Charlie regularly advises on international law, commercial and media disputes. He maintains a leading practice in international sanctions, spanning international administrative and judicial challenges before various tribunals including the authorities and courts of the EU, the UK, the US and the UN.  He is highlighted as a recommended lawyer in the Legal 500, where he is also referred to as a “future superstar” and is ranked as a Band 1 Sanctions Law expert by Chambers & Partners.

Charlie maintains a pioneering sanctions practice, with his cases often testing new rules and legislation, and establishing important principles of law.

As well as maintaining a strong public international law practice (most notably through his work on international sanctions) Charlie regularly advises on contractual, banking, company law, harassment, libel, privacy and wider media disputes (both pre- and post-publication); more often than not in an international and multi-jurisdictional context. His client base includes high-profile, celebrity, corporate and high and ultra-high net worth individuals.

Charlie’s views are often sought by media outlets as an authority on sanctions, and he has written widely on this topic and others.

Charlie’s qualities include great attention to detail, strategic and creative thinking and a highly sympathetic approach to clients and their specific concerns.

Prior to joining Carter-Ruck, Charlie worked for a magic circle law firm, spending time in its London and Hong Kong offices.

Charlie has written extensively for key publications on Sanctions and International Law issues.  He is highlighted as a key lawyer in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

  • Charlie is the lead associate representing His Majesty King Juan Carlos I in the defence of the claim brought against him in the High Court of England and Wales by Corinna Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. In December 2022 the Court of Appeal (King LJ, Simler LJ and Popplewell LJ) delivered judgment upholding His Majesty’s claim to sovereign immunity in respect of allegations made against him by the claimant of conduct pre-dating His abdication of the Spanish throne.  The press release is available here.
  • Charlie is the lead senior associate in the high profile and widely publicised sanctions case of the late former Egyptian president of Egypt, Mohamed Hosni Elsayed Mubarak, and members of his family. In December 2020 the highest court in the European Union, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), annulled sanctions imposed on the former President of Egypt and members of his family, ruling that the sanctions were unlawful from the outset. On 1 January 2021 the UK removed the former Egyptian President and his family members from the sanctions list enacted by the UK authorities as a consequence of Brexit, and in March 2021 the EU lifted all remaining sanctions which it had imposed on the Mubarak family. Charlie and the team had further success in April 2022 with a judgment of the EU General Court annulling later sanctions which had been imposed on the Mubarak family.  The press releases are available here.
  • Advising Saudi Arabian businessman and philanthropist Sheikh Yassin Abdullah Kadi in relation to US litigation and related matters following the work done by Carter-Ruck to overturn sanctions imposed upon him in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks (resulting in some of the most important EU judgments on the relationship between EC and international law and on fundamental rights)
  • Representing an UHNW individual on proceedings before the EU General Court seeking to annul sanctions imposed pursuant to the EU’s Syrian sanctions regime
  • Challenging sanctions designations in the UK, the EU and the US on behalf of a corporate and an UHNW individual designated under Myanmar-related sanctions regimes
  • Advising an UHNW client on the UK’s Anti-Corruption sanctions and engaging with the FCDO
  • Advising on the implications of a US sanctions listing and navigating a challenge to the US Treasury in respect of the same
  • Advising a corporate client on compliance with sanctions in the context of a multi-million pound joint venture
  • Advising an UHNW individual on disputes arising out of a joint venture agreement, including issues of State and diplomatic immunity
  • Advising on a multi-million-pound professional negligence dispute against a firm of solicitors
  • He was lead associate on a multi-jurisdictional property and securities dispute spanning Indonesia, Hong Kong, the United States, Germany and the UK
  • Advising Al Jazeera Media Network on its ICSID arbitration proceedings against the Arab Republic of Egypt for damages pursuant to Egypt’s breach of a bi-lateral investment treaty
  • Charlie was lead associate advising on a multi-jurisdictional shareholder dispute involving complex corporate ownership of high value property in Zanzibar. This dispute encompassed claims in unfair prejudice, breach of contract, breach of director’s duties and unlawful means conspiracy
  • Charlie has provided extensive libel advice to the Mubarak family on both pre- and post-publications matters
  • He was lead associate in a post-publication libel claim against the Mirror on behalf of a high-profile celebrity
  • He was the lead associate on an action against the Conservative Party in relation to the rights of one of its members to be appointed as an MEP, a dispute which encompassed claims for breach of contract as well as principles of judicial review and wider election law
  • He was the lead associate advising a large corporate on its obligations under an agency agreement relating to the sale of a large portfolio of properties
  • Charlie was the lead associate advising on post-publication action against the publisher and author of a high profile book