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Chancery, Probate, And Tax

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St John's Chambers
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Guildhall Chambers

Leading Silks

Leslie Blohm QC - St John's Chambers
Hugh Sims QC - Guildhall Chambers

Leading Juniors

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Charles Auld - St John's Chambers ‘ Charles is a fabulous barrister. Exceptionally bright, very good on his feet, calm under pressure and great client care skills. ’
Amy Berry – Pump Court Chambers ‘She is good both on her feet and with clients.’
Carol Davies - College Chambers ‘ Carol always delivers an exceptional professional service. She is diligent in her preparations and has a natural ability to identify the salient legal issues whilst reassuring clients with her acknowledgement and awareness of the finer details, so as to develop trust and rapport. ’
John Dickinson - St John's Chambers ‘ John is a calm and measured advocate, who is always very thorough, precise and clear in his written advice. Nothing is too complex for him to disentangle. ’
Natasha Dzameh - St John's Chambers ‘ Natasha has a great eye for detail and is very determined in her approach. She provides advice in a commercial way. ’
Ewan Paton - Guildhall Chambers ‘ His advice is thorough, clear and decisive. ’
Alex Troup - St John's Chambers ‘ Alex is a brilliant barrister. He is calm under pressure, and very bright with a great depth of knowledge. ’
Matthew Wales - Guildhall Chambers ‘ Matthew is a very bright lawyer and a superb strategist. Clients are completely won over by his confidence and trust his opinion. He is the Olympic Bolero of advocates. ’
Andrew Willetts - KBG Chambers ‘ Andrew is incredibly thorough and well researched. He is also pragmatic, clear-headed, commercially clued up, and extremely knowledgeable - just what an instructing solicitor looks for. ’
Oliver Wooding - St John's Chambers ‘ Oliver is very experienced in contentious trust and probate work. An excellent advocate, quick on his feet, has gravitas and is very personable. ’
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Adam Boyle - St John's Chambers ‘ A very persuasive advocate, and is particularly strong on the more esoteric legal points of a case. ’
Cheryl Jones - 3PB ‘ Cheryl has in-depth knowledge of the law pertaining to trusts and probate matters. She is very dedicated and goes the extra mile to achieve the desired result. Responsive, decisive and client-friendly. ’
Christopher Jones - St John's Chambers ‘ Christopher is very personable, approachable, very easy to deal with and good on his feet. ’
Joss Knight - St John's Chambers ‘ Joss is a very effective advocate. He provides sound advice. ’
Derek Marshall - College Chambers ‘ An advocate with a formidable presence and great depth of knowledge. ’
Oliver Mitchell - Guildhall Chambers ‘ Oliver is very knowledgeable and quick to grasp the facts of a case. His advice is detailed, yet clear and concise. ’
Charlie Newington-Bridges - St John's Chambers ‘ Very methodical and calm under pressure. Clients and judges both really like his straightforward approach. ’
Michael Selway - Guildhall Chambers ‘ Very bright and very thorough. His advice is always comprehensive and well considered. ’
Robert Trevis - Queen Square Chambers
Malcolm Warner - Guildhall Chambers

Chancery, probate, and tax in Regional Bar

St John's Chambers

St John's Chambers is 'an excellent contentious trust and probate set' with 'a very strong Chancery team', housing 'members who rival London counsel in ability and experience'. Leslie Blohm QC heads up the Chancery practice and has established expertise in handling high-value, complex probate and trusts cases. Oliver Wooding recently appeared in a contentious probate case, where the validity of a will was challenged on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence. Charles Auld is well-versed in handling cases involving contentious probate, disputed wills and Inheritance Act claims.

Testimonials

Set

‘St John’s Chambers has an incredible depth of talent‘.

‘The pre-eminent Chancery set in the South West, with a good depth of barristers across a range of levels of experience‘.

‘St Johns Chambers’ Chancery, Probate and Tax practice is second to none. The barristers are exceptional‘.

‘Great strength in depth‘.

Clerking

‘The clerks are very well organised and can always be relied on‘.

‘The Chancery clerks are easy to contact and reliable. Particular recognition to Paul Bennett and Simon Lyons, both of whom make contacting chambers seamless‘.

‘Paul Bennett, Simon Lyons and Rob Bocock are all exceptional clerks. They go above and beyond what is expected of them to meet our needs as a firm and offer a seamless, professional service‘.

‘The clerks are great, always courteous and responsive. Rob Bocock in particular manages his team well and is always accommodating. Paul Bennett is a safe pair of hands – very reliable‘.

‘Elizabeth Champion is prompt and well-organised. A pleasure to deal with‘.

Guildhall Chambers

Guildhall Chambers houses a group of 'strong regional specialists in Chancery work'. Key areas of instruction for the team include contentious wills, probate and trusts matters and Inheritance Act claims. At the junior end, Matthew Wales is 'a very sharp and formidable advocate', and garners praise as 'level headed, technically sound but very practical'. Michael Selway acted for the defendant in a case involving an application for the rectification of a will, which included an error relating to the identity of beneficiaries.

Testimonials

Set

‘A solid, approachable set‘.

Clerking

‘Efficient and responsive‘.

‘Stephen Arnold has a bright and breezy nature – a calm harbour for stressed out solicitors‘.

‘Stephen Arnold is responsive and helpful‘.