The Legal 500

This large civil law set provides specialist advocacy and advice in almost every aspect of commercial, planning, common and public law. Within the broad range of its expertise, chambers has developed specialisms in construction and engineering, insurance and reinsurance, healthcare, environmental and planning, costs, human rights, regulatory and disciplinary, personal injury, clinical and professional negligence, and energy. Chambers is renowned for its approachability and flexibility, while maintaining the highest standards of quality.

The set: Thirty Nine Essex Street is a highly regarded set with a client base including public and private companies, government departments and agencies, local authorities, trade unions, health authorities and trusts, educational bodies, insurance companies and professional indemnity insurers, underwriters and individual litigants.

Members of chambers have wide experience of all domestic and European courts including the House of Lords, Privy Council, English Appellate Courts, the High Court, the Supreme Court, European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights. Many individual members are qualified arbitrators and/or mediators and are regularly appointed to sit in domestic and international arbitrations, convened under internationally recognised arbitration bodies as well as bespoke arbitration clauses, or to act as mediators. Members regularly attend planning inquiries and employment, mental health reviews, special educational needs, registered homes and VAT tribunals and participate in investigations before parliamentary select committees and public inquiries. 30 members of the chambers are Queen’s Counsel and a further 13 are on the Treasury Panels of counsel instructed on behalf of the Crown. Many members of chambers act as advocates in overseas jurisdictions including Hong Kong, the Caribbean, Singapore, Middle East, Malaysia, Bermuda, Belize, Australia and the US. Members also undertake pro bono work and act for public interest organisations.

At Thirty Nine Essex Street, quality advice and advocacy is viewed as the starting point for delivery of a specialist legal service in an increasingly competitive and changing professional environment. The members of Thirty Nine Essex Street are known for their approachability and practicality, as well as for their forensic skills. They see themselves as part of a legal team, working closely with professional and lay clients in a complementary and strategic way. Members of chambers regularly attend conferences at clients’ offices, and are readily accessible for advice in person, over the telephone, via fax, e-mail or in video and Internet conference. Chambers runs a programme of CPD accredited seminars held in London and Manchester. Members also frequently present these papers at other venues. Chambers’ members often give tailor-made talks and seminars to solicitors in their offices as part of their in-house training.

Chambers provides an efficient and cost-effective service. The clerks are knowledgeable and frank in their appraisal of a barrister’s suitability and availability for a particular matter. Chambers aims to combine a professional and high-quality service with a flexible approach in order to meet the evolving requirements of their clients.

Chambers’ size, at 89 barristers, ensures that there is substantial core expertise in each specialist area, and collaboration among members of different specialisms is common place and actively encouraged. This range of skills, experience and expertise in each practice area ensures that the professional and lay client receive professional advice and service of the highest quality

Types of work undertaken: Construction and engineering; commercial; insurance and reinsurance; oil and gas; entertainment and media; sports law; international arbitration; costs; competition law; personal injury; multi-claimant group actions; disaster litigation; injuries of maximum severity; full range of injuries and circumstances including accidents at work and road traffic accidents; clinical negligence at all stages; professional negligence; matters involving surveyors, valuers, solicitors, barristers, engineers, architects, insurance brokers, accountants/auditors, medical practitioners, financial services providers and stockbrokers; administrative and public law; local authorities and other public bodies; planning and environmental law; health trusts; education; civil liberties and human rights; community care; mental health, housing and housing associations; immigration; Customs & Excise; VAT and European law; regulatory and disciplinary law; and energy law.