The Legal 500

Chambers of Robert Sterling

68 QUAY STREET, MANCHESTER, M3 3EJ, ENGLAND
Tel:
Work 0161 834 7000
Fax:
Fax 0161 834 2341
DX:
14350 MANCHESTER 1
Web:
www.stjameschambers.co.uk
Email:

What we say about the set's legal practice in Regional Bar

Northern Circuit

Within Chancery and commercial litigation,

St James’s ChambersRobert Sterling has a broad chancery and commercial practice; Lucy Wilson-Barnes is active with revenue and director disqualification cases; and Sarah Harrison handles probate, tax and trust matters. Brad Pomfret has ‘everything you would expect a barrister to have’, and his ‘confidence and determination imply more than his seven years call’.

Within Employment,

St James’s ChambersJames Hurd and Christopher Taft are recommended juniors.

Within Family,

St James’s ChambersBarrie Searle is recommended for high-value ancillary relief cases.

Within Overview, St James's Chambers (Chambers of Robert Sterling) is a second tier firm,

The Northern Circuit comprises the largest volume of sets and barristers outside of London. Now that Manchester is home to the GMC and the new Administrative Court, and, combined with the fact that it is a strong Bar, local sets retain more of the complex work than historically was the case. The circuit is hugely receptive to the challenges the modern Bar faces; many sets are waiting on the sideline with a ProcureCo in place, and yet another set, namely Young Street Chambers, has folded. St Johns Buildings, which houses the leading family team, is in the process of merging with Paradise Chambers and India Buildings Chambers to have greater leverage for LSC tendering. Kings Chambers is the leading chancery, commercial and planning set; Lincoln House Chambers is top for crime; Byrom Street Chambers is the go-to set for personal injury and clinical negligence; and 9 St John Street is known for its employment offering. Deans Court Chambers and Exchange Chambers are solid sets with sound reputations. Garden Court North Chambers has notable prison and immigration law practitioners and has seen the recent arrival of three new tenants. St James’s Chambers, Cobden House Chambers and 18 St John Street Chambers, which recently took on several former Young Street Chambers members, are efficient and effective sets. In Liverpool, 7 Harrington Street has an incredible selection of criminal silks; Atlantic Chambers is a well-liked set and has several members who have national credit hire practices; and Liverpool Civil Law is a specialist civil set with several key PI practitioners.

Within Planning, construction and property,

At St James’s Chambers, Warren Potts is a general commercial property practitioner and is often instructed by breweries.

Treasury Panel Lists

Within Treasury Panel Lists Region 1


Further information on St James's Chambers (Chambers of Robert Sterling)

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Regional Bar

Offices in Manchester

Legal Developments in the UK

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  • HOUSING

    In Nzinga Maswaku v Westminster City Council [2012] EWCA Civ 669 the Court of Appeal clarified that in offering a homeless person with alternative temporary accommodation the local authority is obliged to point that if the offer is refused it has discharged its Part VII duties under the Housing Act 1996.
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    In R (Calver) v Adjudication Panel for Wales [2012] EWHC 1172 (Admin) Mr Calver was a member of Manorbier Community Council who successfully challenged the decision of the Panel to dismiss his appeal against a decision by Prembrokeshire County Council Standards Committee censuring him for a number of comments or blogs posted by him on a website he owned and controlled.
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  • Public Sector Equality Duty

    Surrey County Council conducted a review of its Library Service. This culminated in a Report to the Council’s Cabinet. The Recommendations in the Report included that there should be consultation about a community-partnership approach at selected Libraries.
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    The Judgment of Lindblom J in The Manydown Co Ltd v Basingstoke and Deane BC [2012] EWHC 977 (Admin) repays attention. The Claimant sought to challenge by judicial review 2 decisions of the Council: (1) the Council’s refusal to reconsider its position on the development of a site that it owns (and is the subject matter of a Joint Development Partnership Agreement with the Claimant); and (2) a decision of the Council’s Cabinet approving a selection of sites for development which did not include this site.
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  • Immigration update May 2012

    In this issue: