"Absolutely brilliant: strategic, insightful and highly skilled in all respects well beyond his years. You want him on your team and in your corner. A true star and an absolute pleasure to work with."
Edward Harrison has a broad commercial litigation and arbitration practice encompassing civil fraud, banking and finance, professional negligence (including accountants' negligence and proceedings involving the FRC), energy and the conflict of laws. He also has experience of public international law and human rights, and is regularly instructed in proceedings overseas (including, on a number of occasions, before the DIFC and QFC Courts). Before coming to the Bar, Edward was an undergraduate and graduate student at Worcester College, Oxford, where he was subsequently a lecturer in contract law.
Edward has been instructed in a number of the leading commercial cases before the English Courts of recent years, including in ENRC v Dechert, BayernLB v Bernie Ecclestone, Libyan Investment Authority v Goldman Sachs, UBS v KWL and Berezovsky v Abramovich. His recommendations in the legal directories cover multiple practice areas, including commercial litigation, civil fraud and professional negligence. As well as referring to his “very strong intellectual and analytical mind” and “commercial approach” he is also described as “fantastically responsive” and a “strong team player”.
General Commercial
Edward is frequently instructed in high profile commercial litigation. He has particular experience of injunctions and interlocutory disputes and has been commended for his “extensive knowledge of injunctive relief measures” (Chambers & Partners 2019). Current and recent highlights of Edward’s practice include:
Edward has a wide-ranging civil fraud practice. He is noted in the legal directories for his “growing reputation for handing high-profile civil fraud cases” (Chambers & Partners 2019) and for his “extremely strong technical knowledge in procedural and substantive issues arising in fraud cases” (Legal 500 2018). Current and recent highlights of Edward’s civil fraud practice include:
Edward has a broad professional negligence practice (both before the courts, and in proceedings involving the FRC) and is frequently instructed by a number of leading accountancy firms. Amongst other things, he has been noted in the legal directories for his “commercial and detailed approach” to his professional negligence cases (Legal 500 2018). Current and recent highlights of Edward’s professional negligence practice include:
Edward has experience of a variety of arbitration tribunals and has been involved in commercial arbitrations involving a range of different arbitration rules and institutions. His recent work has included acting (both led and un-led) on behalf of a number of pharmaceutical companies in arbitrations against the Department of Health relating to the pricing and supply of pharmaceuticals products. He has experience of UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA and Ad Hoc rules. He is also a contributing author to “SIAC Rules: An Annotation,” an annotated guide to the arbitration rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (LexisNexis, publication date December 2013). Current and recent highlights of Edward’s arbitration practice include:
Edward has experience of public international law cases and is currently involved in a series of ongoing inter-state disputes before the European Court of Human Rights. He also has experience of inquiries and was Secretary to the “Hoffmann Commission”, a commission chaired by Lord Hoffmann and constituted by the MTN Group to investigate claims of corruption in relation to MTN's bid to participate in the second mobile phone network in Iran.
Edward has experience of public international law cases and is currently involved in a series of ongoing inter-state disputes before the European Court of Human Rights. He also has experience of inquiries and was Secretary to the “Hoffmann Commission”, a commission chaired by Lord Hoffmann and constituted by the MTN Group to investigate claims of corruption in relation to MTN's bid to participate in the second mobile phone network in Iran.
"Edward is incredibly personable, very strong on the law, very communicative and has an amazing brain." "An excellent lawyer who is very good technically, extremely responsive and pleasant to work with. He also has a good manner with clients." (Chambers & Partners 2022)
"A great junior, both reliable and highly accessible, and possessed of a client-friendly manner." (Chambers & Partners 2022)
"Absolutely brilliant – strategic, insightful and highly skilled in all respects well beyond his years. You want him on your team and in your client’s corner. A true star and an absolute pleasure to work with." (Legal 500 2022)
"A master of detail provides clear and concise advice in a user-friendly format." (Legal 500 2022)
"Proactive and reasoned in his thinking." "He has a seriously sharp and mature brain." (Chambers & Partners 2021)
"Very strong intellectual and analytical mind, and able to hold his own with much more senior and experienced practitioners, demonstrating how far he is likely to rise." (Legal 500 2021)
"A relaxed and urbane advocate who is keen to get to the heart of the legal issues arising in any fraud case." (Legal 500 2021)
"He manages to condense a complicated factual matrix into clear and concise advice." (Legal 500 2021)
"Another Brick Court star, a complete pleasure to work with." (Legal 500 2020)
"A collaborative, flexible and responsive team player." (Legal 500 2020)
"He is a master of the detail." (Legal 500 2020)
“A truly excellent junior with a sharp, strategic mind and sound judgment. He is technically excellent, a clear communicator and extremely easy to work with.” (Chambers & Partners 2019)
“Very user-friendly and very responsive.” (Chambers & Partners 2019)
"His ability to get across the technical detail of a case incredibly quickly is particularly impressive." (Legal 500 2018-19)
"Has extremely strong technical knowledge in procedural and substantive issues arising in fraud cases." (Legal 500 2018-19)
"He takes a commercial and detailed approach to his cases." (Legal 500 2018-19)
"His powers of analysis are razor-sharp, and he is very user-friendly to work with." (Legal 500 2017)
"An excellent, hardworking, bright and unflappable junior." (Legal 500 2017)
"Very easy to work with, a good team player and user-friendly". (Legal 500 2017)
"Fantastically responsive and easy to work with." (Legal 500 2016)
"Quick to pick complex concepts and drafts quickly and effectively." (Legal 500 2016)
"Works well under pressure and is able to take reasoned and commercial judgement calls." (Legal 500 2015)
2008 - 2009 Pupillage at Brick Court Chambers
2007 - 2008 Lecturer in Contract Law at Worcester College, University of Oxford
2007 - 2008 BVC (Very Competent)
2006 - 2007 Bachelor of Civil Law at Worcester College, University of Oxford
2003 - 2006 First Class Honours in Jurisprudence at Worcester College, University of Oxford
Scholarships and Prizes
Lord Mansfield Scholar of Lincoln's Inn
Hardwicke Scholar of Lincoln's Inn
Scholar of Worcester College, University of Oxford
Winner of the Bruce Reynolds Prize (Worcester College prize) for performance on the BCL
Winner of Slaughter & May Prize for Best Oxford University Paper in Constitutional Law (Law Moderations)
Winner of the Oxford Law Society Crown Office Mooting Competition (March 2005)
Languages
Spanish (Fluent)
Professional Membership
COMBAR
Spanish