Thomas Raphael

BA (Oxon), BA (Cantab)

Areas of expertise

Talk to a clerk

Clerks' direct contact:
+44 (0)20 7842 1200
Clerks [at] 20essexst [dot] com
Request a call back

Thomas Raphael has been a tenant at 20 Essex St since November 2000. He has a busy practice in the fields of general commercial law and private international law, with a particular focus on banking, financial services, shipping, commodities, insurance and reinsurance.

He frequently appears in the Commercial Court and Court of Appeal and recently was part of the team which won the House of Lords case of Masri v CCC (No 4) [2009] 3 WLR 385.

He is the author the "The Anti-Suit Injunction" (OUP), the standard work on anti-suit injunctions, which has recently been cited with approval and adopted by the Commercial Court and Court of Appeal in a number of cases, including Deutsche v Highland [2009] EWCA Civ 725.

He frequently appears in commercial arbitrations.

Specialisations: 

  • General commercial law
  • Private international law
  • Shipping
  • Commodities
  • Insurance and re-insurance
  • Banking and financial services
  • Competition

Principal Cases: 

Private International Law

The Masri v CCC litigation, which has given rise to numerous judgments of the High Court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords on fundamental questions of jurisdiction and the court's extra-territorial powers, including: Masri v CCC (No 2) [2009] QB 450 (CA) - an extra-territorial receivership order; and Masri v CCC (No 3) [2009] QB 503(CA) - an anti-suit injunction to restrain relitigation of English proceedings); [2009] 3 WLR 385 - applications for the examination of foreign directors of foreign companies under CPR 71.

General Commercial

Tramtrack Croydon Limited v London Bus Services Ltd [2007] All ER (D) 14 (Comm Ct) and London Bus Services Ltd v Tramtrack Croydon Limited [2006] EWCA Civ 1743 (CA) - two actions for declaratory relief about the interpretation of the 99-year PFI for the Croydon Tramlink.

Russell Grant Ltd v Scott Equipment Company [2005] EWCA Civ 156; (2005) 149 S.J.L.B. 266 (CA) - an appeal in a case concerning the sale of machinery.

Shipping

Ulisses Shipping Corporation v Fal Shipping Co. Ltd (The "Greek Fighter") [2006] 2 CLC 497 (Comm Ct) - a claim by the owners of a vessel against her charterers after she was confiscated by the UAE authorities.

Front Carriers Limited v Atlantic & Orient Shipping Corp (The "Double Happiness") [2007] 1 Lloyd's Rep 131 (Comm Ct) - the trial of a claim for a declaration that an arbitration tribunal had jurisdiction.

P&O Nedlloyd Limited and another v M&M Militzer & Munch International Holding [2003] 1 Lloyd's Rep 503 (Comm Ct) - the trial of a claim for mis-delivery of cargo.

Insurance

HIH Casualty and General Insurance Ltd v Axa Corporate Solutions [2002] Lloyd's Rep IR 237 - a film finance reinsurance dispute.

CNA Insurance Co. Ltd v Office Depot International (UK) Ltd [2005] Lloyd's Rep IR 658 (Comm Ct) - an application for an anti-suit injunction to restrain proceedings before the courts of Florida.

Education and Career: 

Magdalen College, Oxford: BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge: BA in Law.

Slaughter and May Prize for the top First in Law in the university.

Publications: 

"The Anti-Suit Injunction" (OUP, 2008), the standard work on anti-suit injunctions.

"The Problem of Horizontal Effect" (EHRLR 2000, Issue 5).

Lectures and Teaching: 

Frequent lectures on commercial and private international law, in particular anti-suit injunctions.

A lecturer at the European Academy of Law, Trier on issues of European private international law.

Quotes: 

Chambers and Partners (2009) recommend him for Commercial Dispute Resolution as well as Shipping and Commodities and describe him as "clever and inventive" and "extremely bright".

He is recommended for Shipping by The Legal 500 (2008) who observe that he is "very clever".

Members with similar specialisations...

Many other members specialise in similar fields. A selection is below.

Queen's Counsel

Junior Counsel