Charlie is a partner in the firm and spearheads its leading sanctions practice. He also maintains a wider focus on international law, commercial and media disputes.

Charlie maintains a pioneering practice in international and domestic sanctions. He advises clients on administrative and judicial challenges before various tribunals including the authorities and courts of the UK, EU, US and UN; as well as on sanctions compliance and representation before regulators and licencing authorities including OFSI. His sanctions cases often test new rules and legislation, establishing important principles of law, and they frequently allow him to also call upon his experience in media and reputation management law to further protect his clients’ interests.

This (amongst other) work has led to Charlie being ranked as a Band 1 sanctions law expert by Chambers & Partners, where he is credited with being a ‘truly super sanctions specialist’ and an ‘immediate port of call for any client with sanctions issues’.  It has also led to him being highlighted as a recommended lawyer in the Legal 500, where he is referred to as a ‘go-to individual for this work’ who provides ‘exceptional advice in often very difficult circumstances’.

As well as maintaining a top-tier sanctions practice Charlie regularly advises on wider public international law, contractual, fraud, banking, company law, professional negligence, harassment, defamation, privacy, data protection and wider media disputes (both pre- and post-publication); more often than not in an international and multi-jurisdictional context and before various forums including courts and arbitral tribunals. His client base includes high and ultra-high net worth, high-profile and celebrity individuals as well as corporates and charitable bodies.

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.

  • Legal 500 2025 report ‘Charles Enderby Smith combines intelligence with excellent business sense’ and  ‘is a top-quality lawyer, who gives exceptional advice in often very difficult circumstances’ and ‘is becoming well known among lawyers in this space as a go-to adviser (particularly on sanctions-related work).’  Legal 500 also praise Charlie for [his]stand-out quality and expertise in this area and his ‘impressive client handling. ’
  • Chambers & Partners 2025 report Charlie ‘is an immediate port of call for any client with sanctions issues’ and that he is ‘truly a super sanctions specialist [and] ‘an expert in the area’.  Sources also highlight that ‘there’s a realism with him about what points work and how a case should be run’.
  • Chambers & Partners 2024 Sanctions Guide – Charlie co-edited the chapter with Guy Martin.  The publication covers key jurisdictions, providing the latest information on regulatory and legal updates, delisting challenges, trade and export restrictions, litigation and arbitration and designation, compliance and circumvention.
  • Global Arbitration Review McNair International Annual Conference – 2022 in review.  Report for GAR reviewing the key decisions of 2022 concerning the English Arbitration Act 1996, investment treaty disputes, and public international law before the English courts
  • Law360: UK Damages Cap Threatens Rights of Sanctions Targets Analysis on the recent legislative adjustment (December 2022)
  • Chambers 2024 Charlie is ranked as an ‘Up and Coming’ specialist lawyer for Sanctions Law and praised for ‘consistently delivering exceptional commercial advice on the most complex sanctions and public international law issues’. He is also cited as being an advisor to corporate groups and individuals on challenges to sanctions
  • Legal 500 2024 report Charlie is ‘very capable of navigating through intricate matters‘
  • Charlie is a Band 1 ranked lawyer in Chambers 2023 for Sanctions Law
  • Chambers 2023 report that ‘Charles has an admirable grasp of the bureaucratic mechanics of sanctioning and other relevant government institutions, and how they can be used most effectively to advocate for his clients.’ They also report that he has ‘a strong sanctions practice [which] ‘includes representing clients in administrative and judicial challenges before tribunals at a national and international level.’
  • Legal 500 2023 report that Charles ‘has great experience in dealing with difficult and sensitive commercial cases… and that he is ‘a rising name in the field of public international law’
  • Legal 500 2022 report that ‘Charles is a future superstar’ and a key lawyer for Public International law
  • Global Investigations Review’s Guide to Sanctions (Third Edition) (July 2022)
  • openDemocracy: an insight highlighting the legal issues for British individuals and businesses dealing with funds or economic resources owned, held or controlled by someone under UK sanctions. (July 2022)
  • Global Investigations Review’s Guide to Sanctions (Second Edition) (July 2021)
  • Global Investigation Review’s Guide to Sanctions (First Edition)  The Guide is the first of its kind to clearly dissect UN Sanctions in a practical and concise manner (August 2020)
  • Report on the UK implementation of the first autonomous sanctions for human rights abuses (co-written with Guy Martin and Blackstone Chambers)
  • Law Society Gazette: After the election: all change for UK sanctions litigation?
  • Butterworths’ Journal of International Banking and Financial Law examining potential changes in the legal landscape which may make it easier for companies to bring claims against banks in relation to mis-sold products and investments
  • Global Trade Review analysing the UK sanctions framework post Brexit
  • Financial Regulation International examining the potential causes of action available to investors in dark pools that consider they may have suffered loss at the hands of HFT firms
  • The Law Society Gazette on a judgment in the Suremime Ltd v Barclays litigation regarding tortious claims against a bank for allegedly failing to carry out a review into the mis-sale of IRHPs in accordance with the agreement reached between that bank and the FCA. The article can be found here
  • The New Law Journal analysing the Holmcroft Judicial Review application on the role of the Independent Reviewer in the IRHP Review.
  • The Law Society Gazette on challenging sanctions designations in the UK
  • Acting for prominent businessman Nizar Assaad in an EU sanctions challenge resulting in a significant judgment from the EU General Court on 8 March 2023 annulling the sanctions and vindicating the client’s position
  • Representing His Majesty King Juan Carlos I in the defence of a 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
  • Acting for the late former Egyptian president of Egypt, Mohamed Hosni Elsayed Mubarak, and members of his family in their high-profile and widely-publicised sanctions case. 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 a HNW individual on likelihood of UK designation and mitigation of risk
  • 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
  • Advising 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
  • 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
  • Advising on a post-publication libel claim against the Mirror on behalf of a high-profile celebrity
  • Advising 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
  • Advising a large corporate on its obligations under an agency agreement relating to the sale of a large portfolio of properties.
  • Charlie advised on a post-publication action against the publisher and author of a high-profile book