Monica Carss-Frisk KC > Chambers of Tom Weisselberg KC and Jane Mulcahy KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Blackstone Chambers has ‘a superlative administrative law and human rights practice‘, noted for its ‘incredible strength in depth‘; the team attracts praise as being ‘exceptionally knowledgeable in relation to public and administrative law issues‘. The set has an excellent reputation for its expertise in providing advice on public law issues within a commercial context. In a prominent case highlight, Tom Hickman KC, Jason Pobjoy and Gayatri Sarathy were part of a team in chambers who represented the claimants before the Divisonal Court in R (HM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, a challenge to the legality of the government’s secret and blanket policy to seize, search and retain data from the mobile phones of persons arriving the UK by small boats; the court ruled that the policy breached Article 8 ECHR and data protection laws. In another high-profile case, Lord Pannick KC and Monica Carss-Frisk KC appeared before the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in Q & Tse v Commissioner of Registration, a case concerning the jurisdiction’s policy on the issuance of ID cards to transgender individuals who had not undergone qualifying gender reassignment surgery – the case also involved issues of the jurisdiction’s rules of temporary admission of English barristers. Paul Luckhurst is ‘an excellent litigator with a fierce intellect‘ who is sought after for his strength in human rights law. The senior end of the group was bolstered by the elevation of Tom Richards KC to silk in March 2023. Sir James Eadie KC, in his role as treasury devil, is the government’s first-choice outside barrister.

Blackstone Chambers offers ‘great strength in depth, at both silk and junior level’ for competition work, operating at the forefront of regulatory and private damages actions in the UK; as well as a recognised reputation for international expertise, representing governments, regulators, defendants and claimants across multiple jurisdictions. Acting under temporary admission to the Hong Kong Bar, Competition Commission of Hong Kong v W Hing Construction, James Segan KC represented the Commission in the first case heard in the that forum about pecuniary penalties for contravention of that jurisdiction’s competition law. In two significant judgments handed down by the CAT, Brian Kennelly KC and Paul Luckhurst represented UBS in a case regarding applications for opt-out collective proceedings under 47B of the Competition Act; while Monica Carss-Frisk KC, Jessica Boyd KC, Isabel Buchanan and Tom Coates appeared in CityFibre Limited v Ofcom, with the tribunal dismissing CityFibre’s appeal under section 192 of the Communications Act 2003.