Michael is a senior silk at Twenty Essex Chambers with a broad commercial practice, specialising in high value and complex (often highly technical) commercial contractual disputes. He relishes cases that involve mastery of complicated expert evidence.

Michael’s recent work has focused heavily on energy and natural resources disputes, covering construction, exploitation, sale, insurance, joint venture and shareholder disputes. He recently led a large team in a multi-billion dollar dispute relating to Zambian copper mines. He regularly acts in construction disputes relating to offshore vessels and structures, powerplants and other on-shore complexes. He has excellent experience of very high-value oil and gas supply disputes, including gas pricing arbitrations. He remains a ‘go to name’ for the biggest and most difficult shipping and commodities disputes. He has been instructed regularly in insurance disputes, which he particularly enjoys, including marine, war risks, contractor’s all risks, liability and defence costs disputes. 

Michael appears regularly in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court. He also has a wide range of experience of cases before, and on appeal from, arbitration tribunals in various jurisdictions (including Singapore, mainland China, Dubai, France, Hong Kong, Sweden, Malaysia, Paris and New York) and he has been admitted to the Bar of St Kitts and Nevis (on an ad hoc basis).

He was awarded the prestigious “International Arbitration Silk of the Year” by Chambers & Partners in 2016 and also won Chambers & Partners “Shipping Silk of the Year” in 2019.  Most recently, he completed a hat-trick by winning the The Legal 500 “Shipping, Commodities and Aviation Silk of the Year” for 2023.

Over recent years, he has been ranked as a leading silk by Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 in the following practice areas: shipping, commodities, insurance, commercial litigation, construction, energy, civil fraud and international arbitration.

Michael prides himself as a team player and has led large teams of counsel in significant cases; he enjoys working together with clients, instructing solicitors and expert witnesses with a view to formulating the best possible case strategy and maximizing prospects of success; he works frequently as co-counsel with lawyers qualified in other jurisdictions. Michael also has significant experience of mediation.

Michael accepts appointments as an arbitrator both in London and abroad. He is a member of the MOOGAS panel of international arbitrators and mediators. Michael also acts as an expert on English law in foreign proceedings.