacy is stylish."

"Simon is a very knowledgeable public international lawyer."

Belinda McRae possesses superb expertise spanning BIT arbitration, inter-state disputes and domestic litigation with international law elements. She has appeared in important cases on diplomatic immunity, the compatibility of BITs with EU law and other issues.

"Belinda has very shrewd judgement beyond her year of call. She's also the ultimate team player. She will roll her sleeves up and get the job done."

"Belinda is one of the pre-eminent juniors in PIL."

"Belinda is an extremely intelligent and skilled advocate. She is able to get across complex matters with impressive speed. She's an asset to any counsel team."

Lord Verdirame is active in a broad spectrum of PIL work, tackling cases dealing with international human rights, BITs and inter-state disputes. He is a noted academic in this area, and has appeared before UK courts and various international arbitration tribunals including the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

"Guglielmo is stellar. He's very sophisticated in his understanding of international law issues, a compelling advocate, and someone whose knowledge and expertise are obvious and evident."

"Guglielmo is extremely able and polished. He's extremely well liked by solicitors and clients. We trust him to deliver pithy, razor-sharp advice. He hits the nail on the head every time."

"Lord Verdirame KC represents an unbelievable combination of a brilliant legal mind, experience and a complete grasp of factual detail of the case. You want him to be your lead barrister in a hearing."

"Lord Verdirame has a real talent for reducing complex concepts to digestible submissions that judges will listen to."

"Guglielmo is super clever, measured and thoughtful in his approach and a persuasive and elegant advocate."

Monica Feria-Tinta focuses her practice on all aspects of PIL, having appeared before the full range of international courts and tribunals. In recent years she has acted in high-profile cases concerning international human rights, diplomatic immunity and bilateral investment treaty disputes.

"Monica is amazingly talented and very detailed. She isn't afraid to get into the weeds and find the elusive knockout points."

"Monica is very responsive and very strong on subject matter expertise. She exceeded our expectations."

Paolo Busco has a broad PIL practice and has significant experience in negotiations, international arbitrations and major UNCLOS disputes. He is favoured as counsel by the Government of the United Arab Emirates. He is qualified as an avvocato in Italy.

"Paolo is an extremely user-friendly barrister. He's collaborative, very thorough and quite creative in thinking about solutions to problems."

"Paolo is really impressive. He really knows the law and straddles that with deep understanding of international relations and diplomacy."

Sudhanshu Swaroop KC is commended for his high-profile international law practice. He receives praise for his recent performance in landmark climate change cases, where he acted as lead counsel to the UK, in addition to other significant pieces of international state-led litigation. Other areas of expertise include shipping, commercial law, international arbitration and state immunity.

"Sudhanshu Swaroop KC has extremely in-depth knowledge on matters of PIL."

"Sudhanshu is substantively excellent and always a pleasure to work with."

"What I really love about working with Sudhanshu is his attention to detail and his precision, concision and elegant oral statements."

"Sudhanshu is incredibly tenacious and really takes the bull by the horns.I've been very impressed by how he picks up the fight."

Wendy Miles KC is a strong commercial public international lawyer who concentrates her practice on international arbitration, including BIT disputes. She represents claimant investors and other clients, and is in demand to act as both counsel and arbitrator.

"Wendy has a real expertise in international arbitration and is an authoritative figure in the field."

"Wendy is realistic but has really interesting and innovative perception. She will always look for a really smart solution to get things done."