Charles was a litigation and arbitration partner at Herbert Smith from 1976 to 2005 and is now a consultant. He was senior litigation partner for seven years. His expertise is in commercial litigation and arbitration across a wide range of industries including media, energy, construction, information technology and financial services. In addition he has wide experience in bringing claims relating to professional negligence and fraud. He also has vast experience leading and directing large teams of English and foreign lawyers and experts on significant cases.
In addition to his work in the English High Court, Charles has conducted arbitrations in London, Paris, Geneva, Copenhagen, the Middle East and Japan relating to failures in oil, gas and chemical plants, defects in public buildings and the termination of distribution agreements and concessions. He has acted as lead advocate. Many of these cases involve governing law other than English. Charles regularly works with lawyers from other common law and civil law jurisdictions in the preparation and presentation of these cases. He has been appointed arbitrator in international arbitration disputes.
Charles is a CEDR Accredited Mediator, and has acted for parties in substantial ADR/ mediation matters. He has been appointed a mediator in the Court of Appeal mediation scheme.
Charles is listed as a recommended commercial litigation practitioner in all current editions of the Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession and The Legal 500 UK, Legal Experts and Who's Who Legal .
Charles has long been active in public interest organisations. From 1994 to 1999 he was the solicitor member of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct, and a member of the successor body, the Legal Services Consultative Panel, from 2000 to 2003. He is Chairman of the Governors of the College of Law and was chosen by the Department of Constitutional Affairs as the sole solicitor member of the Anglo-American Legal Exchange in London in 2004 and Harvard and Washington DC in 2005. For many years he was editor in chief of Blackstone's Civil Practice, to which he is now a contributing editor.