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Westgate Chambers’ Philip Meredith has a silk-type practice that includes complex fraud work, and Nicholas Howard Hamblin has a diet of complex crime and white-collar matters. Jeffrey Lamb is a ‘robust advocate’ and is recommended for serious sexual offence cases. Sarah Lindop is a leading junior particularly on sexual offences and has a ‘good presence in court’. Tayo Adebayo is ‘particularly good at complex criminal trials’, and has a niche practice relating to the importation of endangered animal species. Sara-Lise Howe has a national RSPCA defence practice. Jonathan Edwards is also highly recommended.

Crown Office Row’s animal welfare law expert Rowan Jenkins’ is ‘always ready to help with on-going problems’. Clients would ‘not hesitate to recommendChristine Henson, who has a heavyweight criminal practice. Francesca Lewington, who handles regulatory crime work, ‘always approaches cases with diligence and the thoroughness clients would expect’. Ghulam Hussain has a ‘constant desire to achieve the best results for clients’.

Lamb Building’s Brighton annex houses Jeremy Wainwright, Andrew Selby and Lewis Power QC.

At Eastbourne Chambers, Julian Dale and Rebecca Upton are defence-oriented criminal practitioners.

East Anglian Chambers’ Richard Kelly is recommended for high-profile rape and murder cases, and white-collar fraud cases. Rex Bryan has carved out a notable RSCPA prosecution practice. Lynne Shirley and Matthew Edwards have notable court-martial practices.

Octagon House’ Guy Ayers and Michael Clare have heavyweight criminal practices, and Jonathan Goodman recently joined the team.

Fenners Chambers’ Lawrence Bruce, who has the ‘ability to get to the heart of an issue very quickly’, and Mike Magee are highly recommended criminal practitioners.

18 Red Lion Court, Chelmsford Annexe has a very strong presence on circuit in this area. Stephen Harvey QC is a ‘skilful, hardworking advocate, who prepares meticulously’, and David Wilson is a ‘strong advocate, who will give robust advice where appropriate’. Martyn Levett is an ‘outstanding advocate, who manages to balance having a great legal and academic mind with considerable jury appeal’. Jane Oldfield makes ‘defendants feel at ease as well as have the utmost confidence in her advice, which is of the highest standard’. Steven Dyble is a ‘formidable advocate’ and a recognised leading criminal senior.

At 1 Paper Buildings, Karim Khalil QC is recognised as a ‘dominant’ practitioner on circuit and has a leading heavyweight practice. John Farmer and Stephen Spence, who has a niche aviation practice, are very highly rated.

At 6 Pump Court, Richard Barraclough QC is recommended for high-profile crime and regulatory cases and has an ‘amazing ability to cross-examine, thanks to his preparation, application and intellect’. Oliver Saxby defends and prosecutes in serious criminal matters and is ‘not easily ruffled’. John O’Higgins is ‘first class’, and Peter Gower QC is ‘excellent and charismatic’.

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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:
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  • 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.
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  • Immigration update May 2012

    In this issue:
  • 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.

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