Sophie has a broad practice spanning all of Chambers’ areas of expertise, with a focus on public and private international law.
In her practice before domestic courts, Sophie has a particular interest in complex questions of jurisdiction in cross-border proceedings. Since completing pupillage and joining Chambers in 2025, she has appeared before a range of English courts (including the UK Supreme Court) in cases involving issues including of State immunity, permission to serve abroad, validity of service, and forum (non) conveniens. Alongside practice, Sophie is also completing a DPhil in Law at the University of Oxford supervised by Professor Andrew Dickinson on the limits of English adjudicative jurisdiction in cross-border litigation involving foreign States.
Sophie’s international practice spans the full spectrum of public international law, including State responsibility, jurisdiction and immunities, international human rights law, the law of armed conflict, the law of the sea, and boundary disputes. Sophie is also well-versed in investor-State and international commercial arbitrations conducted under major institutional rules (including UNCITRAL, ICSID, SIAC, ICC, LCIA, and LMAA), as well as arbitration-related litigation in the English courts.
Sophie has published in leading law journals and won awards for her academic work. She has taught public international law and contract law at the University of Oxford, is currently serving as an Associate Editor of the British Yearbook of International Law, and is an Alternate Member of the ILA Committee on Protection of People at Sea.
Sophie is an Australian-at-Large Rhodes Scholar and New Colombo Plan Fellow (Singapore). She has worked as a Legal Officer at the Australian Law Reform Commission and served as an Associate to a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (Distinction) from the University of Oxford and Bachelors of Arts (Peace and Conflict Studies; Studies in Religion) and Laws (First Class Honours) from the University of Queensland, part of which she completed at NUS Law in Singapore.
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Public international law
Sophie’s international law practice covers the full range of public international law. Prior to joining the Bar, Sophie worked as a consultant or intern with an international organisation, government, several NGOs, and an international law firm.
Examples of recent work include:
- Christodoulou v Romania [2026] CLCC: Acted for the Claimant (led by Philippa Webb KC) in a State immunity challenge in respect of a claim for unpaid rent and dilapidations arising under a lease of a London property.
- Anon v Russian Federation (UN Human Rights Committee) (2026): Counsel for complainants in a communication against the Russian Federation for violations of the right to life arising from the attack on the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine (with a team for Legal Action Worldwide and Truth Hounds).
- M/T “Heroic Idun” (No 2) Case (Marshall Islands/Equatorial Guinea) [2026] ITLOS (Special Chamber): Assisted the Chambers team with preparation of materials for written and oral submissions in the case, which concerned a State’s interception of a foreign-flagged vessel in the EEZ of a third State and subsequent detention and transfer of the vessel and crew
- Advising on undersea communication cables: Sophie has advised States and international and non-governmental organisations, as well as published award-winning academic work, on international law issues relating to the security of undersea communication cables
- Advising on genocide and crimes against humanity: advised an international non-governmental organisation on matters including the use of universal jurisdiction to prosecute atrocity crimes and characterisation of certain human rights situations in the region
Conflict of laws/private international law
Alongside practice, Sophie is currently completing a doctorate in the conflict of laws (under the supervision of Professor Andrew Dickinson at the University of Oxford) and has published in the field in leading law journals.
Examples of recent work include:
- Tesla v Interdigital & Avanci (Supreme Court, awaiting judgment): jurisdiction challenge concerning whether English courts have jurisdiction to determine disputes as to what are FRAND licence terms at the request of an implementor where the licence is offered by an intermediary as part of a pool (led by Tom Raphael KC with Maxwell Keay)
- Christodoulou v Romania [2026] CLCC: Acted for the Claimant (led by Philippa Webb KC) in a State immunity challenge in respect of a claim for unpaid rent and dilapidations arising under a lease of a London property.
- Renaissance Securities (Cyprus) Limited v ILLC Chlodwig Enterprises & others [2025] EWCA Civ 369: Assisted (as a pupil) Paul Lowenstein KC and Edward Gilmore in the Court of Appeal proceedings concerning the application of an anti-suit injunction to claims against non-parties to underlying arbitration agreements
- Contested hearing of Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust applications against cryptocurrency exchange (led by Joshua Folkard)
Commercial litigation
Examples of recent work include:
- Tesla v Interdigital & Avanci (Supreme Court, awaiting judgment): jurisdiction challenge concerning whether English courts have jurisdiction to determine disputes as to what are FRAND licence terms at the request of an implementor where the licence is offered by an intermediary as part of a pool (led by Tom Raphael KC with Maxwell Keay)
- Christodoulou v Romania [2026] CLCC: Acted for the Claimant (led by Philippa Webb KC) in a State immunity challenge in respect of a claim for unpaid rent and dilapidations arising under a lease of a London property.
- Acting for the claimants in proceedings relating to recovery of shares in a lending company and associated litigation (with Andrew Fulton KC and Mark Baldock)
- Contested hearing of Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust applications against cryptocurrency exchange (led by Joshua Folkard)
- Assisted (as a pupil) Julian Kenny KC and Michal Hain in The MSC Flaminia[2025] UKSC 14, [2025] Lloyd’s Rep Plus 58, an appeal to the Supreme Court concerning the proper interpretation of the 1976 Limitation Convention.
- Assisted (as a pupil) Paul Lowenstein KC and Edward Gilmore in Renaissance Securities (Cyprus) Limited v ILLC Chlodwig Enterprises & others [2025] EWCA Civ 369, regarding the application of an anti-suit injunction to claims against non-parties to underlying arbitration agreements
- Assisted (as a pupil) Sam Goodman and Charles Connor in Charles Claire LLP & Anor v Kevin Harold Woolgar [2025] EWHC 1802, concerning a civil fraud claim brought by a major British sports good company against a former agent
- Assisted (as a pupil) Josephine Davies KC and Fiona Petersen in Port of Sheerness Ltd v Swire Shipping Pte Ltd [2025] EWHC 7 (Admlty), regarding claims by the claimant port for a “period toll” of £250,000 and trebling of the sum under s.64 of the Medway Ports Authority Act 1973
Arbitration
Previously, Sophie studied international arbitration at NUS Law, where she took (and topped) courses including the Advanced Practicum in International Arbitration (focusing on arbitrations under SIAC, ICC, ICSID, and UNCITRAL Rules) and Mediation/Conciliation of Inter- and Investor-State Disputes and completed a directed research project on an investor-State arbitration topic supervised by Professor Lucy Reed (as she then was). She then spent five months interning with the Public International Law and International Arbitration Group at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Singapore, where she worked on international commercial and investor-State arbitrations.
Examples of recent work include:
- Assisted (as a pupil) with proceedings brought under ss 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act to challenge an arbitral award made under an international investment treaty
- Drafted (as a pupil) a skeleton argument for an application for permission to appeal under s 69 of the Arbitration Act on questions of law arising out of an arbitration award
- Drafted (as a pupil) a skeleton argument opposing an application before the London Circuit Commercial Court to stay arbitral proceedings pending determination of an application under ss 68 and 69 of the Arbitration Act
- Drafted (as a pupil) advice on claims under a coal supply agreement in an ICC arbitration
- Assisted (as a pupil) in a LCIA arbitration for charterers defending demurrage claims brought by owners for delays following a government’s ban on coal exports
- Drafted a defence (as a pupil) in an LMAA arbitration for owners of a container vessel against a claim by charterers following an explosion causing substantial damage to cargo
Human rights and public law
Examples of recent work include:
- Anon v Russian Federation (UN Human Rights Committee) (2026):Counsel for complainants in a communication against the Russian Federation for violations of the right to life arising from the attack on the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine (with a team for Legation Action Worldwide and Truth Hounds).
- *Anon v Russian Federation (UN Human Rights Committee) (2024): on behalf of Ukrainian victims of a Russian missile attack alleging violation of the right to life of those killed (with a team for the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Legal Action Worldwide and Truth Hounds)
- *Anon v Turkey (UN Human Rights Committee) (2023): concerning unlawful extra-territorial airstrikes by Turkey on a hospital in Iraq (with a team for the Accountability Unit and Women for Justice)
- *Reports on Universal Jurisdiction and Atrocity Crimes: Drafted reports for the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect on the international law characterisation of certain human rights situations, and the use of universal jurisdiction to prosecute atrocity crimes in domestic courts
- *Assisted Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights (as a Research Fellow, pre-August 2021) to support local legal aid organisations in Afghanistan to bring test cases challenging the legality of obtaining and using forensic reports on virginity to establish morality crimes
*prior to joining the Bar
