Leading commercial, construction and energy silk Karim Ghaly KC is joining Atkin Chambers from 39 Essex Chambers.
Ghaly specialises in the litigation and arbitration of substantial commercial disputes in the fields of construction and engineering, energy and natural resources, infrastructure, insurance, maritime projects and PPP/PFI.
He has acted as counsel, arbitrator and adjudicator in complex disputes arising out of projects in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America and the UK, in all the major arbitral tribunals.
These range from the International Chamber of Commerce to the revamped Dubai International Arbitration Centre.
He has also been a regular and respected advocate in the Technology and Construction Court, and appellate jurisdictions up to the UK Supreme Court.
Chantal-Aimée Doerries KC, a former chair of the Bar and the head of Atkin Chambers, said: “The members of Atkin Chambers are delighted to welcome Karim. Karim has an outstanding reputation in the market and his decision to practise from Atkin Chambers underscores chambers’ domestic and international standing in construction law and related fields.”
Ghaly has acted alongside – and against – many of his new set’s leading figures, including Stuart Catchpole KC, who also moved across from 39 Essex Chambers to Atkin Chambers, three years ago.
Opponents have included highly regarded silk, Anneliese Day KC of Fountain Court, and leading counsel at Keating Chambers – Atkin’s great rival.
He has been instructed by firms including Ashurst, Clyde & Co, Pinsent Masons, Mayer Brown, Clifford Chance and many others, including Fenwick Elliot.
He said: “I am excited to be starting the next chapter of my career at Atkin Chambers. Atkin is a perfect fit for my areas of practice, and I look forward to working with its stellar roster of barristers and clerks. After 22 happy years, I want to thank my friends at 39 Essex Chambers for their comradeship and support.”
While Ghaly is known and valued for his work in international arbitration, his practice has diversified from Middle Eastern work, especially Dubai, Omani and Qatari cases, where he has appeared regularly in the last decade, to include instructions in South American cases as well as arbitrations in South East Asia.
He also has a busy domestic construction and energy practice, which underpins his additional professional negligence expertise.
David Barnes, the set’s chief executive and director of clerking, also an alumnus of 39 Essex Chambers, which he left to join Atkin in 2017, added: “Karim’s expertise and repute in acting in large and complex disputes, across chambers’ areas of practice, make him an excellent addition to chambers. The clerking team and I are very much looking forward to working with him.”
Ghaly completed his pupillage at 39 Essex Chambers in 2004, taking silk in 2017. He shared advocacy and instructions alongside Paul Darling OBE KC, who died last year, in an array of significant cases.
39 Essex Chambers, which last month took on six new members who specialise in public law and related fields, was contacted for comment.
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