The Legal 500 > United Kingdom - The Bar > Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Administrative and public law (including civil liberties and human rights)

Coverage By Practice AreaRegional Bar

Back to United Kingdom - The Bar

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

1
Garden Court North Chambers
2
Exchange Chambers
3
Kings Chambers

Leading Silks

Louis Browne KC – Exchange Chambers
Lorraine Cavanagh KC – St John’s Buildings 'Lorraine has superb knowledge of the law in this area. Very thorough pleadings and her advocacy is akin to a force of nature.'
Sam Karim KC – Kings Chambers ‘Sam is calm under pressure, very sharp intellectually and is able to quickly analyse issues. He is not afraid to deal with difficult issues.'
Pete Weatherby KC – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Pete is one of the outstanding public law silks of the current crop, and the Godfather of claimant public law. He has been doing important, ground-breaking challenges in the area of prisoners’ rights in particular for more than 20 years. He takes a strategic and intellectual approach to his cases and always stands out, having a deeper and greater knowledge of the law and often the facts than those around him.’

Leading Juniors

1
Alex Offer - Garden Court North Chambers
Tom Royston – Garden Court North Chambers 'Tom is extremely intelligent, his written work is concise and he brings to his work a wider understanding and dedication to the social security field. He has an impressive work capacity.'
Matthew Stanbury – Park Square Barristers Ltd. ‘Matthew is approachable and a joy to work with. The written representations prepared are always of a high standard.’
James Stark – Garden Court North Chambers 'James has an encyclopaedic knowledge of housing law. He is also great at spotting chances for the law to develop to create greater protections for tenants and homeless people. He is great at detail, really positive to work with, and a fearless and persuasive advocate. He's a go to choice for hard but important cases.'
2
Brynmor Adams – Exchange Chambers 'Brynmor is highly knowledgeable with great communication skills. He is patient, thorough and impressive at trial.'
Tasaddat Hussain – Garden Court North Chambers 'Tasaddat is a very confident advocate.'
Vijay Jagadesham – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Vijay is a great advocate and a go-to barrister. He is passionate and genuinely cares about not just his work, but also the individual client. He is always willing and able to provide help with the most problematic of cases. His legal arguments are always well presented and he is able to stand his ground under the most intense of scrutiny.’
Mikhil Karnik – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Mikhil pays great attention to detail when representing on very complex cases. When the case merits it, he is determined and tenacious and goes above and beyond to ensure the right outcomes are reached.’
Lucy Mair – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Lucy is extremely dedicated to her clients and is often willing to go as far as possible in challenging unfair decisions and to secure a good outcome for the client. She is thorough, informative and approachable. Whenever there is a pressing legal matter that requires counsel advice, she is always the first port of call because she is always willing to assist.’
Joseph Markus –Garden Court North Chambers ‘Joseph is a genius. He is exceptional is his ability to work through complex legal problems and identify points others are unable to see.'
Anna Morris – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Anna is an exceptional advocate. She has a likeable presence and her approach with coroners is commanding and persuasive. She is a strategic thinker and never loses sight of the big picture. She is a reassuring presence in the courtroom for instructing solicitors and clients alike, and she is loved by clients. Her experience on inquests really shines through and she is able to handle complex and delicate situations with sensitivity and purpose.’
David Sandiford –Exchange Chambers
Nick Stanage – Doughty Street Chambers

Rising Stars

Arianna Kelly – 39 Essex Chambers ‘Arianna is friendly and approachable. Robust when necessary and clearly committed to providing excellent representation.’
Christian Weaver  – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Christian is an incredibly articulate, bright and committed advocate. Throughout his work he has been clear thinking, hard working and has demonstrated a sound knowledge of the law and procedure. He puts clients at ease and tribunals respect his practical and efficient oral advocacy. He is always well prepared a good strategic thinker. His parole board practice has really taken off and is very impressive for someone of his call.’

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

Garden Court North Chambers

Garden Court North Chambers is ‘a very strong set‘ and has a team of barristers with extensive experience across a wide range of public law matters involving human rights, immigration, inquests and inquiries, housing, discrimination, community care, prison law and state benefits. Its members are also active in representing vulnerable individuals and community groups. Social security law specialist Tom Royston successfully acted for the claimants in Deadman and Ryan v SSWP, concerning transfers between legacy benefits and universal credit. Pete Weatherby KC has been instructed to represent the Covid-19 Bereaved Families 4 Justice group in a public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic.

Testimonials

Set

‘Garden Court North Chambers provide quality Counsel and are always well prepared.’

‘Garden Court North’s commitment to social welfare law is second to none, the training and informal advice and support they provide is outstanding, and they are incredibly approachable.’

‘A very strong set, particularly in relation to issues connected to social welfare.’

‘Garden Court North Chambers is very popular due to its overall dedication in advancing human rights work. The barristers in this set also do cases on a pro bono basis, and their annual training events are first class and often offered free of charge.’

‘Counsel from this Chambers are always more than happy to help. They are readily available and very knowledgeable across the whole area of immigration law. They are dedicated and experienced.’

Clerk

‘The clerks from Chambers are wonderful – they are friendly and approachable and very quick to reply to enquiries. They will go above and beyond to ensure that they offer the right choice of counsel for the case.’

‘Clerks are very dedicated and respond to enquiries very quickly. Ryan Calderbank and Nicola Carroll are brilliant at linking solicitors to counsel specific to client needs and in a timely manner.’

‘Anne Marie Nightingale and Nicola Carroll are consistently brilliant.’

‘Nicola Carroll at GCN Chambers always provides a quick response and is extremely helpful in resolving any queries.’

‘Always provide a good level of service.’

Exchange Chambers

Exchange Chambers’ members have substantial expertise in handling judicial review claims before the Administrative Court, acting for both claimants and defendants. Its clients include government departments, local authorities, regulated bodies, private care providers, and private litigants. Police disciplinary work is also an area of focus for the set. Public law and judicial review expert Louis Browne KC acted for Liverpool City Council in the first case to consider the scope of statutory provisions concerning the grant of indemnity for serving members of Council. Brynmor Adams acts exclusively for public authorities, which is demonstrated in his involvement in R (on the application of the Governing Body of X) v Ofsted, a case concerning  a local authority controlled school applying for a High Court injunction to restrain publication of a critical inspection report. David Sandiford is also a key name in defending police officers in civil claims.

Testimonials

Clerking

‘Dave Haley and Tom Gornall are excellent Clerks and have always provided a very good service.’

Kings Chambers

The members of Kings Chambers have a broad range of public law expertise, especially in judicial review, acting for local authorities, government legal departments, private companies and individuals. Sam Karim KC is the head of the administrative law and local government department.

Testimonials

Set

‘Kings Chambers has a good range of excellent barristers at all levels, from juniors to silks. As well as being experts in their field, they are responsive, approachable, and cost effective for clients.’

Clerking

‘The clerks are efficient and helpful.’

‘The clerks are excellent. They know their barristers extremely well. They are responsive and reasonable in relation to fees, and generally pleasant to work with.’