Gwion Lewis KC > Chambers of David Holland KC and Jenny Wigley KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
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Gwion Lewis KC
Position
Gwion Lewis was called to the Bar in 2005 and specialises in public, planning, environmental, EU and public international law.
He is a member of the Attorney General’s ‘A’ Panel of Junior Counsel, which means that he regularly acts for the UK Government in its most complex cases. Gwion is also a member of the Welsh Government’s ‘A’ Panel of Junior Counsel. He acts regularly for both private and public sector clients at inquiries and has extensive experience of judicial review proceedings and appeals in the higher courts. To date, he has appeared in over 150 inquiries and over 200 substantive judicial reviews.
Gwion has been recommended as a leading junior in all the main independent legal directories for several years. The 2020 versions of these directories describe him as “very punchy and incredibly effective” (Chambers and Partners), “excellent on his feet” and that he “always produces silk-quality work” (Legal 500). He is also said to be “very personable and easy to work with” (Legal 500).
Gwion is based in London but welcomes instructions from all areas of the UK and from international clients. He has experience of advising clients in island jurisdictions, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Gwion is the editor of the ‘Wales’ section of the Planning Encyclopedia and appears regularly on television and radio programmes in Wales to analyse legal affairs.
Languages
Gwion is Welsh-English bilingual, has good French and is a certified upper-intermediate (B2) Italian speaker (University of Siena, CILS, 2011).
Education
Gwion is a former US-UK Fulbright Scholar and has an LLM from New York University specializing in international human rights, language rights and the interface between law and security. This led to his appointment as a Visiting Scholar at the European University Institute in Florence where he pursued his interest in language rights in EU law.
Before he studied abroad, Gwion was a Scholar of Jesus College, Oxford, where he obtained a BA and a BCL (First Class) in Jurisprudence. When studying for the BCL, he focused on English and French public law, human rights, international dispute settlement and the public international law of the sea. During his time at Oxford, Gwion won several prizes for his performance in examinations on administrative law, public international law, criminal law and Roman law, and was awarded the Welson Prize for the most promising law student at Jesus College. He is also a former winner of the Oxford-Cambridge Intervarsity Mooting Competition and a Bedingfield Scholar of Gray’s Inn.
In 2015, Gwion was awarded the BAFTA Wales award for ‘Best Breakthrough’ for presenting a television documentary on the Welsh language.
In 2017, Gwion was appointed to a 3-year term as a member of the Welsh Government’s Welsh Language Partnership Council. The Council was established under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 to advise the Welsh Ministers on matters relating to the Welsh language. Gwion serves as the legal member of the Council.
Also in 2017, Gwion was made an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University, Wales, for services to law.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Environment
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Gwion Lewis KC – Landmark Chambers ‘Gwion is very bright, clear-thinking and perceptive, with an excellent grasp of complex matters.’
Landmark Chambers is ‘a leading set on environmental matters‘ with ‘an incredibly deep bench of expertise‘. Gwion Lewis KC is representing the Environment Agency in longrunning litigation arising from its decisions to set low catch allocations for salmon fishing in the River Wye, involving claims of alleged human rights breaches. David Elvin KC is ‘a superb advocate at the top of his game‘, and James Maurici KC‘s workload includes climate change, air quality, waste and habitat and species protection issues. The ‘robust‘ Heather Sargent is sought after for her extensive experience in advising on EU environmental matters. Bolstering the team at the senior end, Alex Goodman KC was elevated to silk in March 2023.
London Bar > Planning
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Gwion Lewis KC –Landmark Chambers ‘Gwion works together with the team for the client. Clear and concise advice provided.’
London Bar > Local government (including rating law)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 4Gwion Lewis KC – Landmark Chambers ‘Gwion is very approachable; he is plain-speaking and gives clear advice to the matter in hand.’
London Bar > Energy
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Gwion Lewis KC – Landmark Chambers ‘Gwion is very knowledgeable and can command meetings with clients and experts, and he can analyse complex situations and articulate his thoughts on these into clear and concise advice.’