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7KBW Barristers Chambers - Commercial Barristers Chambers
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Gwyn Williams

Call: 2025

+44 (0)20 7910 8300
seniorclerks@7kbw.co.uk
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Gwyn is developing a broad commercial practice. He joined 7KBW in September 2026, following the successful completion of pupillage.

As a pupil, Gwyn assisted in matters across Chambers’ areas of practice, including civil fraud, financial services, professional negligence, insurance and reinsurance, shipping and international trade. He now accepts instructions both as sole counsel and as part of a team.

Before coming to the Bar, Gwyn qualified as a solicitor and practised in the London offices of Cleary Gottlieb and WilmerHale. In that role, he acted in commercial litigation across a range of sectors, including financial services, aviation, energy and technology. He also worked on arbitrations under ICC, LCIA and SIAC rules.

Gwyn holds a BA in German and Music from Durham and an MPhil in Music from Cambridge. He later completed an LL.M at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Thouron Fellow and a research assistant at Wharton Business School.

Expertise

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Gwyn has experience of complex and high-value disputes in the English High Court, including financial services litigation, group claims, aviation disputes and cases involving allegations of dishonesty.

Before coming to the Bar, his experience as a solicitor included:

  • Acting for Glencore plc in substantial shareholder claims brought under sections 90 and 90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The proceedings have raised important questions concerning legal professional privilege, including the existence and scope of the so-called “shareholder rule”: Aabar Holdings SARL and others v Glencore plc and others [2024] EWHC 3046 (Comm).
  • Acting for entities within the Opel and Vauxhall group in the early stages of the Pan-NOx emissions litigation. The proceedings involved claims brought by more than 70,000 vehicle owners and a complex technical and regulatory background: Wragg and others v Opel Automobile GmbH and others [2023] EWHC 2632 (KB).
  • Acting for companies within the Ryanair group in a US$40 million dispute concerning the purported termination of four aircraft-leasing agreements during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a three-week trial in the Commercial Court: Peregrine Aviation Bravo Ltd and others v Laudamotion GmbH and another [2023] EWHC 48 (Comm).
  • Defending a private individual against claims concerning the alleged mismanagement of funds held through a family trust.

During pupillage, Gwyn also assisted with the defence of a substantial bailment claim arising from the alleged loss of goods under a collateral management arrangement.

Gwyn has experience of arbitration under a range of institutional rules and before ad hoc tribunals.

Before coming to the Bar, his experience as a solicitor included:

  • Acting for a pharmaceutical company in an LCIA arbitration against a Kuwaiti distributor concerning sums due under a licensing agreement.
  • Acting for a professional football club in an ad hoc arbitration concerning a right of first refusal under a sponsorship agreement, including preparing an urgent application for interim relief.
  • Acting in an ICC arbitration arising from an oil-supply agreement, including drafting submissions on a preliminary jurisdiction issue.
  • Advising on the merits of a potential investor-State arbitration in the context of long-term gas-supply agreements.

During pupillage, Gwyn assisted with advice concerning the proper construction of an arbitration clause in a loan agreement, and written closing submissions in an arbitration under the LMAA rules.

During pupillage, Gwyn gained experience of a wide range of insurance and reinsurance disputes. His experience included assisting with:

  • Advice on the aggregation of claims under a solicitors’ professional indemnity policy, where the underlying claims included allegations of dishonesty.
  • Advice on the scope of cover under a directors’ and officers’ liability policy, including the application of dishonesty related provisions.
  • Advice on the construction of a property damage policy, including issues around the fair presentation of risk.
  • Advice on the proper allocation of losses between a series of insurance and reinsurance policies.
  • Drafting particulars of claim seeking declaratory relief as to the governing law and proper construction of a programme of product liability policies.

Gwyn has experience of disputes arising under time and voyage charterparties, contracts for the sale and supply of vessels and bunkers, and international sanctions regimes.

During pupillage, he assisted with:

  • Advice concerning alleged failures to accept deliveries of fuel under a charterparty.
  • A defence to claims arising from the disputed sale of a vessel and subsequent agreements concerning repairs.
  • A defence and counterclaim in a voyage-charterparty dispute concerning the carriage of patrol boats with an international sanctions element.
  • Reply submissions in an LMAA arbitration concerning the validity of an alleged variation to the terms of a voyage charterparty.
  • Written submissions in two related shipping disputes, one concerning the supply of allegedly off-specification bunkers and the other concerning damage allegedly caused to a vessel by stevedores.
  • An application to stay arbitral proceedings following the designation of several parties under the United States sanctions regime.

Before coming to the Bar, Gwyn’s experience as a solicitor included:

  • Acting for parties in connection with follow-on damages claims arising from the European Commission’s findings concerning anti-competitive conduct in the market for deep-sea roll-on/roll-off vehicle transportation.
  • Advising parties affected by a European Commission investigation into suspected anti-competitive conduct in the European tyre-manufacturing sector.

Related content

+44 (0)20 7910 8300
seniorclerks@7kbw.co.uk
Download CV (PDF)
Download vCard
Print
Privacy Policy

For more information
Contact our clerks for assistance with choosing the right barrister for your matter.

  • Burke-White, W., and Williams, B. G., “Geopolitical Ambitions and Rule Contestations in Space Governance”, Centre for International Governance Innovation, CIGI Paper No. 317 (2025)
  • Williams, B. G., “Painting by Numbers: Copyright Protection and AI-Generated Art” in European Intellectual Property Review 42 (12), pp. 786-792 (2021)
  • Williams, B. G., “Qualifying Achmea: Investor-State Arbitration: Jurisdictional Conflict and EU Decision Making” in Journal of International Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management Vol. 87.1 (2021)
  • Williams, B. G., “Extinction Rebellion: Perspectives on Public Engagement with Environmental Regulation” in ARDL Quarterly Bulletin (Winter 2019)
  • University of Pennsylvania (2024) – LL.M
  • University of Law, Moorgate (2020) – LPC
  • University of Law, Moorgate (2019) – GDL
  • University of Cambridge (2017) – MPhil in Music
  • University of Durham (2016) – BA Music and German
  • Thouron Foundation (2023) – Full scholarship for study in the US
  • Competition Law Association (2019) – Golding Essay Prize
  • Bar Council Law Reform Competition (2019) – Best GDL Entry
  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2019) – First Place Essay Prize
  • Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers – Marion Simmons QC Essay Prize
  • University of Cambridge (2017) – William Barclay Squire Prize (top of year)

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