The Legal 500

United Kingdom > Regional Bar > Midland Circuit > Crime

Editorial sections

Other

All countries

St Philips Chambers is a ‘leading set of criminal chambers in Birmingham’. Head of chambers James Burbidge QC is a ‘superstar’, and handles a wide range of heavyweight criminal matters including complex medico-legal cases. Andrew Smith is ‘punctilious in his thorough preparation’; his ‘judgement on the approach to be taken and the evidential aspects needed is extremely sound’. Andrew Lockhart QC and the ‘fantastic’ Ben Mills are highly recommended for fraud matters. David Crigman QC is an ‘outstanding performer on circuit’ for non-fraud work. Other recommended juniors include Timothy Green, Kristina Montgomery, Simon Ward and Jonas Hankin.

No5 Chambers’ saw the recent appointment of three silks to its criminal team, namely Michael Duck QC, the ‘very able and experienced’ Simon Drew QC, and Adrian Keeling QC, who takes a ‘common-sense approach to matters and cuts through the irrelevancies’. Other notable silks include Anthony Barker QC, who is recommended for corporate manslaughter, Christopher Hotten QC, who is adept at handling the most high-profile and complex murders, and the ‘exceptional’ Rex Tedd QC. Mark Heywood has a prosecution-oriented practice, and Sally Hancox has a mixed practice with a particular interest in mental health issues. Alexander Stein is ‘very hardworking and efficient’, and is recommended for regulatory crime.

St Ive’s Chambers’ David Jackson and Peter Cooper continue to appear in top-end criminal cases.

1 High Pavement’s strong criminal team includes Greg Dickinson QC, Adrian Reynolds, Richard Thatcher, Michael Auty, Steven Gosnell, Steven Coupland and Mark Achurch.

KCH Garden Square’s Caroline Bradley and Julie Warburton are recommended for serious violence and rape cases. Mark Van Der Zwart has a ‘robust, but fair, cross-examination technique’, and Ian Way is ‘particularly good with clients who have mental health issues, and, indeed, with difficult clients’. Clients also have no hesitation in using Michael Cranmer-Brown in child murder and rape cases without a silk’

Search News and Articles

Press releases

The latest news direct from law firms. If you would like to submit press releases for your firm, send an email request to

Legal Developments in the UK

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

  • COUNCIL TAX

    In Harrow LBC v Ayiku [2012] EWHC 1200 (Admin) Sales J held that the word “or” in the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992, art 3 Class N, had a disjunctive meaning, therefore it was sufficient for the non-British spouse of a foreign student to satisfy one or other of the two conditions, namely being prevented from taking paid employment or being prevented from claiming benefits, in order to qualify as a “relevant person” who was exempted from liability to pay council tax.
    - 11KBW

  • QUEEN’S SPEECH

    Bills already introduced pursuant to the Queen’s Speech on 9 May 2012 include Local Government Finance Bill and Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, both accompanied by Explanatory Notes, which in each case address ECHR compatibility.
    - 11KBW

  • Standards

    In R (Calver) v Adjudication Panel for Wales [2012] EWHC 1172 (Admin) Mr Calver was a member of Manorbier Community Council who successfully challenged the decision of the Panel to dismiss his appeal against a decision by Prembrokeshire County Council Standards Committee censuring him for a number of comments or blogs posted by him on a website he owned and controlled.
    - 11KBW

  • A justified retrospective

    Clive Sheldon - QC debates the pros & cons of retrospective tax legislation
    - 11KBW

  • Public Sector Equality Duty (“PSED”)

    In R (Greenwich Community Law Centre) v Greenwich LBC [2012] EWCA Civ 496 the Court of Appeal held that the Council had had “due regard to the PSED when making changes to its funding of community legal advice services”. At para 30 Elias LJ said:
    - 11KBW

  • Public Sector Equality Duty

    Surrey County Council conducted a review of its Library Service. This culminated in a Report to the Council’s Cabinet. The Recommendations in the Report included that there should be consultation about a community-partnership approach at selected Libraries.
    - 11KBW

  • Judicial Review

    The Judgment of Lindblom J in The Manydown Co Ltd v Basingstoke and Deane BC [2012] EWHC 977 (Admin) repays attention. The Claimant sought to challenge by judicial review 2 decisions of the Council: (1) the Council’s refusal to reconsider its position on the development of a site that it owns (and is the subject matter of a Joint Development Partnership Agreement with the Claimant); and (2) a decision of the Council’s Cabinet approving a selection of sites for development which did not include this site.
    - 11KBW

  • The Health and Social Care Act 2012: impact on adult social services

    After its torrid passage through Parliament, the Health and Social Care Bill received Royal Assent on 27 March 2012. The Act deals principally with healthcare reform, but it also contains some amendments to the legislative framework for social care. It will come into force on a day yet to be appointed by the Secretary of State.
    - 11KBW

  • Immigration update May 2012

    In this issue:
    - Penningtons Solicitors LLP

  • Premium service for tier 2 and 5 sponsors to be launched

    A premium service for sponsors will be launched by the UKBA on 6 April 2012. The service is designed specifically for companies that sponsor international employees under tier 2 and 5 of the points based system and aims to provide them with enhanced support.
    - Penningtons Solicitors LLP

Press Releases in the UK

The latest news direct from law firms. If you would like to submit press releases for your firm, send an email request to
© 2012 www.legal500.com