20 Essex St's Brower becomes tribunal judge at The Hague

`The chambers' international arbitration team has had a bumper few months with the addition of Sir Peter North QC, Malcolm Holmes QC, and Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Philip Otton QC. Otton has just been appointed a non-executive director of Equitable Life.`Brower, who joined 20 Essex Street in January, will handle the remains of the original 4,000 claims he dealt with in his previous position as judge of the Iran-US claims tribunal between 1984-1988. Among the leftover claims is one amounting to around $12bn (£8.5bn). He will continue to be available as an international arbitrator through 20 Essex Street.`Clerk Brian Lee said: "Charles Brower has been a tremendous addition to chambers and the profile of the set has been raised even higher with overseas clients, particularly in private international law and commercial arbitration work."`After co-establishing and working for nine years at White & Case, in 1969 Brower worked as acting legal adviser for the Department of State. His function included working as chief international lawyer for President Nixon and as principal lawyer for the Secretary of State. He returned to White & Case in 1973 and 11 years later was appointed judge of the claims tribunal. In 1987 he was appointed deputy special counsellor to President Reagan.`He has served as counsel in many arbitrations, including handling claims submitted to the United Nations' Compensation Commission when he represented the US in proceedings brought against it by Libya, relating to the Pan Am 103 bombing.`20 Essex Street has conducted arbitrations in Zurich, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Bermuda and Stockholm. Arbitrator Sir Christopher Staughton and counsel Iain Milligan QC and David Owen recently acted for the Hong Kong government in a land dispute against the Swire Group. The latter, which paid out £300m, may appeal in July.