01/10/2024

Karen Petch becomes a member of Twenty Essex

We are pleased to announce that Karen Petch has this week joined Twenty Essex.

Karen specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration, company and insolvency law, banking and fraud. She is frequently briefed in cases involving cross-border financial structures and at the intersection between company and commercial litigation. The Legal 500 Australian Bar guide notes that Karen is “often the first choice as a commercial junior in large cases”.

Karen will be based in the UK from mid-October, where she will bring her expertise and experience as a barrister in the Asia-Pacific region to a growing international practice, based in London.

Karen was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 2017, and since 2022 has been registered as a foreign lawyer in the Singapore International Commercial Court. In 2022 she was recognised as a leading young insolvency and restructuring specialist in Global Restructuring Review’s 40-under-40 list, and in 2021 was named ADR Practitioner of the Year at the Australian ADR Awards. Karen is a member of the ACICA legislation committee, and the Australian Bar Association’s international committee.

Prior to coming to the bar, Karen was a solicitor at Allen & Overy LLP in London and New York.  She has been admitted to the roll of solicitors in England and Wales since 2014 and in Australia since 2010.

In a joint message, Philip Edey KC and Charles Kimmins KC, co-heads of chambers, commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Karen as a new member of Twenty Essex, and an outstanding addition to chambers’ commercial litigation practice. Karen provides yet another strong connection with the Asia-Pacific region, via Sydney and Singapore, and we are pleased to continue to bolster our team of barristers and advocates with experience and expert knowledge of international disputes. We wish Karen all the very best as she establishes her practice out of our London base.”

Karen Petch added:

“Twenty Essex was the obvious choice for me as I embark on an international practice based in London. It is a set that is at the top of the market in all of the areas that are at the heart of my work: commercial litigation, insolvency and company law, fraud and asset-tracing, and international commercial arbitration. I am excited to bring my own expertise to this extraordinary group of fellow practitioners.”

Contact the practice management team to find out more.