Twenty Essex just shuffled its top seat, and David Lewis KC is stepping up as co-head with Philip Edey KC. Lewis takes over from Charles Kimmins KC, who wrapped a four-year run, and the new guy brings heavy-hitting chops in shipping, energy, commodities, civil fraud, and cross-border arbitration across multiple jurisdictions.
He's got bar registrations spanning the BVI, Singapore's commercial court, and Dubai's finance courts, which is a pretty absurd geographic spread for one barrister. Edey's been holding down the co-head gig since 2022 with a practice leaning into banking, insurance, and gnarly conflict-of-laws questions.
Under Kimmins, the set added 10 fresh silks and beefed up the Singapore office and arbitrator roster with names like former ICJ president Joan Donoghue and Audley Sheppard, who walked away from nearly four decades at Clifford Chance to go full-time arbitrator. The chambers also bagged two UK Supreme Court wins on vessel sale disputes and sovereign immunity questions.
He's got bar registrations spanning the BVI, Singapore's commercial court, and Dubai's finance courts, which is a pretty absurd geographic spread for one barrister. Edey's been holding down the co-head gig since 2022 with a practice leaning into banking, insurance, and gnarly conflict-of-laws questions.
Under Kimmins, the set added 10 fresh silks and beefed up the Singapore office and arbitrator roster with names like former ICJ president Joan Donoghue and Audley Sheppard, who walked away from nearly four decades at Clifford Chance to go full-time arbitrator. The chambers also bagged two UK Supreme Court wins on vessel sale disputes and sovereign immunity questions.
