Planning

Leading Juniors
Rising stars

Leading Juniors

Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.

Wayne Beglan

Cornerstone Barristers

.’

James Burton

39 Essex Chambers

‘James is a clear, persistent and fearless advocate. He presents his arguments attractively and is not put off by judicial interventions.’

Celina Colquhoun

39 Essex Chambers

‘Very knowledgeable and commercial with considerable insight into the intricacies of planning enforcement matters and law which is quite a niche specialism even within planning - and unwavering when under fierce judicial questioning.’

Hugh Flanagan

Francis Taylor Building

‘Hugh is a talented and thorough barrister. A quietly powerful advocate who is a tough but polite opponent.’

Victoria Hutton

39 Essex Chambers

‘Victoria is a first rate barrister. She is brilliant with clients and approaches everything with a clear and calm manner. Her attention to detail, ability to cut to the key issues quickly and advocacy skills are all strong points.’

Zack Simons

Landmark Chambers

‘He is one of the best planning barristers out there and more than holds his own against KCs. His advisory work is very thorough and clear and his inquiry work is well-regarded. His advocacy is top notch and his approach is very personable.’

Isabella Tafur

Francis Taylor Building

‘Isabella is a formidable opponent. She is always very well-prepared, meticulous in her approach, always courteous and a powerful advocate. Her cross-examination is focussed, thoughtful and impressive. The same applies to her legal and factual submissions, both written and oral. Isabella is a very impressive barrister in all respects.’

Christiaan Zwart

39 Essex Chambers

‘Christiaan has extensive experience in planning and is able to leverage this to help clients with sound strategy to achieve commercial outcomes. He is particularly helpful in this regard and excellent at getting to the heart of a matter in complex cases.’

'Ashley is an excellent barrister who really knows his law. He has outstanding advocacy skills and is very quick thinker. He is clear and concise and has an ability to put complex issues comprehensibly to the client and the court.'

Andrew Byass

Landmark Chambers

'Andrew is brilliant. Sharp, switched on and organised. He is really user-friendly and a great team player. Having been a solicitor previously, he has a broader commercial perspective than most barristers.’

Rebecca Clutten

Francis Taylor Building

‘Rebecca is very personable and approachable, and naturally integrates herself with a project team which is important. She is also very clear in devising and communicating a strategy, and in setting the expectations of the team to deliver that strategy. That is critical in complex and long-term mandates. Finally, Rebecca’s sectoral knowledge is a particular skill.’

Leon Glenister

Landmark Chambers

‘Leon is excellent, capable far beyond his call, resilient, unflappable and an excellent and fair opponent to deal with. A formidable opponent.’

Merrow Golden

Francis Taylor Building

.’

Edward Grant

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Ed is a pleasure to work with and is always a first choice on a case. He grasps all the issues quickly and foresees any potential difficulties at an early stage. He has a superb style of advocacy – firm, thorough and leaves nothing to chance. He is very hardworking and cares about the cases he is working on.’

Robin Green

Cornerstone Barristers

‘You know you are in capable hands when you instruct Robin. He is extremely conscientious, reliable and has excellent communication skills.’

Emmaline Lambert

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Emmaline is excellent to work with. She considers all aspects of a case and makes significant efforts to understand all the salient points. As an advocate she is fair, firm and well considered. It is a joy to work with Emmaline on all types of projects.’

Juan Lopez

39 Essex Chambers

Juan is pragmatic and commercially minded in his approach. He offers clear and concise advice to clients.’

Stephen Morgan

Landmark Chambers

‘Stephen is always thorough, prepared and professional. He is also courteous, approachable and diligent. His advocacy is always straightforward and easy to follow.’

Ruchi Parekh

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Ruchi is hardworking, diligent and capable. She is succinct in submissions and effective in the case she is presenting.’

Andrew Parkinson

Landmark Chambers

‘Andrew has every attribute one would expect to find in a first-class planning barrister. Andrew is a brilliant lawyer, an outstanding advocate and his written work is a real strength. He is also commercially astute, quick at providing advice and is a pleasure to work with.’

Nina Pindham

Cornerstone Barristers

Heather Sargent

Landmark Chambers

‘Heather's advocacy is particularly impressive. She gets to the crux of the issue very quickly and makes her points succinctly and persuasively. She has the ability to think on her feet and plan ten steps ahead at the same.’

Charles Streeten

Francis Taylor Building

Sharp as a razor, extremely responsive and always on point in terms of his advocacy and advice, Charles is one of the very best planning juniors at the Bar. He is also an absolute pleasure to work with. Highly collaborative and user-friendly.’

Anne Williams

Six Pump Court

‘Anne is an experienced and capable barrister who is very much a people person, putting clients at ease in dealing with the complexities of the planning system. She structures a conference well and gives precise and to the point advice which clients appreciate. She is a skilled advocate who gets to the heart of a case.’

Robert Williams

Cornerstone Barristers

‘He is analytical, on top of the detail, genuinely interested in his subject and that comes across well with clients.'

Cornerstone Barristers

Jonathan Clay

Cornerstone Barristers

Matthew Dale-Harris

Landmark Chambers

‘Matthew is good at identifying key issues and formulating persuasive legal submissions to address those issues.’

Caroline Daly

Francis Taylor Building

Anjoli Foster

Landmark Chambers

‘Anjoli is a fantastic junior barrister with keen attention to detail and a wide range of expertise ranging from planning inquiries, court-related work as well as rights of way inquires.’

Nick Grant

Landmark Chambers

‘Nick is outstanding in cross-examination, capable of thinking on his feet and produces cleverly constructed arguments. He also has the ability to assimilate facts and paperwork quickly. Excellent advocate.’

Ned Helme

39 Essex Chambers

‘Ned is one of the most hard-working, intelligent and imaginative barristers. He is also extremely willing to be brave for someone who is instinctively risk-averse – which means clients get the best of both worlds: counsel of caution and courageous, intelligent and imaginative advocacy on their behalf.’

Philippa Jackson

39 Essex Chambers

‘Philippa has clarity of thought and speed of understanding. She is helpful, thoughtful and conscientious and very personable.’

Daniel Stedman Jones

39 Essex Chambers

‘Daniel is detail-orientated and astute. He is also an adept advocate, who can readily adapt his style to his audience.’

Jacqueline Lean

Landmark Chambers

‘Jacqueline has the ability to absorb instructions and materials at a fast pace and develop a robust strategy in preparing for advocacy. Jacqueline is highly rated by clients for her can-do attitude.’

Hashi Mohamed

Landmark Chambers

Kate Olley

Francis Taylor Building

‘Kate provides very pragmatic and clear advice.’

Cain Ormondroyd

Francis Taylor Building

Jack Parker

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Jack is a compelling advocate for his clients. He is personable, practical and highly articulate, and has excellent strategic judgement. His cross-examination is forensic and he has a great attention to detail. Jack easily builds rapport and is great at leading or being part of a wider team.’

Clare Parry

Cornerstone Barristers

John Pugh-Smith

39 Essex Chambers

Vivienne Sedgley

4-5 Gray’s Inn Square

Nicola Strachan

Six Pump Court

‘Nicola has a proactive approach to work, and conducts matters in a professional manner.’

Ned Westaway

Francis Taylor Building

‘Extremely bright, enthusiastic and hardworking; Ned is able to quickly assess technical and specialist evidence and provide meaningful advice to the client. His advocacy is robust, focusing on main issues with clarity. He has an engaging manner that enables others to feel comfortable working with him.’

Stephen Whale

Landmark Chambers

Ryan Kohli

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Ryan has a commanding presence in court. He is always impeccably well-prepared with superlative advocacy skills. Much liked by judges, Ryan is a team player whose confidence is a complete reassurance to clients who appreciate his bedside manner. He also has a vast legal knowledge of planning and public law.’

Ben Fullbrook

Landmark Chambers

‘Ben is an extremely talented junior. He is highly response, friendly and combines clear legal knowledge with a commercial and practical approach. His written submissions and advice is first class.’

Katherine Barnes

39 Essex Chambers

‘Crystal-clear advocacy, measured, calm and collected. Spot-on.’

Brendan Brett

Francis Taylor Building

‘Brendan is very approachable and confident in his work.’

Noémi Byrd

Six Pump Court

Noémi has the ability to pick up matters quickly and disseminate through large volumes of details to get to the point. She is very pragmatic and a solution provider which is welcoming to clients who look at making commercial decisions. Noémi is also very confident in her advocacy and is able to stand her ground.’

Stephen Cottle

Garden Court Chambers

Jonathan Darby

39 Essex Chambers

‘Jonathan is very good with clients and at getting up to speed on technical points. He has a calm and easy manner, putting clients at ease immediately. Jonathan is a delight to work with.’

Stephanie David

39 Essex Chambers

‘Stephanie is a brilliantly effective advocate. She is able to shape her analysis to the problem at hand. Stephanie is also very hardworking and clients love working with her.’

Sioned Davies

No5 Barristers’ Chambers

‘Sioned is a pleasure to work with. Her written skills are fantastic and she is a great advocate - solicitors always enjoy having her on the team.’

Catherine Dobson

39 Essex Chambers

‘Catherine is brilliant. She has an incredibly sharp legal brain and extracts the key legal issues quickly, analyses them, and for the purposes of her advice condenses them into digestible concepts which are commercial and easily acted upon.’

Esther Drabkin-Reiter

Francis Taylor Building

‘Esther is thorough in her research and drafting. On her feet, she inspires confidence in her clients. She is calm and presents strong legal arguments in a clear manner.'

Emma Dring

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Emma is very hardworking, very prepared and able to get heart of a case swiftly. Her handling of experts and cross-examination is excellent and her reporting was superb, balancing complex arguments and presenting her position with clarity.’

Ben Du Feu

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Ben is razor sharp, very calm, a good listener and always knows the case well, so is able to advise the client on which path to steer through to resolution.‘

Toby Fisher

Matrix Chambers

‘Toby is excellent. He has good judgement, sets clients at ease with his grasp of matters, and makes strong submissions, both in writing and on his feet. He is increasingly becoming one of the go-to barristers in environmental and planning challenges, especially those involving climate change.’

Matthew Fraser

Landmark Chambers

‘Matthew has a great legal mind. You can throw a mass of paperwork at Matthew and he’ll be on top of it all in no time. He is unflappable and an absolute delight to work with.’

Michael Fry

Francis Taylor Building

‘Michael is bright, highly competent, hard-working, reliable and a joy to work with.’

Alexander Greaves

Francis Taylor Building

Rose Grogan

39 Essex Chambers

‘Rose is one of the best junior barristers in practice in the fields of planning, environment and infrastructure. She is bright, articulate, presents and reads situations extremely well, grasping complex and difficult new subject and challenge areas with commensurate skill and ability.’

Emyr Jones

Francis Taylor Building

Howard Leithead

No5 Barristers’ Chambers

'Howard is a good listener and understands complex situations. He will ensure we are advised of all potential options and implications of taking those options. His advice is cautious and fully considered.'

David Lintott

Cornerstone Barristers

George Mackenzie

Francis Taylor Building

‘George is an exceptional barrister. He is meticulous in his preparation of judicial review documents and his written work is incredibly detailed. His charm and rapport with clients is a particular strength.’

Charles Merrett

Francis Taylor Building

‘Charles is good with clients as he is very approachable and down to earth. His research skills and presentation of complex information are excellent.’

James Neill

Landmark Chambers

‘James is sharp and brilliant, often spotting points that no-one else has. He is able to convey detailed and complex information in a way that lay clients can easily understand and follow. His advocacy is second to none.’

Daisy Noble

Francis Taylor Building

'Daisy is a persuasive advocate, with a keen ability to distill complex concepts in accessible ways. Daisy's practice is also notably and critically accessible; clients are grateful for her straight shooting in all settings and situations. She is also very diligent, supremely organised, and has a comprehensive handle on her brief, making her a really effective and central contributor to our team.'

Annabel Graham Paul

Francis Taylor Building

‘Annabel shows excellent advocacy skills, and an ability to pull together the strands of a case extremely quickly and present it in the best light. She has a complete control and command of document bundles and an ability to multitask on her feet which is highly impressive.’

Asitha Ranatunga

Cornerstone Barristers

Leanne Buckley-Thomson

No5 Barristers’ Chambers

‘Leanne has a thorough and meticulous grasp of the case detail. She is also a clear thinker, applying law and logic to cases.’

Yaaser Vanderman

Brick Court Chambers

Horatio Waller

Francis Taylor Building

Alex Williams

Cornerstone Barristers

‘Very clear and concise with his advice, and importantly able to quickly pickup on the issues and potential arguments.’

Rising stars

Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.