The Legal 500

Serle Court is a set of barristers’ chambers offering genuine expertise across a broad range of both Chancery and commercial disciplines – in effect, Serle Court covers the whole range of what might be termed ‘business’ law, from offshore litigation about the world’s largest companies to domestic advice on probate matters, servicing a similarly disparate lay and professional client base at home and abroad.

The set: Widely recognised as one of the top sets at the English Bar, Serle Court is recommended in 20 different areas of practice by legal directories. Serle Court is also one of the largest commercial Chancery sets, with 53 members, including 17 silks, and as such is well-placed to offer the right barrister (or team) for each case – something upon which Serle Court prides itself, and just one facet of its commitment to exceptional service.

Types of work undertaken: Across a broad range of practice areas, Serle Court provides an equally wide range of services. The needs of the modern client have long been more extensive than merely drafting, advising and litigating – needless to say, Serle Court offers all those services, but Serle Court has also positioned itself in the vanguard of the ADR revolution, with an unusually large number of highly regarded mediators and arbitrators, as well as many members with extensive experience of appearing in such alternative dispute resolution forums.

Serle Court’s core practice is litigation: it can provide bright and effective barristers at all levels to conduct all types of business litigation and is experienced at putting together streamlined and powerful teams of counsel for some of the largest cases in the world. In recent years these have included: Alhamranhi in Jersey, the Weissfisch litigation in the Bahamas and in England the Lexi fraud case, the Fiona litigation, the Lehman brothers administration and the BTA bank litigation.

The members are also very often instructed on opposite sides of the same case – in some cases in recent years, all barristers on all sides have been from Serle Court. Serle Court understands the overwhelming need for confidentiality in such cases and has put in place effective systems to ensure the separation of clerking and document handling, so that clients may be confident that their interests are protected.

Although Serle Court is a leading commercial Chancery set, it also undertakes a significant amount of advisory work, across the whole range of practice areas. Because members appreciate both the practical and business realities of legal problems, they aim to provide clear and imaginative solutions, and helpful advice – even if it is not always positive! As a matter of course, Serle Court will aim to suggest barristers capable of responding effectively to demands for urgent advice if the case requires it and offer document transmission by email.

Serle Court’s work is by no means limited to the courts of England and Wales and domestic tribunals. A very significant proportion of work originates overseas: Serle Court has particularly close relationships with professional clients in the Channel Islands and the Caribbean, but members also advise and appear in proceedings in the European courts, as well as in (amongst others) Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Middle East, New South Wales, Norway, Panama, Russia, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the US.

In consequence, many members of Serle Court are very experienced in working closely with lawyers from different jurisdictions, and, when appropriate, will happily travel abroad to see clients. They can adopt a hands-on approach to foreign litigation, either on the ground or from London, as the case requires.

The main areas of work include: arbitration, mediation, banking, Chancery, civil fraud, commercial litigation, company, financial services, insolvency, insurance and reinsurance, partnership and LLPs, professional negligence, property, sports, entertainment and media, and trusts and probate.