The Legal 500

London Bar

Set overviews: England and Wales

The ‘very progressive’ 39 Essex Chambers is ‘a go-to for insurance, commercial litigation and construction disputes’ and is ‘streets ahead in the personal injury arena’. The ‘spot on’ set offers ‘a great mix of experience’ and ‘a diverse group of barristers’ who are ‘always willing to get involved as part of the wider legal team’. Chambers has grown over the last year with the likes of Samantha Jones, Katherine Barnes Fiona Paterson joining from 7BR, Francis Taylor Building and Serjeants' Inn Chambers, respectively. Chambers’ move into a ‘superb new building with fantastic facilities’ and its ‘very personable and professional’ service from reception staff is also worth highlighting. The loss of the ‘brilliant commercial law clerk’ David Barnes to Atkin Chambers set tongues wagging last year, but 39 Essex has filled the hole with ‘excellent’ new chief executive and director of clerking Lindsay Scott, who joined from Matrix Chambers. Senior clerks Alastair Davidson and Michael Kaplan run a ‘knowledgeable and friendly’ clerking team that is ‘at the top of its game’ and which provides ‘value-added services’. At senior practice manager level, Ben Sundborg is ‘particularly strong on client care’ and ‘well respected by clerks and clients alike’; Andrew Poyser is ‘committed to client service’; Peter Campbell ‘makes you feel like your work is important and is given priority’; and Sheraton Doyle is ‘extremely helpful’. Practice manager Nik Merison (‘invests a lot of time developing relationships for the longer term that are built on trust’) is also worthy of note. Offices in: London, Manchester, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

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Asia Pacific: The English Bar

Market overview

‘One of the strongest sets in Singapore’, 39 Essex Chambers is ‘an overall commercial powerhouse with a very wide selection of specialities from insurance to energy and construction’. The set also includes a number of members who accept appointments as arbitrators. The clerks ‘provide an excellent service and are very responsive’. Notable individuals include practice manager Niki Merison, who ‘invests a lot of time in developing long-term relationships built on trust’. Rod Noble, the set’s director of Asian business, is permanently based in Singapore. It also has a permanent office in Kuala Lumpur. Formerly a senior practice manager at the set, Owen Lawrence is now the CEO of the International Arbitration Centre in London.

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London Bar

Administrative and public law (including local government)

Administrative and public law (including local government) – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers ‘is certainly a leading set in the area of public law, it has strength and depth and to most in the know is the go-to set’. The scale of its work takes in key roles in the Grenfell inquiry and the Charlie Gard cases. Kate Grange QC is part of the team representing the government in challenges to the intelligence sharing regime between the UK and US, and the system of interception of external communications under RIPA. Alison Foster QC in instructed in Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee v the Department of Health, a judicial review challenge to proposals to reduce funding for the sector.

Administrative and public law (including local government) – Leading silks

Administrative and public law (including local government) – 2017 silks

Administrative and public law (including local government) – 2018 silks

Administrative and public law (including local government) – Leading juniors

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Aviation

Aviation – 2017 silks

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Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police)

Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police) – Leading sets - ranked: tier 3

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers members are regularly instructed on human rights issues in judicial reviews proceedings before the Administrative Court as well as the Court of Protection and the European Court of Human Rights. Nigel Pleming QC was involved in the Core Issues Trust v Transport for London case challenging Tfl’s decision not to place an advertisement championing sexual orientation equality on the side of its buses. Lisa Giovannetti QC represented the Home Secretary before the Supreme Court in MM (Lebanon) & others v Secretary of State for Health which considered changes to the financial requirements for sponsoring a foreign spouse or partner to reside in the UK.

Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police) – Leading silks

Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police) – 2017 silks

Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police) – Leading juniors

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Clinical negligence

Clinical negligence – Leading sets - ranked: tier 3

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers is ‘a fantastic set’ that offers ‘wide range of excellent leading junior counsel skilled in healthcare litigation’ and ‘very knowledgeable silks’, such as Neil Block QC and Charles Cory-Wright QC. The set deals with full range of claims: minor injuries, catastrophic injury and death, and group litigation; Block and Judith Ayling represented disgraced surgeon Ian Paterson against claims brought by numerous ex-patients and which concerned the liability of the NHS for surgeons providing treatment in the private sector.

Clinical negligence – Leading silks

Clinical negligence – Leading juniors

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Commercial litigation

Commercial litigation – 2017 silks

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Commodities

Commodities – Leading juniors

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Competition

Competition – Leading juniors

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Construction

Construction – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers is ‘superb with constructions at all levels’, with a recent spike in instructions for PFI/PPP and public procurement disputes. Several members are involved in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, notably Kate Grange QC who is counsel to the inquiry. The set has been strengthened of late, following the arrivals of Lindy Patterson QC from CMS, Paul Darling OBE QC from Keating Chambers and Anthony Edwards from St Philips Chambers.

Construction – Leading silks

Construction – 2017 silks

Construction – 2018 silks

Construction – Leading juniors

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Costs

Costs – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers has worked on a number of costs litigations in the Court of Appeal and High Court. Vikram Sachdeva QC is very active on matters surrounding the assignment of conditional fee agreements, most notably in cases such as Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v Sally Anne Hyde and Griffith v Paragon.

Costs – Leading silks

Costs – Leading juniors

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Court of Protection and community care

Court of Protection and community care – Leading sets - ranked: tier 1

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers is a ‘brilliant, market leading set, with several well respected practitioners’. Members are frequently instructed by claimants, relatives, statutory agencies, private bodies and the Official Solicitor to advise across the full range of community care matters. Members have particular expertise in health and welfare matters, as well as considerable skill in handling property and affairs. In Briggs v Briggs Jenni Richards QC acted for Mrs Briggs in the Court of Appeal, a case about funding for medical treatment cases and whether such issues should be brought pursuant to section 21 of the Mental Capacity Act. Fiona Paterson has joined from Serjeants' Inn Chambers.

Court of Protection and community care – 2018 silks

Court of Protection and community care – Leading silks

Court of Protection and community care – Leading juniors

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Defamation and privacy

Defamation and privacy – Leading silks

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EU law

EU law – Leading silks

EU law – 2017 silks

EU law – Leading juniors

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Education

Education - Leading sets - ranked: tier 4

39 Essex Chambers

When it comes to education law, 39 Essex Chambers ‘is a great set’ that ‘is able to offer counsel with a variety of specialties and experience’. It handles judicial reviews, negligence, discrimination and contractual matters on behalf of students, their families and teachers, as well as local authorities. Members have expertise in cases of academic exclusion, discrimination or alleged misconduct. In Wallace v Secretary of State for Education Rory Dunlop acted for the Secretary of State in a successful appeal by a former ‘super head’ who was prohibited from teaching for life due to awarding high-value contracts to his ex-partner’s company without disclosing this to the governors.

Education – Leading silks

Education – Leading juniors

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Energy

Energy – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

With ‘excellent strength in depth for construction-related and commercial energy disputes’, 39 Essex Chambers also handles public international law in the energy sector; it ‘consistently delivers, often on short notice or with imperfect or incomplete information’. Stuart Catchpole QC acted for Tepe in an enforcement appeal to the Privy Counsel from the Court of Appeal in Jersey regarding two arbitral awards over the construction of a pipeline in Turkey. Duncan Sinclair is especially experience in electricity work: he defended npower in a regulatory case brought by Ofgem, and represented Peakgen as claimant in a judicial review case against the regulator regarding the latter’s changes to transmission charges.

Energy – Leading silks

Energy – 2017 silks

Energy – Leading juniors

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Environment

Environment – Leading sets - ranked: tier 1

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers is a ‘very trustworthy’ set with a ‘great range of juniors and silks’. Stephen Tromans QC has acted on air quality issues including ultra low emissions zone and proposals for Heathrow expansion and acting for London Gateway defending an action by fishermen for alleged damage caused by siltation from port works. Meanwhile, Justine Thornton QC is involved in the Southern Water Abstraction Licence Inquiry, addressing the conflict with statutory water supply duties and European environmental legislation.

Environment – Leading silks

Environment – Leading juniors

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Financial services

Financial services – Leading juniors

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Health and safety

Health and safety – Leading juniors

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IT and telecoms (excluding regulatory)

Data protection – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers is highlighted for its expertise in data protection and Freedom of Information Act matters. Its members frequently advise public authorities and government bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service and the Cabinet Office.

Data protection – Leading silks

Data protection – Leading juniors

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Immigration (including business immigration)

Immigration (including business immigration) – Leading sets - ranked: tier 3

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers ‘is a go-to set’, according to one source, ‘because of the quality of its barristers, modern, unstuffy approach, and excellent clerking.’ Members act in judicial reviews ranging across removal and detention challenges, control orders and challenges to immigration rules. Lisa Giovannetti QC represented the Home Secretary before the Supreme Court concerning the controversial changes to the financial requirements for sponsoring a non-EEA foreign spouse or partner to enter the UK. Kate Grange was instructed in the SIAC appeal of an individual who was suspected of terrorist activity and had subsequently been deprived of their British citizenship

Immigration (including business immigration) – Leading silks

Immigration (including business immigration) – 2017 silks

Immigration (including business immigration) – Leading juniors

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Inquests and inquiries

Inquests and inquiries – Leading silks

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Insurance and reinsurance

Insurance and reinsurance - Leading silks

Insurance and reinsurance – Leading juniors

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International arbitration: arbitrators

International arbitration: arbitrators – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers has a deep pool of talent, including several ex-solicitors who are now full time arbitrators, with strong experience in insurance, energy and infrastructure disputes.

International arbitration: arbitrators – Leading individuals

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International arbitration: counsel

International arbitration: counsel – Leading sets - ranked: tier 3

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers fields a range of high-quality silks and juniors with an excellent pedigree in construction and insurance disputes. The set has established a strong reputation for work in the Middle East.

International arbitration: counsel – Leading silks

International arbitration: counsel – 2018 silks

International arbitration: counsel – 2017 silks

International arbitration: counsel – Leading juniors

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Media and entertainment (including art and cultural property)

Media and entertainment – Leading silks

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Personal injury, industrial disease and insurance fraud

Personal injury – Leading sets - ranked: tier 1

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers is ‘streets ahead in the personal injury arena, at every level and in every respect’. The set has ‘an excellent coverage of all insurance areas and provides a personal touch with clients and barristers who go the extra mile’. It offers ‘real strength in depth’ with ‘good range of counsel at all levels’. The ‘excellent and very knowledgeable’ barristers deal with catastrophic injury, abuse and high-profile claims.

Personal injury – Leading silks

Insurance fraud – Leading juniors

Personal injury – Leading juniors

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Planning

Planning – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

‘Very strong set for planning and environmental matters’, 39 Essex Chambers has been involved in many high-value instructions from both national and international clients. In a recent highlight, Peter Village QC, James Strachan QC and Ned Helme have been instructed in an inquiry for City and Country Group in its proposed redevelopment of a Grade I listed mansion, which involves a detailed assessment of the heritage interest.

Planning – Leading silks

Planning – 2017 silks

Planning – Leading juniors

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Product liability

Product liability – Leading silks

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Professional discipline and regulatory law

Professional discipline and regulatory law – Leading sets - ranked: tier 1

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers is ‘a go-to set for complex regulatory issues, for both advisory work and litigation’, with members covering both professional services and medical regulation. In the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Andrew Tabachnik QC prosecuted and Gregory Treverton-Jones QC defended in a case brought against two solicitors from the now-closed firm Tandem Law; the pair borrowed money from the now collapsed Axiom Legal Financing Fund, with the funds spent by the solicitors on, among other things, a Porsche Cayenne. David Bradly successfully defended a mental health nurse, who ordered the strip searches of two patients he believed to be in possession of cannabis.

Professional discipline and regulatory law – Leading silks

Professional discipline and regulatory law – 2017 silks

Professional discipline and regulatory law – Leading juniors

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Professional negligence

Professional negligence – Leading sets - ranked: tier 5

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers has an ‘outward looking approach’ and is ‘well respected’ for professional negligence cases, particularly involving construction and engineering issues.

Professional negligence – Leading silks

Professional negligence – 2017 silks

Professional negligence – 2018 silks

Professional negligence – leading juniors

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Public international law

Public international law – Leading juniors

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Set overviews: England and Wales

The ‘very progressive’ 39 Essex Chambers is ‘a go-to for insurance, commercial litigation and construction disputes’ and is ‘streets ahead in the personal injury arena’. The ‘spot on’ set offers ‘a great mix of experience’ and ‘a diverse group of barristers’ who are ‘always willing to get involved as part of the wider legal team’. Chambers has grown over the last year with the likes of Samantha Jones, Katherine Barnes Fiona Paterson joining from 7BR, Francis Taylor Building and Serjeants' Inn Chambers, respectively. Chambers’ move into a ‘superb new building with fantastic facilities’ and its ‘very personable and professional’ service from reception staff is also worth highlighting. The loss of the ‘brilliant commercial law clerk’ David Barnes to Atkin Chambers set tongues wagging last year, but 39 Essex has filled the hole with ‘excellent’ new chief executive and director of clerking Lindsay Scott, who joined from Matrix Chambers. Senior clerks Alastair Davidson and Michael Kaplan run a ‘knowledgeable and friendly’ clerking team that is ‘at the top of its game’ and which provides ‘value-added services’. At senior practice manager level, Ben Sundborg is ‘particularly strong on client care’ and ‘well respected by clerks and clients alike’; Andrew Poyser is ‘committed to client service’; Peter Campbell ‘makes you feel like your work is important and is given priority’; and Sheraton Doyle is ‘extremely helpful’. Practice manager Nik Merison (‘invests a lot of time developing relationships for the longer term that are built on trust’) is also worthy of note. Offices in: London, Manchester, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

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Social housing

Social housing – Leading juniors

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Sport

Sport – Leading juniors

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Tax: corporate and VAT

Tax: VAT – Leading sets - ranked: tier 3

39 Essex Chambers

‘Great set’ 39 Essex Chambers is ‘growing in strength for tax disputes’, particularly in relation to VAT and indirect tax. Timothy Lyons QC and Kelly Stricklin-Coutinho are acting for the taxpayer in a major customs duty case. In Pendragon Plc v Revenue and Customs Commissioners, Nigel Pleming QC is representing HMRC at the Court of Appeal in relation to the VAT treatment of the sale of cars.

Tax: VAT – Leading silks

Tax: corporate – Leading silks

Tax: VAT – Leading juniors

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Travel law (including jurisdictional issues)

Travel law (including jurisdictional issues) – Leading sets - ranked: tier 2

39 Essex Chambers

39 Essex Chambers has ‘a wide range of counsel at all levels of call’ and a ‘particular specialism in jurisdiction and travel claims’. The set’s travel and jurisdictional expertise includes group litigation and individual claims arising from food poisoning, sport and road traffic accidents, aviation and maritime issues, terror attacks, and personal injury.

Travel law (including jurisdictional issues) – Leading silks

Travel law (including jurisdictional issues) – 2017 silks

Travel law (including jurisdictional issues) – Leading juniors

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Asia Pacific: The English Bar

Commercial

39 Essex Chambers continues to have members instructed in commercial disputes across the Asia region.

Commercial – Leading silks

Commercial – Leading juniors

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Construction

39 Essex Chambers is active in construction disputes across the entire Asia region, covering both traditional buildings and infrastructure as well. Charles Manzoni QC is also notably a senior counsel in Hong Kong on top of being an English silk and a qualified mechanical and electrical engineer.

Construction – Leading silks

Construction – Leading juniors

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Energy

39 Essex Chambers has members handling a range of energy work, including hydrocarbon extraction disputes and the construction of power stations. One name of note is Peter Rees QC, who brings in-house expertise as a former legal director of Shell.

Energy – Leading silks

Energy – Leading juniors

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Market overview

‘One of the strongest sets in Singapore’, 39 Essex Chambers is ‘an overall commercial powerhouse with a very wide selection of specialities from insurance to energy and construction’. The set also includes a number of members who accept appointments as arbitrators. The clerks ‘provide an excellent service and are very responsive’. Notable individuals include practice manager Niki Merison, who ‘invests a lot of time in developing long-term relationships built on trust’. Rod Noble, the set’s director of Asian business, is permanently based in Singapore. It also has a permanent office in Kuala Lumpur. Formerly a senior practice manager at the set, Owen Lawrence is now the CEO of the International Arbitration Centre in London.

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Shipping

Alongside his arbitrator practice, 39 Essex Chambers’s Ben Olbourne acts as counsel on dry shipping matters and shipbuilding disputes.

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