Laura Newton > Brick Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Brick Court Chambers Offices
7-8 ESSEX STREET
LONDON
WC2R 3LD
England
Laura Newton
Work Department
Commercial dispute resolution
Position
Laura Newton is a leading junior barrister with a commercial practice which sees her regularly instructed in high-value international commercial disputes and arbitrations, often with a fraud aspect. She has appeared as sole Counsel, as well as being led, in a number of substantial cases in the Commercial Court, Chancery Division and the LCIA.
Career
Laura’s experience has been recognised as exceptional for someone of her seniority: she was one of just 10 barristers selected for inclusion in The Lawyer Hot 100 2016, and was also featured as one of the Legal Week 10 Stars at the Bar 2016. The Lawyer noted that, “At just seven years’ call Laura Newton has been dubbed a ‘superstar’ by QCs for her record of bringing in significant commercial litigation mandates and being a ‘driving force’ in complex case management.” Legal Week referred to her as “winning plaudits left, right and centre”.
Laura frequently deals with substantial commercial cases, most of which have an international aspect. Under the umbrella of commercial litigation, Laura’s practice spans contractual disputes, civil fraud, banking and finance, and professional liability.
International arbitration also forms a large part of Laura’s practice. She has been involved as sole Counsel, as well as being led, in a number of substantial LCIA and ad hoc arbitrations.
Laura also has experience of shareholder disputes, applications against directors, applications under the Companies Act 2006, applications under the Insolvency Act, and advising in relation to company law issues.
Languages
English, French, German, basic Mandarin
Memberships
COMBAR
Chancery Bar Association
LCIA
YIAG
Commercial Fraud Lawyers’ Association
Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association
Education
Hatfield College, Durham:
- LLB (Dunelm), First class honours
- Baxter Prize for top performance in college
- Cervantes Prize for top performance in year
St Catherine’s College, Oxford:
- BCL (Oxon), Distinction
- Allen & Overy Prize for the Best Performance in Global Comparative Financial Law
- Allen & Overy Prize for the Best Performance in Corporate Insolvency Law
- College honours for top performance in the BCL
Astbury Scholarship, Middle Temple
University College London: Visiting Tutor in Tort Law
King’s College London: Examiner in Trusts Law
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Commercial litigation
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 2Laura Newton –Brick Court Chambers ‘Laura is in the absolute top tier of juniors at the commercial Bar, with a genuine specialism in complex commercial transactions, including those involving trusts in the commercial context. Extremely intelligent, elegant on paper and a polished advocate. Absolutely superb.’
London Bar > Fraud: civil
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Laura Newton –Brick Court Chambers ‘Laura is extremely intelligent, elegant on paper and a polished advocate. Absolutely superb.’
Brick Court Chambers continues to impress with its members’ involvement in an array of high-profile cases, offering ‘huge strength in depth for fraud work’. Members of the set continue to be involved in “tuna bonds” scandal litigation concerning the fraudulent and corrupt procurement of sovereign guarantees worth $2bn, with Richard Blakeley KC, newly appointed silk as of March 2024, representing the Republic of Mozambique in proceedings against Credit Suisse, VTB and Privinvest Group companies; Ben Woolgar and Frederick Wilmot-Smith acting for the Privinvest defendants; and Stephen Midwinter KC, Laura Newton, and Tom Wood instructed by banks that provided syndicated lending to Mozambique. Tim Lord KC, leading a team including Thomas Plewman KC, represents Ziyavudin Magomedov and his companies in relation to high-value disputes around the world arising out of an alleged conspiracy to carry out a corporate raid of assets belonging to the former tycoon, who is currently serving a prison sentence in Russia.. Fred Hobson KC and Richard Blakeley KC took silk in March 2024.