St Ives Chambers > Birmingham, England > Set Profile

Client Testimonials

CLIENT: Philip Rea
COMPANY/FIRM: Thursfields Solicitors
TESTIMONIAL:
St Ives chambers Family set are second to none. The breadth of experience, knowledge and skills of their Counsel provides us with reassurance and comfort that our clients are in excellent hands. Client service from Counsel is always of the utmost quality. Feedback from clients is always very positive. Tom Harrill, Tom Lawal and Holly Hilbourne-Gollop are particular standouts and are our ‘go to’s’ for Private Law work. The clerking team is also worth a mention the level of client service in particular David Walters and Scott Goodison is exceptional. They go out of their way to assist, ensuring wherever then can that they have Counsel available to represent clients and having a good knowledge of the Counsel we typically like to instruct.

CLIENT: Rachel Adams
COMPANY/FIRM: DFA Law
TESTIMONIAL:
I cannot recommend the Family Finance Team at St Ives Chambers highly enough. They have a fantastic range of counsel from silk through to the junior end of junior counsel and are always our ‘go to’ chambers as we can tailor counsel to suit the needs of our particular case.

The service from the clerks is really first-class and they will go out of their way to assist.

The barristers that we use from St Ives Chambers provide an outstanding level of support to instructing solicitors, so it really feels that you are working within a team. They are responsive and efficient, diligent and provide solid advice.

CLIENT: James Coles
COMPANY/FIRM: Browne Jacobson
TESTIMONIAL:
Undoubtedly the “go to” property set in the Midlands. We have one of the largest property litigation teams in the Midlands and therefore need a property set that can deal with complex and high value disputes often at short notice; St Ives never fails to deliver. We particularly rate Michelle Caney, David Nuttall and Tony Watkin.

CLIENT: Yetunde Dania
COMPANY/FIRM: Trowers & Hamlins LLP
TESTIMONIAL:
I have worked with the housing clerks and the housing team at St Ives for many years.

The clerks are extremely approachable, friendly and will do their very best to provide representation and the processing of papers often at very short notice.

The barristers are also extremely approachable, speak plain English and are extremely good with clients.

This is extremely important to me as it is very rare nowadays for us to also be present at hearings and trials.

I seriously cannot recommend St Ives Chambers highly enough!

Client Testimonials

Diversity

St. Ives Chambers recognises the importance of continuing to develop a Bar which reflects the diversity of the society we serve. The principles of fairness and equality are central to how we approach our clients, colleagues, and working culture. As a Chambers, we pride ourselves in championing causes that challenge discrimination in matters of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and disability. At St Ives, we want to go beyond what is required policy and expected behaviours, by seeking to ensure that we are pivotal in implementing, engaging and introducing initiatives that promote the diverse society we represent and defend.

The highlights from our E&D initiatives have been those occasions when we have reached out beyond chambers and engaged the wider community.

We were early signatories to, and continue to enthusiastically support, the Free Bar initiative, amplifying the voices and visibility of our colleagues in the LGBTQ+ community. It is important to us that we are active in the legal community both nationally and in the West Midlands, through regular seminars and training conferences which allow us to disseminate and learn from our collective experiences. Our Modern Families Conference brought together solicitors, leading experts, child protection professionals, and the combined expertise of our own barristers to reflect on current family law in a modern society of alternative family models and non-binary identities, and in recognition that our justice system needs to embrace the challenge of ensuring moral and legal acceptance in all cases.

Our annual Black History Month events are open to legal professionals and the local student community. They give us a chance to learn from the experiences of our judges, barristers, and other professionals of colour, and challenge us to continue to reflect and develop our working practices when it comes to ensuring racial equality.

Chambers sponsors and actively supports an initiative, local to the West Midlands, that provides students from all social backgrounds with an opportunity to experience life at the Bar. The “Bridging the Bar” scheme, benefits local students from all backgrounds, providing them with invaluable first-hand experience of shadowing a Barrister in their day-to-day working life. This scheme helps to demystify life at the Bar and provide aspiring young lawyers with the confidence and assurance that at a Chambers like St. Ives, their professional ambitions are attainable.

Advancement in the areas of equality, diversity, and inclusion within our profession are not boxes to be ticked, but rather a continuing process of asking ourselves difficult questions about how we deliver the service that we do and how we drive such change. At St. Ives, we are ambitious about our development.