Stephen DONNELLY
Stephen has a broad practice, encompassing litigation and arbitration in the banking and financial services, insurance, environmental and energy, and shipping sectors.
He has been described in recent directory editions ‘the exact kind of barrister that you want to work with as a solicitor’, ‘an intellectual powerhouse’, ‘easy to work with’, and ‘very hard working’.
Stephen’s recent cases include large-scale commercial and investor–state arbitrations, challenges to arbitral awards or their enforcement, and several of the biggest claims before the High Court and Competition Appeal Tribunal—encompassing class actions (Merricks v Mastercard), group litigation (Município de Mariana v BHP), and conventional multi-party claims (Magomedov v TPG). He also has extensive experience in public law (e.g. Wightman v Secretary of State for ExEU in the CJEU) and in tax disputes (e.g. News Corp v HMRC in the Supreme Court).
As sole counsel, Stephen has been instructed in arbitrations and in courts at all levels, often against silks, including in the Privy Council (Gem v Firefox) and the European Court of Human Rights (Conquer v UK).
He frequently appears on urgent applications for injunctive relief. He has particular experience in anti-suit injunctions, whether in support of jurisdiction or arbitration agreements (RSM v Gaz du Cameroun) or on grounds of vexation and oppression.
Stephen also specialises in public international law, both academically and in disputes before international and domestic courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice. His experience includes disputes concerning State immunity (Shehabi v Bahrain), foreign act of State (Crane Bank v British International Investment), treaty interpretation (including a dispute under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU), and the effect of unincorporated treaties in domestic law (Heathrow v HM Treasury (WTO law), R (Elliot-Smith) v Secretary of State for BEIS (Paris Agreement)).
He has published in leading journals on international human rights and investment treaty law, is an assistant editor of the European Human Rights Reports, is a visiting lecturer in international investment arbitration, and is a visiting fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law in the University of Cambridge, with a focus on the sources of international law.
Stephen has been appointed to the Attorney-General’s London B and public international law C panels of counsel.
Before coming to the bar, Stephen was judicial assistant to Lord Kerr in the Supreme Court and Privy Council.
He is fluent in French and has a working knowledge of several other languages.
