19/11/2013

Luke Pearce: up-and-coming "Star at the Bar"

Legal Week have named Luke Pearce as one of the ten most commended young barristers who are making their mark at the Bar. He is praised by partners and silks for being “bright”, “totally unflappable” and “a pleasure to work with”.

Luke, who joined 20 Essex Street in 2010, has a broad practice covering all aspects of commercial law, with a particular emphasis on banking and derivatives, shipping, commodities, private international law and insurance/reinsurance. His recent cases include “The Alexandros T” (Supreme Court appeal concerning the operation of Articles 27 and 28 of the Brussels Regulation); Navig8 Pte Ltd v Al-Riyadh Co for Vegetable Oil Industry (decision of the Commercial Court raising important issues relating to jurisdiction, anti-suit injunctions, and the grant of declaratory relief); and Pioneer Freight Futures v Cosco Bulk Carrier (sub nom Lomas v Firth Rixson) (Court of Appeal decision concerning the construction of certain key provisions of the 1992 ISDA Master Agreement).

In the article, author Ben Rigby assesses the various challenges with face young juniors at the Bar; interviewing a number of barristers and clerks, including Brian Lee, one of the senior clerks at 20 Essex Street and Chair of the IBC (Institute of Barristers’ Clerks), who highlights the need for junior barristers to be “flexible, receptive and aware of the needs and expectations of a client”.

Stars at the Bar 2013 – the up-and-coming barristers making their mark