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Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our Head of Business Development for Asia Pacific, Katie-Beth Jones, and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our practice management team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquires@20essex.uk
t: +44 20 8133 3810

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

enquires@20essex.uk
t: +45 36988379

Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our Head of Business Development for Asia Pacific, Katie-Beth Jones, and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our practice management team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquires@20essex.uk
t: +44 20 8133 3810

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

enquires@20essex.uk
t: +45 36988379

Philip Edey KC

Philip Edey KC

Silk: 2009 Call: 1994

Languages: French (conversational)

Philip is co-Head of Chambers. He is a specialist lead advocate whose practice focuses on commercial disputes both in court and arbitration.

He is ranked in the leading directories for civil fraud, commercial dispute resolution, banking and finance, international arbitration, insurance, shipping, and commodities. He has considerable experience in relation to freezing injunctions. Philip is also particularly noted for his cross-examination skills.

Philip’s current and recent cases include acting for one of the defendants to the claim brought by the Kuwaiti Public Institution for Social Security to recover over US$800 million alleged to have been paid in bribes to its former Director General; for an Indian bank defending fraud claims brought against it both in England and ADGM for over US$5 billion; for a prominent high-net-worth individual in relation to fraud claims for around US$500 million brought against him and others by two banks; and for Dechert and the individual defendants sued by two prisoners in Ras Al Khaimah who allege that the defendants are responsible for their alleged mistreatment. He also recently acted for certain policyholders in the test case brought by the FCA against insurers who denied that their business interruption cover protected the policyholders against the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of Philip’s work has a strong international element, with his clients coming from all around the world. The cases on which he is instructed often raise complex jurisdictional and conflict of laws issues, including the interplay between proceedings in court and arbitration, and claims under foreign law (including, recently, of various Arab countries, New York, Ukraine and Russia).

He has acted as lead counsel before the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of England and Wales, as well as in many arbitrations seated both in England and overseas. Philip also accepts appointments as arbitrator.

 

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Example cases

Commercial dispute resolution

Arbitration

Banking

Civil fraud

Energy and natural resources

Insurance and reinsurance

Commodities

Shipping

Private international law

Philip is a top-notch silk, one of the best in his field. He has gravitas and charm as well as deep legal knowledge that is second-to-none. He exercises great judgement and has consummate client skills. He has a magic touch in court and is very strong on paper as well as orally, where the court listens to what he says. Superb.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2024

Philip Edey is very smooth, absolutely masterful. An amazingly attractive advocate.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

Philip is quick on his feet and a confident performer.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2024

Clever and has the ear of the tribunal - he has great depth of experience.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2024

Philip is a fantastic advocate, who is extremely client friendly and a total pleasure to work with.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

Philip is an excellent senior silk, who is clever, decisive and has an excellent court manner. He is also a very good team leader.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2024

Probably the best there is. Reasoned, logical and slick.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2024

He is outstanding: very switched on and strong on complex jurisdictional issues.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

He is one of the smoothest advocates at the Bar and very, very hard-working.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

Philip is extremely diligent, client-friendly and has an excellent manner with the court.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

Philip Edey is a very charming and persuasive advocate. His advocacy is his particular strength. Philip is delightful to work with and is a great team player.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

He is one of the best in the field.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

Philip does a lot of high-profile work and is extremely good.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

Philip is a very experienced performer, a tough opponent and a good barrister.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

He is an amazing silk and absolutely top-draw.

Chambers UK Bar 2024

A clever and authoritative advocate who Tribunals respect.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023

Philip is quite simply a superb advocate. His manner is calm and measured while at the same time dynamic and intensely analytical. Outside court he is an excellent tactician who is not afraid of the detail, and has a very good client manner. He is one of the leading lights of the commercial Bar.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023

An incredibly good trial advocate, who is very effective at cross-examination. Good at both trial and appellate work, he absorbs information like a sponge and is a very persuasive advocate.

Chambers UK Bar 2023

Philip is a formidable lawyer and arguably the best advocate of his generation. He always over prepares, is client friendly and is always available to listen and discuss.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023

Philip is an all-round go-to silk.

Chambers UK Bar 2023

A clever and forceful advocate.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023

An incredibly good trial advocate, who is very effective at cross-examination.

Chambers UK Bar 2022

He is a cut above his peers and very easy to work with.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022

Excellent on his feet, a quick thinker, and instinctively reads the courtroom and judges very well. He has been against the most experienced heavyweights at the Bar, is never intimidated, and is exceedingly clever.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022

He is totally on top of everything and he exudes confidence and charm.

Chambers UK Bar 2022

He is a fierce advocate, a fantastic team player with no airs and graces, and a first choice for the most complex disputes.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022

Philip is extraordinary in terms of getting all the aspects of the case. He is very proactive and really quite brilliant in his analysis of cases.

Chambers UK Bar 2022

He has the quickest brain, is very user-friendly and is a top advocate.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022

Philip is very skilled in thinking outside the box and finding creative legal arguments that succeed.

Chambers UK Bar 2022

He is client-friendly, a brilliant strategist and without a doubt one of the most distinguished commercial barristers in London.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022

A fierce advocate and a fantastic team player, he is a quick thinker and instinctively reads the courtroom very well.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022

The complete package as an advocate. He untangles complicated issues and gives straightforward advice.

Chambers UK Bar 2021

He is tenacious in Court and an exceptional advocate.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2021

He's a fantastic barrister with a very sharp mind and very good with clients.

Chambers UK Bar 2021

He has the ear of the court and a commanding presence.

Chambers UK Bar 2021

Conscientious and hardworking, he is also a joy to work with.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2021

He is very hands-on, analytically sharp and leaves no stone unturned.

Chambers UK Bar 2021

A very approachable counsel.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2021

He has a razor-sharp intellect.

Chambers UK Bar 2021

Absolutely fantastic. He is extremely tactical, a fierce advocate, sharp, efficient and responsive.

Chambers UK Bar 2021

A highly capable counsel who is easy to work with and highly knowledgeable.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2021

A fiercely intelligent silk.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020

Fearless.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

He is exceptional and very approachable.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020

A good man to have on side in a legally difficult case. He's very willing to work as part of a team and always brings added intellectual weight.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

A top-notch advocate.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020

A man of remarkable intellect who offers exceptional client service.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

Absolutely superb.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020

An amazing advocate at trial.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

Hugely popular for international arbitration.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020

Absolutely brilliant and completely committed.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

He has a razor-sharp intellect.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

Phenomenal cross-examiner.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

Extremely articulate and poised in his advocacy, and someone who always has interesting perspectives on a case.

Chambers UK Bar 2019

Polished, calm and effective.

Chambers UK Bar 2019

A real star as a leader and an intellectual heavyweight who is recommended for difficult cases.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2018

He has an absolutely first-rate intellect and is a brilliant advocate.

The Legal 500 2018

He's a hardcore litigator with an absolutely first-rate intellect, who’s a great cross-examiner.

Chambers UK Bar 2018

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