Aviation in London Bar | Law firm and lawyer rankings from The Legal 500 United Kingdom - The Bar guide

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Aviation - Leading Sets

Fountain Court Chambers

Quadrant Chambers

XXIV Old Buildings

Leading Silks

Gavin Kealey QC - 7 King's Bench Walk ‘ A brilliant and fearless advocate with a great intellect, who can vary his pitch to suit the occasion. ’

Michael McLaren QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ He stands out for his forensic approach and knowledge of aviation law. ’

Akhil Shah QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ 'He is super-bright, super-responsive, and is the most capable aviation specialist silk at the bar'. ’

Philip Shepherd QC - XXIV Old Buildings ‘ He has a natural gravitas combined with an instinctive sense of the commercial realities of a dispute. ’

Bankim Thanki QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ 'A real star at the Bar who brings very clear and coherent analysis to difficult legal issues'. ’

Neil Calver QC - Brick Court Chambers ‘ He is very impressive. ’

John Kimbell QC - Quadrant Chambers ‘ 'Has an excellent grip on the detail and is always ready to roll up his sleeves and assist in all aspects of a case'. ’

Stephen Moriarty QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ Unbelievably clever, able and a great advocate. ’

Charles Béar QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ 'He is very highly rated for aviation work'. ’

John Passmore QC - Quadrant Chambers ‘ Very practical and provides excellent legal insight. ’

John Steel QC - 39 Essex Chambers ‘ He has strong knowledge of aviation matters. ’

John Taylor QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ 'He is a very strong advocate'. ’

Stephen Cogley QC - 4 Pump Court ‘ Very easy to work with, tenacious, very commercial and strategically savvy. ’

Michael McParland QC - 39 Essex Chambers ‘ He is approachable and is a fantastic advocate. ’

Rosalind Phelps QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ She has a really good knack of being able present cases in a way that means judges follow her way of thinking. ’

Michael Rawlinson QC - 12 King's Bench Walk ‘ He is a very strong advocate. ’

Steven Thompson QC - XXIV Old Buildings ‘ He has good aviation knowledge and is very capable on large complex cases. ’

2018 Silks

Edward Cumming QC - XXIV Old Buildings ‘ He is very commercial and is extremely responsive. ’

James Cutress QC - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ He is absolutley top drawer. ’

2019 Silks

Nicholas Craig QC - 3 Verulam Buildings ‘ He is a very effective advocate; he gets his points across clearly and interacts well with the court. ’

Katherine Deal QC - 3 Hare Court ‘ She is diligent, methodical, approachable and demonstrates great empathy towards the claimant’s needs. ’

Leading Juniors

Tim Marland - Quadrant Chambers ‘ His experience, strong industry knowledge, expertise in aviation insurance and skilful legal analysis are all highly impressive. ’

Matthew Reeve - Quadrant Chambers ‘ Good with clients, good on his feet and very easy to work with. ’

Bajul Shah - XXIV Old Buildings ‘ A very capable barrister who has real expertise in the aviation sector; he takes a commercial and pragmatic approach and is a very good team-player. ’

Tom Bird - Quadrant Chambers ‘ He is concise, responsive, extremely intelligent and a pleasure to work with.' ’

James Duffy - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ He is very commercial and approachable. ’

Arshad Ghaffar - XXIV Old Buildings ‘ Has excellent knowledge of aviation matters. ’

Katherine Howells - Old Square Chambers ‘ She is very diligent, persistent and does not give up. ’

Alexander Milner - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ He is incredibly efficient in his work and extremely responsive. ’

Tamara Oppenheimer - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ She is calm and persuasive in the face of judicial challenge, very user-friendly, and is a pleasure to work with. ’

Stephanie Barrett - Quadrant Chambers ‘ She is first-rate. ’

Paul Henton - Quadrant Chambers ‘ He is very able and provides practical advice. ’

Emma Hilliard - 7 King's Bench Walk ‘ She has a quick mind, is enthusiastic and is hardworking. ’

Anneli Howard - Monckton Chambers ‘ She is trusted to give pragmatic, frank advice. ’

Koye Akoni - Quadrant Chambers ‘ He is unflappable and calm under fire. ’

Cleon Catsambis - 3 Verulam Buildings ‘ He is excellent at practically applying legal concepts and rulings to a situation. ’

Max Davidson - Quadrant Chambers ‘ Very approachable and great at getting into the details. ’

Elizabeth Lindesay - 7 King's Bench Walk ‘ She is hardworking, imaginative, persistent and thoughtful. ’

Emily McWilliams - Quadrant Chambers ‘ She is astute, composed and prepared. ’

David Murray - Fountain Court Chambers ‘ A hugely talented junior with great attention-to-detail and he displays sober, sensible judgement at all times. ’

Mark Stiggelbout - Quadrant Chambers ‘ He has impressive drafting skills. ’

Aviation in London Bar

Tier 1 firms

Fountain Court Chambers is applauded by clients as a 'go-to set for complex aviation-related litigation' thanks to its offering of a 'strong spread of top-quality silks and juniors'. Bankim Thanki QC, Alexander Milner, Akhil Shah QC and David Murray, were involved in judicial review proceedings, brought by the administrators of Monarch Airlines, regarding the decision by the UK airport coordinator not to allocate or to reserve slots for Monarch for the summer 2018 season. Aircraft leasing dispute LaudaMotion v Lufthansa was also a key highlight for the set; Akhil Shah QC acted for LaudaMotion, while James Cutress QC, who was leading David Murray, appeared for Lufthansa.

Quadrant Chambers has 'considerable strength in aviation' with 'very experienced members'; it is praised by clients as a 'responsive set that gets results'. Key highlights for the set included Vandeputte v Egyptair, which was a significant claim arising out of the crash of Egyptair flight MS804. Here, Tim Marland acted for IATA as an intervener, John Ashley Kimbell QC appeared for Vandeputte, and Koye Akoni was instructed on behalf of Egyptair. Marland also led Akoni in Bahamasair v Messier Dowty, an appeal to the Privy Council from the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas, which involved allegations that a landing gear was defective.

Tier 2 firms

XXIV Old Buildings is a set that is 'going from strength-to-strength' and is an 'excellent choice for aviation matters'. The leading case on economic duress, Times Travel Limited v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, was a notable highlight for Philip Shepherd QC, where the airline was held to have used illegitimate pressure to force an IATA agent into agreement to abandon claims for commission.