Back to United Kingdom - The Bar

Leading Silks

Lesley Anderson KC – Kings ChambersLesley is one of the sharpest legal minds in the English and Welsh Bar. She cuts through the noise generated in large-scale, insolvency-based disputes and focuses on the key issues.’
Paul Chaisty KC – Kings ChambersPaul's ferocious work ethic is his great strength.'
Richard Chapman KC – 18 St John Street Chambers 'Richard's written advocacy and advice in relation to complex areas of law is excellent.'
Mark Harper KC – Kings ChambersMark has a great ability to read the court room; he knows precisely what approach will deliver results from a particular witness in cross-examination, and how to frame points for maximum impact in front of the Judge. He is unafraid to take a robust approach where needed.'
Louis Doyle KC – Kings ChambersLouis is a true insolvency silk who is a go-to for heavy litigation in the north. He is extremely adept at finding his way around tricky and difficult cases and cutting through all the irrelevant noise of masses of material and detail to identify the underlying issues, articulating frankly how a case looks and how it might best be deployed and improved by way of the most effective way forward, and he is up-to-date and knowledgeable on the relevant procedure and the substantive law, helped no doubt by his co-authoring one of the two annotated guides on the legislation.’

Leading Juniors

Martin Budworth – Kings ChambersMartin is client-friendly in the extreme. He changes his style and manner depending on the needs of the client, and he wins confidence quickly and retains it. The bench obviously respects his intellect and his presentation is clear and concise.’
Carly Sandbach – Exchange Chambers ‘Carly is excellent in all aspects of her practice. She is strong on paper and in conference, and she is a particularly strong advocate; she is confident, tenacious, hugely persuasive, and she can always be relied upon to fight her client’s corner.’
Graham SellersExchange Chambers ‘Graham is exceptionally diligent and turns urgent work around quickly and at a high quality; he is thorough in his preparation and he is an excellent advocate. Out of court, he has a great ability to adapt his style to the clients, who respect his advice even when it is not what they want to hear.’
Ian Tucker – Exchange ChambersIan is an excellent all-rounder. He is technically brilliant whilst being commercial, he gains the confidence and trust of his clients, and he is an impressive advocate who is always controlled and respectful, but determined.’
Claire Bunbury – 23 Essex Street ‘Claire is incredibly hard-working and thorough, she gets to grips with very complicated issues, and her biggest strength is her advocacy skills. All judges respect her submissions, they know that when she makes a point, it is likely right, and she has wonderful control over a courtroom whenever she is on her feet.’
Oliver Caplan – 18 St John Street Chambers ‘Oliver is a strong advocate with an excellent commercial sensibility and great client handling skills.’
Tom Gosling – 23 Essex Street 'Tom reads the court room perfectly. He has an outstanding demeanour and his attention to detail is particularly impressive.'
Ben Harding – Kings Chambers 'Ben has strong attention to detail and an ability to see all the way around the issue. He is a meticulous and thoughtful advocate.'
Anja Lansbergen-Mills – Exchange Chambers ‘Anja is thorough and always incredibly well-prepared, meaning you can always rely on her to know her brief inside out. Her preparation feeds into her advocacy, and she is smart on her feet, always armed with answers to potentially difficult questions, and is very effective as a result.’
George Rowell – Exchange Chambers ‘George is a really impressive barrister, his knowledge of law is incomparable, and he is never anything other than 100% impeccably prepared. Remarkably, he is also highly pragmatic and commercially-minded, which is very rare indeed in combination with such an academic mind, so he really offers the best of both worlds.'
Richard Tetlow – Exchange Chambers 'Measured but persuasive advocate. Written and oral submissions are always unfussy and therefore easy for the Court and clients to follow. Able to simplify and distill complex issues.'
Elisabeth Tythcott18 St John Street Chambers ‘Elisabeth is a sound lawyer and advocate. She is knowledgeable and experienced in her specialist areas and engages well with the court and her opponents.’
John Vickery – 18 St John Street Chambers ‘John is personable and happy to assist on challenging and knotty cases on a contingent basis.’

Company and insolvency in Regional Bar

Exchange Chambers


Exchange Chambers ‘has high-quality juniors’ and ‘is the chambers of choice for insolvency matters.’ Its members have expertise across a wide range of matters, including shareholder and partnership disputes, director disqualification, breaches of fiduciary duties, derivative claims, s994 unfair prejudice petitions, and corporate insolvency. The set is home to Giles Maynard-Connor KC, who represents clients in corporate and personal contentious work, and he has acted on cases in the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar. George Rowell has expertise in insolvency cases with a tax background, including claims against directors arising from failed tax avoidance schemes. Carly Sandbach is experienced in director disqualification proceedings and public interest winding up petitions, as well as breaches of directors’ duties – in Bona Vacantia Ltd v Noblett, she successfully obtained a summary judgment on behalf of the defendant, defeating an attempt to make a director personally liable using s217 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Richard Tetlow regularly acts for office holders, individuals, and companies, and has expertise in director disqualification proceedings. Recent growth for the set includes Graham Sellers arriving from Atlantic Chambers in June 2023.

Testimonials

‘Joe Mawson is very approachable and is an asset to Exchange Chambers. Is he able to provide an option of junior counsel who are all very knowledgeable.’

‘The clerks are commercial, flexible, and they take the time to get to know their clients. Joe Mawson deserves particular recognition.’

‘The senior clerking and management is excellent, especially Nick Buckley and Jonathan I’Anson.’

‘Joe Mawson is an exceptional clerk and central to Chambers’ success.’

‘The clerking team is excellent; they are responsive and easy to deal with.’

‘A go-to set for insolvency needs. They cover everything from basic petitions to highly niche, technical international arbitration matters and always offer a Rolls Royce-level service.’

‘A go-to set in the North West. Their annual insolvency conference is excellent.’

‘Exchange Chambers are one of the premier commercial sets in Manchester. Exchange Chambers boasts a number of courses, and also a great variety of true specialists in their particular field. One has a real sense of collaboration with them.’





Kings Chambers


Kings Chambers ‘is the leading set for insolvency work in the North West’ and its members have expertise in handling complex and high-value unfair prejudice actions and shareholder disputes, as well as insolvency-related matters, acting for office holders, companies, directors and debtors. Lesley Anderson KC is head of the set’s business and property group, which also includes Andrew Grantham KC, who is active in matters regarding just and equitable winding-up petitions, derivative actions, and disputes concerning share sales and title to shares, and he acted for the respondent in PSV 1982 Ltd v Langdon, the leading case on two issues concerning s217 of the Insolvency Act. In Waldron v WaldronDavid Casement KC successfully defended the respondent against allegations of breaches of fiduciary duty and unfair prejudice in a dispute between family shareholders in a construction company. Louis Doyle KC has a track record of offshore work, as does Paul Chaisty KC.

Testimonials

‘Gary Young is very experienced, gets messages across to counsel when needed, and ensures response times and follow-ups are as required.’

‘Harry Young and Paul Clarke are by far the best clerks at Kings Chambers.’

‘The Clerks are uniformly excellent, and Gary Young is the star of the show.’

‘Senior clerks Gary Young and Harry Young are very knowledgeable and keen to help.’

‘The clerks are fantastic. Gary Young is an incredible clerk.’

‘Kings Chambers is a first choice in the regions due to its selection of first-rate insolvency, company, and financial litigation barristers who are supported by a wonderful and dedicated clerks team. Due to the strength and depth of the Kings Chambers cohort of barristers, one is always able to find a barrister, often at short notice.’

‘Kings Chambers is a set offering good strength in depth in terms of insolvency and restructuring.’

‘Kings Chambers has excellent strength in depth and is comparable to London sets.’





18 St John Street Chambers


18 St John Street Chambers is praised for having ‘a number of highly-experienced business and property counsel involved in some very heavy litigation.’ The set is home to Richard Chapman KC, who is head of chambers, and Oliver Caplan, who is strong in insolvency litigation for both individuals and corporates. Jennifer Newstead-Taylor regularly acts on matters regarding complex claims for director disqualification arising from VAT fraud, bankruptcy restriction orders, applications for provisional liquidators, and public interest winding-up petitions. John Vickery adeptly handles contentious and non-contentious restructuring and insolvency matters; he recently acted for the liquidators in Ltd v P & Others, a case concerning alleged misfeasance and wrongful trading. Elisabeth Tythcott is another notable name in the set, and she successfully acted for the claimant in Cheshire Estates (Oakglade) Limited v Daw and Cheshire Estates (Spenbrook) Limited, which involved a claim for £3m equitable compensation against directors for breach of fiduciary duty.

Testimonials

‘James Parks in particular is very efficient, dealing with queries promptly.’

‘Chris Heath and Eden Cobb have a willingness to assist counsel and instructing solicitors in filing documents and bundles.’

‘The clerks are always excellent.’

‘The set has a number of highly experienced business and property counsel involved in some very heavy litigation.’