Edward – “a superstar in the making“, who was one of the youngest-ever QCs upon his appointment in February 2018 – specialises in most areas of chancery and commercial work as part of his busy practice.
Described as “the perfect modern barrister” and “just one of the best around” in the latest legal directories, Edward is recommended as a ‘Leading Silk’ in nine categories in Chambers and Partners (2022) which ranks him for commercial chancery, traditional chancery, charities, and offshore disputes as well as for commercial litigation, civil fraud claims, banking & finance, company law and art and cultural property law. Having long been recognised as “a lion in court,” Edward is said, in its latest edition, to be “delightful and brilliant – he’s just relentlessly good and relentlessly charming“, “a strong advocate, quick on his feet, very thorough, very bright and a pleasure to work with“, and “a tenacious silk who is very eloquent and meticulous on detail“. “Imaginative and super bright“, he is “very good at mastering the facts and the law“, “gets to grips with things easily… and really fights your corner“. At the 2020 UK Bar Awards, he was one of three QCs shortlisted for the accolade of ‘Chancery Silk of the Year’.
Legal 500 ranks him as a ‘Leading Silk’ in five categories, observing that he is “highly intelligent, quick to pick up the core points including points missed by others” and offers “huge amounts of energy, and an appetite to get involved in the detail of the matter“. Combining “humour, hard work, stamina and a very large brain – nothing phases him“.
Solicitors praise him as “a formidable advocate and masterful in designing strategies“, as well as a “great team player who combines intellect with great enthusiasm“. Edward is “the antithesis of an inaccessible advisor in an ivory tower“, and “so bright, you get the feeling that there isn’t anything that he doesn’t know“. He “particularly stands out for his ability to relay advice in a client-friendly way” (while he is also “not afraid to make his views very clear to difficult clients“) and he couples this with “a fearlessness that makes him fight hard for his clients“.
Edward read Law at Downing College, Cambridge where he was President of the Cambridge Union. After leaving Cambridge he was a Thouron Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, studying at both the Law School and Wharton Business School. He then became director of a group of engineering and property management companies, acquiring a practical understanding of the commercial realities of business and, in particular, company law, before completing pupillage at XXIV Old Buildings.
Highlights of his recent work include:
- Advinia Care Homes Limited v Bupa Care Homes Investments (Holdings) Limited & others [2020] EWHC 1563, (Ch), [2020] EWHC 3607 (Ch), [2018] EWHC 2963 (Ch): Edward represented Bupa, the well-known not-for-profit international healthcare group, throughout this multi-million pound commercial dispute arising from the takeover of various care homes by another healthcare provider that culminated at a three-week trial in early 2021.
- Sir Frank Bowling OBE RA v Hales Gallery (ongoing): Edward acts for one of Britain’s finest living artists in his high-profile claim against his former gallery for the payment to him of the proceeds from sales of his artwork, and the delivery up of other artworks that the gallery refused to return.
- Lehtimaki v Cooper & others; The Children’s Investment Foundation Fund (UK) v HM Attorney General & others [2020] UKSC 33: Edward appeared in the Supreme Court for the successful appellant (the well-known philanthropist, Jamie Cooper) in this hard-fought dispute. The Supreme Court’s decision is the leading authority on the extent of the court’s inherent jurisdiction to supervise the administration of charities, and the duties of members of a company limited by guarantee.
- WX v HX & others [2021] EWHC 241: Edward successfully defended the interests of the beneficiaries of substantial Barbadian trusts in ancillary relief proceedings arising from their parents’ divorce in which their mother had sought relief treating trust assets as matrimonial assets.
- St John’s Trust Company (PVT) Ltd v Watlington and others [2020] SC (Bda) 51 Civ and (ongoing): Edward acted for the successful applicants in this bitter dispute arising from a battle for control of a company that acted as trustee of a Bermudian trust holding assets worth billions of dollars. He has also represented the same parties in separate ongoing trust proceedings and in relation to potential claims arising from what is alleged to have been the largest-ever US tax fraud.
- Yukos International UK BV and others v Merinson [2019] EWCA Civ 830 (Comm): Edward acted for Mr Merinson in relation to this claim – said to be an unjust and improper attempt to punish him for trying to “blow the whistle” regarding wrongdoing by those in charge of the Yukos Group – in which Mr Merinson was alleged to have received “kickbacks” amounting to millions of pounds from financial institutions with which he negotiated the Yukos Group’s banking arrangements. The Court of Appeal’s decision on Mr Merinson’s jurisdiction challenge provides the only judicial consideration to date of the meaning of the phrase “after the dispute has arisen” in article 23(1) of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012, the Brussels I Regulation (Recast).
- In the matter of Z [2019] EWCOP 55, and [2018] EWHC 1488 (Ch): Edward appeared on behalf of the brother of a successful businessman (Z) in complex and substantial proceedings in the Court of Protection concerning Z’s capacity to manage his property and affairs, the validity of various powers of attorney (and whether they had been validly revoked), who should manage Z’s property and affairs, and questions regarding Z’s contact with his wider family.
- Wood v Sureterm Direct Ltd & Capita Insurance Services Ltd [2017] AC 1173: Edward appeared as sole counsel in the Supreme Court, before Lord Neuberger, Lord Mance, Lord Clarke, Lord Sumption and Lord Hodge, in what is now the leading authority on the proper approach to the interpretation of contracts, having acted throughout on behalf of Capita in the underlying multi-million pound dispute that arose from Capita’s takeover of a leading specialist insurance broker.
- In the matter of the X Trusts [2018] SC (Bda) 56 Civ and (ongoing): Edward appeared in the Supreme Court of Bermuda on behalf of trustees of a trust structure (said to be worth in the region of £5 billion) in a – failed – attempt by a group of beneficiaries to remove the trustees (or their directors).
- Libyan Investment Authority v Société Générale SA & others [2017] EWHC 390 (Comm), [2015] EWHC 550 (Comm) and (ongoing): Edward, led by Mark Howard QC, Roger Masefield QC, Craig Orr QC and Andrew George QC, also acts for the LIA as lead junior on its claim to set aside various derivative investments of around US$2.1 billion made during the Gaddafi era and said to have been procured by a fraudulent and corrupt scheme. The case has been chosen by The Lawyer as one of the top 20 cases of 2017.
- Viscount Weymouth v Parry & others (2015-2016): Edward, initially as sole counsel and subsequently led by Alan Steinfeld QC, acted on behalf of Viscount Weymouth in his claim to remove one of the trustees of the trusts of the famous Longleat Estate.
- Libyan Investment Authority v Goldman Sachs International [2016] EWHC 2530 (Ch) and [2014] EWHC 3364 (Ch): Edward, led by Roger Masefield QC and Philip Edey QC, acted for the LIA in relation to its claim that, during the Gaddafi era, Goldman Sachs procured the LIA to enter into derivative investments of around US$1.2 billion by undue influence and/or that the investments were unconscionable bargains. The case – which was heard at a two-month trial in the Chancery Division in mid-2016 – was chosen by The Lawyer as one of the top 20 cases of 2016.
- Crociani and others v Crociani and others (2015) 17 ITELR 624, [2014] UKPC 40, [2014] All ER (D) 287 (Nov), [2014] JCA 095, and [2014] JCA 089: major trust litigation in both Jersey and Mauritius, involving claims for more than US$100 million for alleged breaches of trust. In October 2014 Edward appeared in the Privy Council on behalf of the former and present trustees, resulting in the leading decision on jurisdiction clauses in trust instruments, a judgment which STEP has described as “landmark” and as having “far-reaching implications for trust lawyers“.
- Fox v Hall [2015] EWCA Civ 794, [2014] All ER (D) 78, [2014] EWHC 2747 and [2014] EWCA Civ 930: Edward acted as sole counsel for the successful defendant (the son-in-law of an Oscar-winning actor). The claim concerned (a) alleged harassment said to arise from the defendant’s own earlier pursuit of harassment proceedings and a complaint to the police regarding the claimant’s attempts to recover an alleged debt, and (b) whether, in fact, any debt was owed. The final judgment, given after a week-long High Court trial, praised Edward’s “forceful and skilful cross-examination” as well as the “skill and courtesy” with which he successfully presented the defendant’s case.
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