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Administrative And Public Law (including Civil Liberties And Human Rights)

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Garden Court North Chambers
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Kings Chambers

Leading Silks

Louis Browne QC - Exchange Chambers ‘Highly skilled barrister with excellent knowledge of his working area.’
Lorraine Cavanagh QC - St John's Buildings ‘ Lorraine is a real powerhouse. Dynamic, persuasive and with a laser-like focus on achieving the best outcome for the client.’
Sam Karim QC - Kings Chambers ‘Excellent client manner and ability to explain often complex legal points in client friendly terms. Responsive and able to turn work around quickly when needed. Quick thinking, particularly when on feet in Court.’
Pete Weatherby QC - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Pete is exceptionally bright and is a great strategist. Having worked with him in complex multi-claimant actions his approach to complicated issues has been to look for solutions rather than be thwarted by problems. His leadership and ability to lead a team of people working together is exceptional.’

Leading Juniors

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Alex Offer - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Brings fantastic forensic ability to every case.’
Tom Royston - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Absolute understanding of the law and policy in his area of practice. Drafts beautifully and concisely. A pleasure to work with.’
Matthew Stanbury - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Matt is a great strategist and thinks through the appropriate tactics to get the best results for clients.’
James Stark - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Brilliant knowledge, goes out of his way to try for the client as is not a timid advocate. He discusses things properly with instructing solicitor. Second to none.’
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Brynmor Adams - Exchange Chambers ‘Very clear and persuasive submissions. Very knowledgeable. Excellent with witnesses. Very personable and easy to work with.’
Simon Burrows - Kings Chambers ‘He is very experienced.’
Francesca Gardner - Kings Chambers ‘She is extremely knowledgeable and able to explain matters in a way that can be applied in practice.’
Mikhil Karnik - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Mr Karnik is a fearless and brave barrister who pushes boundaries of human rights law as far as they will go. He has fantastic ideas for thinking outside the box and is a concise and precise drafter of grounds.’
Lucy Mair - Garden Court North Chambers ‘She is generous with her time and always makes herself available for questions and discussion. Having seen her as an advocate in person I would describe her as courteous, determined and thoroughly prepared. Your client will always be in excellent hands if Lucy is their advocate.’
Joseph Markus - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Passionate and committed to obtaining the best possible outcome for his clients.’
Anna Morris - Garden Court North Chambers ‘Anna is an excellent advocate. Her knowledge of the law is exceptional and her drafting skills persuasive. However, her key attribute is her kindness, empathy and her compassion for the families that she represents. These skills combines makes her a force to be reckoned with, in this area of law.’
Eliza Sharron  - 39 Essex Chambers‘A fantastically safe pair of hands.’
Nick Stanage - Doughty Street Chambers ‘Nick listens to his Instructing Solicitor and takes time to absorb what is being said rather than just being the one who talks. He writes simply and powerfully and advocates using the same style as well - very simple, straightforward, easy to understand but very effective advocacy style which gets straight to the point of the argument. He has his own unique style of oratory which works for him and grabs the attention.’

Rising Stars

Arianna Kelly  - 39 Essex Chambers‘A rising star.’

Administrative and public law (including civil liberties and human rights) in Regional Bar

Doughty Street Chambers

Doughty Street Chambers is 'a go-to set for police actions and civil liberties work'. With a practice that benefits from experience in international human rights law abroad, Nick Stanage is 'extremely able on his feet, exuding in good measure calm and charisma, and excellent at incisive cross-examination'. Recent instructions for Stanage include the Public Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Undercover Policing Inquiry, and acting for the claimant in John Hemming v Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police, a human rights claims in relation to the police's investigation into false allegations of rape made against the former Liberal MP.

Exchange Chambers

Members of Exchange Chambers' team regularly work on multi-discipline matters, particularly those involving commercial regulatory, inquests, and personal injury. Louis Browne QC sits on the government silk panel and successfully acted for the senior coroner in a challenge to an inquest, involving complex medical issues. His sectoral experience includes care and social services, housing, immigration, and transport. Brynmor Adams acts exclusively for public authorities, from central government departments to housing associations. He recently acted for the Environment Agency in judicial review proceedings with aspects of property and environmental law.

St John's Buildings

The team at St John's Buildings advises and represents clients in the Administrative Court, working on public law and human rights issues. Lorraine Cavanagh QC acts for children and vulnerable adults in judicial reviews and Human Rights Act claims, such as cases of unlawful removal and access to services while in care.

Garden Court North Chambers

Garden Court North Chambers members assist vulnerable individuals and community groups. Pete Weatherby QC led the team representing 80 victims in the Grenfell inquiry and continues to work on prosecutions and disciplinary charges following the Hillsborough inquest. James Stark specialises in homelessness cases, representing applicants for assistance in Safi v Sandwell London Borough Council and Samuels v Birmingham City Council. In the latter, Stark led Tom Royston, who focuses on social security litigation, acting for disability benefit claimants. Royston acted for the successful intervener in the first Supreme Court case on personal independent payments. Matthew Stanbury undertakes civil liberties cases, taking on judicial review claims on prisoners’ rights against parole decisions and rules for reviews.

Kings Chambers

Kings Chambers' team advises on judicial reviews related to children's care proceedings and Care Quality Commission decisions on care homes, as well as local government matters. Sam Karim QC heads the public law department; he successfully defended the Criminal Cases Review Commission against a challenge that the commission had unlawfully not referred a case to the Court of Appeal.