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Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our BD Director, Asia Pacific, Lara Quie and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our clerking team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquiries@twentyessex.com
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

singapore@twentyessex.com
t: +65 62257230

Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our BD Director, Asia Pacific, Lara Quie and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our clerking team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquiries@twentyessex.com
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

singapore@twentyessex.com
t: +65 62257230

Guglielmo Verdirame KC

Guglielmo Verdirame KC

Silk: 2019 Call: 2006

Languages: Italian (native proficiency); French and German (limited professional proficiency); Modern Hebrew (elementary proficiency)

Lord Verdirame KC specialises in public international law, international arbitration (especially investment treaty arbitration and inter-state arbitration), human rights and constitutional law. His practice covers the full range of public international law including international dispute resolution; immunities; foreign investment protection; law of the sea; territorial and maritime boundary disputes; status of territories; human rights; use of force; law of armed conflict; international organisations; sanctions; trade.

Guglielmo is much in demand as counsel in international arbitration, and he is particularly sought-after by investors and states for his expertise and experience in investment arbitration (under BITs, ECT or investment chapters of FTAs). Over a dozen of the investment treaty arbitrations in which he has been instructed as counsel are in the public domain (see list below). On the investor side of his practice recent highlights include winning a US$600 million investment claim against a European state. On the state side, they include successfully defending Ukraine from a US$6 billion Energy Charter Treaty claim, and Kenya from a US$2 billion BIT claim. He has acted in arbitral proceedings under all the main institutional rules (ICSID, ICSID- Additional Facility, PCA, UNCITRAL, ICC, SCC, LCIA, Court of Arbitration for Sport). While he works mainly as counsel, Guglielmo has also sat as arbitrator (PCA, ICC, LCIA).

Guglielmo has acted as counsel in many high-profile cases before international courts and tribunals, including before the ICJ, ITLOS, Annex VII Tribunal under UNCLOS. He was counsel for the UK in the last dispute to be brought against the UK in the International Court of Justice (Marshall Islands v UK), and for the Italian Republic in the Enrica Lexie Incident dispute before both the UN Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the arbitral tribunal in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He is currently instructed for Ukraine in the case against Russia arising from the recent conflict in the European Court of Human Rights.

Guglielmo has also been instructed in some of the highest-level litigation involving international law issues in the English courts. Before the Supreme Court, he was counsel for the government in the first Miller case on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, and for the UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights in the Shamima Begum case. He has recently acted for Princess Haya of Jordan in the widely reported proceedings between her and the Prime Minister of the UAE, which have led to very important judgments on the immunity of heads of government and on foreign act of State. He is regularly instructed, including by the Foreign Office, in cases concerning armed conflict and immunities.

Guglielmo has a very busy advisory practice for governments and multinational corporations. He is regularly instructed to advise on complex legal matters in very sensitive political, economic and diplomatic contexts. In this role, he has worked closely with the upper political and administrative echelons of a number of European, Asian and African states, as well as the top management of multinational corporations.

For many years, Guglielmo combined his professional career at the Bar with academia. He is still Professor of International Law at King’s College London, albeit only on a part-time basis. In past, he was a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge; a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford; and a Visiting Professorial Fellow at Harvard Law School and a Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School. He has published extensively in the field of public international law, and currently sits on the Advisory Board of the American Review of International Arbitration.

Lord Verdirame KC was appointed to a life peerage in October 2022. He will sit in the House of Lords as a non-affiliated member.

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Example cases

Inter-state disputes (including disputes with/between international organisations)

Investor-state arbitration

International arbitrations (other than inter-state or investor state)

Human rights/armed conflict

Sanctions

Domestic proceedings

Publications, public engagement

Sectors and services

Professional memberships

Lectures/talks (Recent)

Education

Highly knowledgeable and incredibly persuasive as an advocate.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023

An extremely bright barrister who is creative and prepared to give strong commercial advice.

Chambers UK Bar 2023

He explains matters so clearly, is brilliant with clients.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023

A master of his trade in the sphere of investor-state disputes with a fierce intellect and excellent client management skills.

Chambers UK Bar 2023

He is a persuasive advocate and just a class act.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2023

He has very good analytical judgement and is very responsive.

Chambers UK Bar 2023

A decisive thinker who is focused in his oral contributions and effective on paper. He has a thoughtful approach that gives clients great confidence.

Chambers UK Bar 2022

Beautifully prepared, and leaves no stone unturned: novel areas and arguments don't faze him. He relishes a fight on uncertain ground and delivers brilliantly. A class act.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2022

He's knowledgeable and thoughtful.

Chambers UK Bar 2022

Extremely erudite, very reliable and a real expert." "A very deep thinker with a deep understanding of PIL.

Chambers UK Bar 2021

Top of the list for public international law. Very strong and highly knowledgable in international issues.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2021

A very talented international lawyer.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

Has excellent technical detailed knowledge of public international law, and is a superb advocate.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2020

Extremely thorough, a pleasure to work with and has excellent knowledge of PIL issues.

Chambers UK Bar 2020

Particularly good in the practical application of PIL in novel commercial situations.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2018

An excellent team player with acute insight, who has a very easy working manner.

Chambers UK Bar 2019

He has a deep intellectual knowledge, is very interested in BIT arbitration and is experienced in state-on-state matters.

Chambers UK Bar 2018

Very impressive and very highly regarded.

The Legal 500 UK Bar 2017

He's excellent and very well versed in PIL.

Chambers UK Bar 2017

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