3-4 South Square is a set of barristers' chambers in Gray's Inn, London
with 43 members including 17 Queen's Counsel in full time practice. The
work undertaken at 3-4 South Square focuses on many aspects of commercial
and business law in national and international contexts. Clients to Chambers
include solicitors, overseas lawyers and corporations, in-house counsel
and those organisations approved by the General Council of the Bar of
England and Wales to instruct barristers directly.
Affiliated to 3-4 South Square are Associate Members, which includes eminent
lawyers practising in other jurisdictions in the world. Associate Members
are able to offer their legal expertise to clients including a detailed
knowledge and understanding of their local law. The nature of the work
undertaken at 3-4 South Square frequently involves disputes originating
from outside the United Kingdom. It is for this reason that Chambers recognises
the importance of Associate Members in other countries who can be called
upon or referred to when the need arises.
Associate Members have experience as Arbitrators or Mediators in leading
arbitration centres including London, Paris, Geneva, Stockholm, Berlin, Hong Kong,
Tokyo, Singapore, New York and Johannesburg. The arbitrations have been
heard under ad hoc submissions and under the auspices of domestic and
international arbitral institutions such as:
International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC)
London Court of International Arbitration
(LCIA)
UNCITRAL Rules of the United Nations
In addition to their availability to sit as Arbitrators or Mediators,
Associate Members can be instructed independently or in conjunction with
other Members of Chambers to provide advisory, drafting and advocacy work
in commercial and business law contexts.
Our current Academic Associate Member in England is William Swadling who is available to advise on all aspects of Trusts, Property and Restitution.
The associate members are:
Clive Cohen SC - South Africa
Barry Mortimer QC - Hong Kong and
United Kingdom
Seenath Jairam
SC - Trinidad and Tobago
John C Sheahan SC - Australia
Sandra Bristoll - United Kingdom
Roxanne Ismail - Hong Kong
Ronald DeKoven - United States of
America
Colin Bamford - United Kingdom
Professor Peter Ellinger - Singapore
Volker Heinz - Germany and United
Kingdom
Uwe Kärgel - Germany
William Swadling - United Kingdom
Short biographies of the Associate Members are set out below. For more
information, please contact the Senior Practice Manager, Paul Cooklin,
who will be happy to assist you with your enquiry.
Clive Cohen SC
BA LLB (Wits) 1959
Clive Cohen has been a member of the South African Society of Advocates
since 1960 and was made SC in 1975. He was called to the Bar of England
and Wales in 1989. He has been an acting Judge of the High Court of South
Africa on various occasions and sits regularly as an Arbitrator to determine
commercial disputes. He is Chairman of the Commercial Arbitration Panel
of the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa (AFSA). As advocate, his
commercial litigation practice (including arbitrations) has resulted in
appearances before the courts and tribunals in South Africa, Namibia,
Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, England and Israel.
Languages : English and Afrikaans
Barry Mortimer GBS., QC
MA (Cantab)
Barry Mortimer was called to the English Bar in 1956 and was appointed
Queen's Counsel in 1971. He was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court
of Hong Kong in 1985 and a Justice of Appeal in 1993. He retired as Vice
President of the Court of Appeal in August 1999 but continues to serve
as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong, an
appointment he has held since 1997. He sits as an Arbitrator and Mediator
in domestic and international business and commercial law disputes. In
Hong Kong, he is on the panel of the International Arbitration Centre
and is a member of its Mediation group. In 2001, he was appointed to Chair
the Environmental Impact Assessment Appeal Tribunal to hear its first
appeal concerning a HK$10 billion proposed new railway crossing into Mainland
China.
In 1994 he was made an Honorary Diplomate of the American Board of Trial
Advocates for services to the Board and in 1999 he was awarded the Gold
Bauhinia Star for services to the Hong Kong Judiciary.
Barry Mortimer is a Director of the City Disputes Panel in London, a
mediation and arbitration provider for the wholesale financial market.
Languages : English and basic French.
Seenath Jairam, S.C., LL.M.
Seenath Jairam was called to the Trinidad and Tobago Bar in 1977 but worked
in private enterprise, mainly in employment/labour law until 1982.
Thereafter, he entered private practice. He has held various positions over
the years, such as a Director of the Public Transport Corporation,
Vice-Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Racing Authority, Member of the
Medical Panel (to certify foreign doctors as being eligible to practise in
Trinidad and Tobago), Associate Tutor of the Hugh Wooding Law School,
Law Commissioner from 1998 to present and served with distinction as a
High Court Judge for six months in 1997 - appeals from his judgments were
upheld by the Court of Appeal.
In 1998 he was appointed SC. He was called to the Bars of Guyana, Grenada, St.
Vincent and St. Lucia and has appeared in the High Court and Court of Appeal in
those countries, except Guyana. He has also appeared before the Privy Council.
He has done several arbitration matters and numerous complicated commercial cases
including tax appeals, banking, company and insurance cases. He is considered
one of the foremost advocates in employment law/industrial relations in
Trinidad and Tobago. He has also done several public law cases
(judicial review and constitutional law matters).
Language: English.
John Sheahan SC - Sydney, Australia BA, LL B (Hons) (UQ)
John Sheahan was admitted to the bar in 1984 and took silk in 1997. His practice is focussed on banking, corporate and trade practices (competition) matters. He is entitled to appear in all Australian jurisdictions.
His recent engagements have included being retained as counsel for Westpac Banking Corporation in respect of matters arising out of the collapse of the HIH Insurance Group, as counsel assisting the Special Commission of Inquiry into a certain corporate restructures by James Hardie Industries (the inquiry resulted in an agreement by James Hardie to make up a shortfall in funds, estimated at $1.5 billion to meet claims against former subsidiaries) and as counsel for Seven Network Ltd in its suit against News Ltd, Telstra Corporation Ltd and other parties in relation to monopolisation and anti-competitive conduct in the pay television industry.
He is the president of the Public Interest Law Clearing House, a pioneering pro bono referral service in Sydney, and a General Committee member of the Banking and Financial Services Law Association, and a member of its research prize and conference organising committees.
Sandra Bristoll
Call 1989
Downing College, Cambridge – MA Hons (Cantab)
Harmsworth Law scholar of Middle Temple
Sandra was a member of 3-4 South Square from 1990 to June 2004 and then relocated
for family reasons and joined St Philips Chambers in Birmingham.
Sandra is listed in Legal Experts 2004 as an expert in the field of insolvency
and corporate reconstruction. Her corporate insolvency work includes large numbers of
administrations, receiverships, provisional liquidations and liquidations, acting for
insolvency practitioners and directors and creditors in cases such as Re Atlantic
Computer Systems, Polly Peck International plc and Barings plc.
She has also advised on and conducted litigation in relation to personal insolvency
matters, in particular pension issues, and directors’ disqualification proceedings, both
for the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whilst Junior Counsel to the Crown
(B panel between 1994 & 2000) and now for individual directors. She also has a wealth of
experience in relation to schemes of arrangement under section 425 of the Companies Act 1985,
having appeared in Re Hawk Insurance Co Ltd.
Sandra has advised on and conducted commercial litigation mainly in the Chancery courts,
with her commercial work frequently arising in the context of insolvency. She has substantial
experience in a range of commercial litigation work, including contractual, banking and
insurance law disputes and cases arising from professional negligence claims.
She is a CEDR accredited mediator and has acted as an advocate in mediations.
Email: sbristoll@st-philips.co.uk
Ronald DeKoven
Ronald DeKoven has joined Chambers as an Associate Member from where
he focuses his practice on international insolvency, reconstruction and
finance. Mr DeKoven is admitted to practice law in New York and Illinois
and is recognised as an expert in international insolvency, reconstruction
and leasing. He is also an approved mediator in the US District Court,
S.D.N.Y., Bankruptcy Division.
In recent years, Mr. DeKoven has worked closely with Members of Chambers
in substantial litigation including BCCI, Barings and Olympia & York.
He has acted for the US Department of State and the United Nations in
matters of private international and domestic law and was the principal
reporter of Article 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code. Recently he has been appointed by UNIDROIT as the reporter of a Model Law of Leasing.
Mr. DeKoven retired in January 2000 as a partner in Shearman & Sterling;
there he led the leasing practice and the bankruptcy practice. He is now of counsel at Jenner & Block.
Mr DeKoven's pro bono activities include acting as trustee for the American
Cancer Society Foundation and as member of the Development Council to the
Oxford University Law Foundation.
Mr DeKoven received his B.A. from Stanford University and his J.D. from
the University of Chicago School of Law.
Professor Peter Ellinger
D. Phil (Oxon)
M.Jur (Jerusalem)
Peter Ellinger is a specialist in domestic and international banking
law with a particular emphasis on international trade law including the
law of letters of credit. In these contexts, he has advised and drafted
documentation relating to the laws of Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Australia, Hong Kong, England, Austria and Germany. He has great experience
as an expert witness in matters of international banking law and practice
especially in cases pertaining to documentary letters of credit. He is
the author of "Documentary Letters of Credit - A Comparative Study"
which compares the laws of England, America, France and Germany.
In 1999, Peter Ellinger qualified as an Advocate and Solicitor in Singapore
where he is a Consultant with the local law firm of Rajah & Tann. Since
1993, he has held the position of Accredited Arbitrator at the Singapore
Arbitration Centre and has submitted expert witness reports in international
arbitrations and cases heard by courts in both common law and civil law
jurisdictions. He has also appeared as expert witness before courts in
Australia, the United Kingdom (London), Hong Kong and Singapore. In 1998,
he delivered an Award in a substantial franchising dispute involving parties
from the Philippines and Malaysia.
Languages : English, Hebrew and basic German.
Volker Heinz
University Law Schools of Heidelberg, Berlin and Bonn
Diploma in Law, The City University
Rechtsanwalt (1973) and Notar (1983), Berlin
Barrister (1989) and Notary Public (2001), London
Volker Heinz specialises in German, English and international litigation,
arbitration and mediation and international notarial transactions. He
is a member of the German Arbitral Institution's (DIS) Executive Board
and of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators. He is also listed in the
arbitral panels of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, the London
Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the Association Suisse de
L'Arbitrage (ASA).
He has also acted as a German law expert witness in commercial disputes
before a number of courts outside Germany.
Volker Heinz is president of the German-Australian Lawyers' Association
and regional chairman (Berlin-Brandenburg) and Vice-President of the British
Chamber of Commerce in Germany. He is currently a partner in the law firm
Heinz Legal Services.
Languages: English, German, French, basic Spanish and basic Russian.
Uwe Kärgel
University law schools of Münster, Innsbruck ( Austria ) Cologne/Bonn
Admitted to the Berlin Bar 1971 ( Rechtsanwalt ) and 1981 Notar in Berlin
Uwe Kärgel specialises in corporate law, real estate law and as defence
lawyer in white collar criminal cases mainly arrising out of business failures and insolvency.
Specialist in professional regulatory law.
1982 - 2003 he was member of the Board of the Berlin Bar Association ( Berliner Anwaltsverein BAV)
1987 - 1989 Vice Chairman
1989 - 2003 Chairman
2003 - elevated to life time Honorary Chairman of the Berliner Anwaltsverein
1990 - 1999 member of the board of the German Bar Association ( DAV )
1995 - 1999 Vice President DAV
1997 - 1999 Vice President and Treasurer
Uwe Kärgel is co-autor of a commentasir to the Constitution of Berlin
He also is co- editor of the Collection of Laws of the State of Berlin
Uwe Kärgel founded the International Lawyers Conference of the incoming EU- States which meets on an
annual basis in Berlin
Uwe Kärgel is a member of BAV, IBA, UEA ( honorary ) UIA
Uwe Kärgel is Senior Managing Partner in a medium sized German Law Firm which forms a
multidisciplinary partnership of lawyers, tax consultants and notary in cooperation with a CPA Company.
Languages : English, basic French, better Spanish, basic Italian.
William Swadling - England MA (Oxon), LLM (Lond)
William Swadling is Fellow and Tutor in Law at Brasenose College and a Lecturer in Law at the University of Oxford, where he teaches Trusts, Land Law, Personal Property, and Restitution. He has published a number of articles and chapters on these topics, including “A New Role for Resulting Trusts” (1996) 16 Legal Studies 133, which received the approval of the House of Lords in Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale v Islington LBC [1996] AC 669, and ‘The Proprietary Effect of a Lease of Goods’ (in Palmer & McKendrick (eds), Interests in Goods (2nd ed, 1998).
He is a contributor to Halsbury's Laws of England (4th ed, reissue), co-editor of Trust Law International and a founding editor of The Restitution Law Review. He has held visiting appointments at the National University of Singapore, Seoul National University, and the University of Florida. He is chair of the Trusts Teaching Group in Oxford and a member of the Trust Law Committee, a group of leading academics and practitioners dedicated to researching weaknesses of Trust Law in England and Wales and ways of improving it, chaired by Sir John Vinelott.
William Swadling is available to advise on all aspects of Trusts, Property, and Restitution.