Dispute Resolution: Commercial Chancery

XXIV Old Buildings is highly regarded for its expertise in complex cases arising in offshore jurisdictions, earning praise from instructing solicitors who say of its barristers: "They are very commercial and cover a good breadth of work." The set's members undertake a wide range of commercial chancery matters, and are frequently instructed in high-value commercial litigation, especially civil fraud and insolvency disputes. The team is also well versed in commercial matters involving elements of professional negligence, trusts and partnership law, drawing on the set's established strengths in these areas. Members have appeared in Ivanishvilli v CS Life, a USD1 billion claim arising from a rogue trader fraud at a Swiss bank, and Wong v Grand View, a multi-billion dollar piece of litigation in Bermuda challenging the validity of five purpose trusts.

"The clerks are extremely quick and highly responsive."

Paul Horsfield leads the clerking team.

Elspeth Talbot Rice KC "An incredibly impressive character, who is formidable in terms of her oral advocacy and someone who instils fear in her opponents. She is a no nonsense silk with great gravitas, who is one of the biggest names in the trust world." "Clear and unequivocal in her advice, she slots in with any team she's on very well." "She gives it everything and presents incredibly well in court."

Andrew Holden "A very clever guy with excellent judgement." "A very bright, lovely guy, who really knows the law."

Edward Cumming KC "Very clever and savvy in how he approaches his cases, he's always looking for alternative avenues to go down." "Very bright and commercial, he has a fantastic client manner and a great breadth of activity." "Very user-friendly, he involves himself in all aspects of a case, and is just such a nice person to work with."

Daniel Warents "He's really energetic and drives his cases forward impressively."

Francis Tregear KC "The most user friendly advocate you could ever wish to meet, he delights clients." "A fount of knowledge."

Hugh Miall "Very effective on his feet and really good on paper." "He's a very bright chap, who's a tenacious and aggressive litigator. He has an impressive future ahead of him."

Stephen Moverley Smith KC "He was consistently cool under pressure, resolute and strong. I was impressed by his intellectual consistency and stamina." "Stephen is fantastic to deal with - he's bright, incredibly personable and very persuasive." "An excellent barrister and advocate, who represents a good all round package if you've got a complicated offshore case. You know you're in safe hands."

Bajul Shah "Utterly reliable, he's a good, common sense drafter, who's really good with difficult clients." "A lovely person and a very, very clever advocate with a very effective style. He's very good at gently manoeuvring the judge to his way of thinking." "A very able lawyer, who is always very calm, methodical and thorough."

David Brownbill KC "A very well respected senior practitioner, who adopts a highly commercial approach and is good on trusts cases with highly technical aspects to them."

Marcus Staff "A calm and collected individual, but also someone with an incredibly steely side to him. He gets so on top of the detail of a case that he truly knows it inside and out." "An unflappable character."

Stuart Adair "Excellent on his feet, especially in terms of cross-examination, he's a very powerful and articulate advocate, who has a real way of getting the court on side. Always immaculately prepared and able to identify issues others have missed, he's an absolute gentleman, who is really easy to work with."

Tim Sherwin "An excellent junior, who is very bright."

Adam Cloherty KC "A very good advocate, who is very bright and has a stellar career ahead of him." "A real up and coming star in the field - he'll do very well as a KC. He's a good advocate, who's very thorough and easy to work with." "Really excellent and definitely a barrister for the more difficult cases"