Shortlist ( )
+44 20 7583 4444
Zhi Yu Foo
Zhi Yu Foo
Called: 2023

Related news

Zhi Yu Foo

Academic
2022 – 2023: Postgraduate Diploma in Bar Vocational Studies, City, University of London
2021 – 2022: Bachelor of Civil Law, Brasenose College, University of Oxford
2018 – 2021: BA Jurisprudence, Brasenose College, University of Oxford
Awards
Beryl Cooper Scholarship, Gray’s Inn (2022)
Law Faculty-Brasenose College BCL Scholarship, University of Oxford (2021)
Barry Cooper Scholarship, Brasenose College, University of Oxford (2021)
Quadrant Chambers Prize for best performance in International Trade, University of Oxford (2021)
Prizes for Contract Law (2019) and EU Law (2021), Brasenose College, University of Oxford
Exhibitioner, Brasenose College, University of Oxford (2018 – 2021)
Appointments
2022-2023: Non-Stipendiary Lecturer in Trusts, the Queen’s College and Wadham College, University of Oxford (taught and assessed undergraduate trusts law)
Languages
Zhi is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia. He also has a good grasp of Cantonese.

Zhi joined Quadrant in October 2025, following the successful completion of pupillage and will be developing his practice across Chambers’ core areas.

He graduated from the University of Oxford with a First in law, obtaining the highest mark in his year for International Trade as well as various college prizes. He then completed the Bachelor of Civil Law degree at Oxford, followed by the BPTC at City, University of London.

Having grown up in Malaysia and Singapore, Zhi is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia. He also has a good grasp of Cantonese.

Before commencing pupillage, Zhi spent a year as a judicial assistant in the Commercial Court. He is familiar with the workings of the Court and has assisted in several cases across the range of commercial disputes, including:

  • ABFA Commodities Trading Ltd v Petraco Oil Company SA [2024] EWHC 147 (Comm): Three-week trial concerning contested issues of Russian law (bona fide purchase, abuse of rights, competing property rights) and a novel question as to the nature of the court’s discretion in enforcing an undertaking in damages.
  • Litasco SA v Der Mond Oil and Gas Africa SA [2023] EWHC 2866 (Comm): Summary judgment application concerning the application of force majeure and sanctions provisions in a sale contract. Clarified the meaning of “control” under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.
  • Maersk Guine-Bissau SARL v Almar-Hum Bubacar Balde SARL [2024] EWHC 993 (Comm): Novel case on third-party enforcement of Himalaya clauses and exclusive jurisdiction clauses at common law and under the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, including matters of res judicata and natural justice.
  • Magomedov v PJSC Transneft [2024] EWHC 1176 (Comm): Novel case on the application of the natural forum requirement when granting an anti-anti-suit injunction pending determination of a jurisdiction challenge before the English courts.
  • Aiteo Eastern E & P Company Ltd v Shell Western Supply and Trading Ltd [2024] EWHC 1993 (Comm): Challenge to an arbitrator for apparent bias under section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 in circumstances where the arbitrator had been removed by the ICC Court, considering whether apparent bias amounted to substantial injustice and whether such injustice was cured by a re-hearing before the Court pursuant to a section 67 challenge.
  • Invest Bank PSC v El-Husseini [2024] EWHC 2976 (Comm): Four-week trial concerning a claim under section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 where the main defendant allegedly dissipated his assets to his family and did not appear at trial.

He was also a Non-Stipendiary Lecturer in Trusts at the Queen’s College and Wadham College, University of Oxford, for the 2022-23 academic year.

During pupillage, Zhi was exposed to work across the breadth of Chambers’ practice areas. 

International Arbitration
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in resisting a Kostas Melas application for unpaid hire brought on the basis of an alleged anti-deduction clause.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in a challenge and appeal against a SAL arbitration award under ss.68 and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on issues of laytime and tender of NOR.
     
Commercial Dispute Resolution
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in an LCIA arbitration involving claims in breach of contract, unlawful means conspiracy, deceit, and bribery.
  • Advising (as a pupil) on the consequences of a settlement in related proceedings for claims in breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
  • Advising (as a pupil) on the procedure for commencing proceedings against a foreign company which had been dissolved.
     
Shipping
  • Drafting pleadings in and advising on various charterparty disputes and cargo claims, involving issues such as seaworthiness, agency, off-hire, demurrage, termination, bunker quality, port safety, underperformance, and general average.
  • Acting in a dispute concerning a collision in the Suez Canal (with Stewart Buckingham KC).
  • Acting in a hire dispute under a modified NYPE 1946 form (with Henry Ellis).
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in an LMAA arbitration concerning a charterer’s right to stop the vessel for non-payment of hire by its sub-charterer and the exercise of a shipowner’s lien over cargo.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in an LMAA arbitration about property rights in bunkers under a chain of charterparties which raised complex issues of bailment and unjust enrichment.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in a week-long LMAA arbitration concerning a shipowner’s rights and obligations under the charterparty in light of the charterer’s designation under US OFAC sanctions after its cargo had been loaded.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in an Admiralty Court claim involving the allision of a vessel with cranes at the port of Djibouti.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) on proceedings concerning the proper interpretation of provisions of the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in an LMAA arbitration on the question of the proper interpretation of certain clauses in the SALEFORM 2012.
  • Advising (as a pupil) on liability for physical damage caused by off-spec bunkers, underperformance, delay, and the proper interpretation of the charterparty ice clause.
Commodities & International Trade
  • 5-day LCIA Arbitration: acting for a major energy company in a claim against its former supplier arising out of the termination of a long-term supply agreement (with Henry Ellis).
  • Advised on the proper interpretation of multiple linked contracts for CFR sales of scrap.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in a four-day Commercial Court trial concerning an allegedly off-spec cargo of straight-run fuel oil. The dispute involved complex issues of contractual interpretation and the proper approach to mitigation and damages in a volatile market.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in an ad-hoc arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1996 for the seller of a grain cargo in a US$15 million claim against the buyer’s guarantor.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in linked ICC arbitrations worth in excess of US$150 million, involving issues of debt, retention of title, and enforcement against foreign defendants.
  • Assisting (as a pupil) on Commercial Court proceedings concerning the nature of a guarantee and the proper interpretation of section 49 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (CE Energy DMCC v Bashar [2025] EWHC 297 (Comm)).
Banking
  • Assisting (as a pupil) in proceedings brought by defaulting borrowers alleging that receivers sold property at an undervalue.
  • Advising (as a pupil) on whether inter-company loan arrangements by purchasers of a group of hotels breached the terms of a Vendor Loan Agreement.