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Leading Silks

Lorraine Cavanagh KC – St John’s Buildings ‘Lorraine is a commanding and authoritative advocate. She always has the ear of the court and will always fight for her client.’

2022 Silks

Joseph O’Brien KC – St John’s Buildings ‘Joseph is an outstanding advocate. Judges listen to him with great care and his forensic cross-examination of witnesses in difficult cases needs to be witnessed to be believed – he is simply brilliant.’

2023 Silks

Helen Mulholland KC – Kings Chambers ‘Helen strikes exactly the right chord. Her advocacy is superb; eloquent and efficient. She is brilliant on her feet.'

Leading Juniors

Eleanor Keehan – St John’s Buildings ‘Eleanor has forged a reputation for herself as one of the go-to barristers for this area. She is exceptionally intelligent, and brings pragmatism and serenity to the cases she is instructed on.'
Ben McCormack – Garden Court North Chambers 'His style is incredibly engaging, focused and with an emphasis on the human issues in a case. He is very effective cross examiner and his client care is second to none.'
Laura Twist – St John’s Buildings ‘Laura is a calm and authoritative voice of reason. A tremendously insightful junior.'
Rebecca Carr – St John’s Buildings ‘Rebecca is a thorough, detailed, and supportive junior who works tirelessly. She has a forensic eye and a calm and measured advocacy style.'
Fay Collinson – Kings Chambers ‘Fay’s attention to detail is excellent, her advocacy is superb, and she has an assured yet authoritative manner in court.
Lucinda France-Hayhurst – St John’s Buildings ‘Lucinda provides focused and succinct advice to ensure the best result for her client, and she commands the confidence of the court.’
Kerry Smith – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Kerry is very thorough and methodical, and demonstrates a good grasp of the facts in a case.'

Court of Protection and community care in Regional Bar

Kings Chambers


Kings Chambershas a good Court of Protection team, covering property and affairs and health and welfare work.’ Sam Karim KC leads the team, and has been kept particularly busy handling cases involving medical treatment issues. Newly appointed silk Helen Mulholland KC is ‘a highly skilled, confident, and assured advocate in Court of Protection matters‘. At the junior end of chambers, Fay Collinson garners praise for ‘her expertise in Court of Protection property and affairs work‘, and Sophie Allan regularly represents protected parties, including vulnerable adults, in a range of work. Deprivation of liberty cases are a key area of instruction for Richard Borrett.

Testimonials

‘The clerks at Kings are always helpful and efficient, especially Drew Platt and Mark Ronson.’

‘Steve Loxley and Aimee Rogers are particularly helpful and attentive.’

‘Kings Chambers’ clerks always offer a good service. They are quick to respond and always try to accommodate requests, making them easy to work with.’

‘The clerks are knowledgeable, make you feel valued as a client, and will always make efforts to assist.’





St John's Buildings


Led by the 'renowned' Joseph O'Brien KC, St John's Buildings' Court of Protection team has established expertise in handling cases concerning deprivation of liberty and medical treatment matters. Lorraine Cavanagh KC is highly regarded for her excellent track record in handling complex health and welfare cases. Among the juniors, Eleanor Keehan is 'a very eloquent advocate', and regularly acts for the Official Solicitor, family members and local authorities, while Lucinda France-Hayhurst is well known for advising on personal welfare, deprivation of liberty and capacity to consent matters. Laura Twist 'has excellent knowledge of the law relating to mental capacity and is always exceptionally well prepared'.

Testimonials

‘A go-to set in the North.’

‘St John’s Buildings is simply fantastic. The barristers are all high calibre.’

‘St John’s Buildings is a very professional set.’

‘Valuable training sessions and there a number of very experienced counsel.’

‘The clerks are simply outstanding.’

‘The clerks are simply brilliant and will move mountains to ensure counsel is available for any hearing.’

‘The clerks are all very friendly, professional, and will always go the extra mile to assist.’

‘Clerks are responsive and helpful.’