The Legal 500

Within Chancery and commercial litigation,

9 St John Street’s James Fryer-Spedding, Andrew Clark and Laura D’Cruz are all recommended for commercial and chancery work.

Within Crime,

9 St John Street’s Nicholas Clarke QC has a strong prosecution heavy practice, and Gary Woodhall handles high-profile fraud matters. Louise Brandon is a leading junior within the set and Jaime Hamilton, Nicola Gatto and Peter Cadwallader are recommended for serious criminal defence matters.

Within Employment,

9 St John Street’s Paul Gilroy QC is ‘at the top of the ladder’, ‘as good as it gets’, for employment matters and frequently handles high-profile cases concerning professional sports contracts. The ‘excellent’ Stefan Brochwicz-Lewinski and the vastly knowledgeable Dr Stephen Hardy handle a wide range of matters for the Treasury Panel, and Nigel Grundy is a leading senior junior who regularly represents blue-chip firms and health and education authorities. Carlo Breen is a leading junior on equal-pay work for local authorities, and Rachel Wedderspoon routinely handles police-related employment matters. Edward Morgan has a niche religious discrimination practice. Zoë Thompson, Katie Nowell, Joanne Woodward, Joanne Connolly and Rebecca Eeley are also recommended.

Within Family,

At 9 St John Street, the ‘feisty’ Gillian Irving QC, Rachael Heppenstall and Sara Lewis are recommended for childcare work. Graham Bailey handles complex financial matters and is particularly recommended for cases where assets are held overseas.

Within Overview, 9 St John Street (Chambers of Charles Garside QC) is a first 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 Personal injury and clinical negligence,

9 St John Street’s Brian McCluggage handles high-value catastrophic claims and is one of the ‘best juniors in Manchester for PI’. Matthew Snarr is recommended for brain injury work, and Michael Lemmy for occupational disease. Nicholas Hinchliffe QC is strong on the industrial disease front, and is ‘very impressive on his feet with a dogged determination to win’. Gerard Mcdermott QC handles high-value claims and has extensive cross-border experience.

Within Regulatory and public law,

9 St John Street’s Michael Leeming has a notable GMC practice.

Within Treasury Panel Lists Region 1