Set Profile > Cloisters > London, England
Cloisters Offices
Cloisters
1 PUMP COURT, TEMPLE
LONDON
EC4Y 7AA
England
Cloisters > The Legal 500 Rankings
Employment Tier 2
Cloisters' members are highly regarded for their expert knowledge in all aspects of employment law across a broad range of sectors including financial services, transport, education, government, retail, and technology. The set's members act for both employers and employees, including trade unions. Robin Allen QC and Rachel Crasnow QC acted for part-time judges in O'Brien v Ministry of Justice, a high-value claim which considered discrimination against part-time judges in the calculation of pensions; in November 2018 the Court of Justice of the European Union found in their clients' favour, bringing the 13-year dispute to a close. Elsewhere, Paul Epstein QC represented Birmingham City Council and Tesco in a multimillion-pound mass equal pay disputes.
Leading Silks
2018 Silks
Leading Juniors
Clinical negligence Tier 3
Cloisters has an 'excellent selection of highly-skilled barristers' who exhibit expert knowledge in all aspects of medical law. The set specialises in high-value matters, including neurological birth injuries, as well as cases complex quantum issues. Joel Donovan QC and Martyn MacLeish represented the claimant in the Court of Appeal decision of Hewes v West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust , which is now the leading authority on summary judgments in clinical negligence cases. Donovan QC also acted for the claimant in the Court of Appeal in Duce v Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which concerned the determination of informed consent to a total abdominal hysterectomy, which in this instance resulted in chronic post-surgical pain.
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Civil liberties and human rights (including actions against the police) Tier 3
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Inquests and inquiries Tier 3
Leading Silks
Sport Tier 3
Personal injury, industrial disease and insurance fraud Tier 3
The 'excellent' Cloisters covers the full spectrum of complex and high-profile personal injury cases, acting on behalf of claimants and defendants. Members are 'highly skilled in handling catastrophic injury claims' and particularly adept at dealing with intricate liability and quantum issues. Quantum is a core focus of William Latimer-Sayer QC's practice; he is representing two claimants who were seriously injured in the 2015 Alton Towers' ride accident, as well as acting for PC Kristopher Aves in his claim against the Motor Insurers Bureau arising out of the Westminster Bridge attack. Daniel Lawson has, in turn, a strong reputation for handling difficult liability claims.
Personal injury - Leading Silks
Personal injury - Leading Juniors
Set overviews: England and Wales
Cloisters is the ‘go-to’ chambers for clinical negligence cases, with some members ‘highly skilled in handling catastrophic injury claims’, as well as for employment instructions as it houses some ‘must-have’ counsel for discrimination claims. In recent news, Rachel Crasnow QC and Christopher Milsom have been elected to serve on the executive committee of the Employment Law Bar Association, while Sarah Fraser Butlin has been elected chair of the Industrial Law Society. The clerks’ room is led by 'excellent' senior clerk Glenn Hudson, who is ably assisted by 'efficient' first junior Mark Skipp and the 'very helpful' second junior, Andy Hunter. Offices in: London
Cloisters > Firm Profile
Cloisters is a highly-regarded and long-established set that advises on employment, discrimination & equality, personal injury, clinical negligence, commercial law, regulatory & public law, sport & entertainment with a reputation for delivering exceptional results.
Cloisters is renowned for its responsive, first-class client focus combined with a technical excellence and commercial perspective that enables them to resolve the most complex legal problems for individuals and organisations of all sizes.
They are continually at the forefront of ground-breaking cases. Many Cloisters barristers are the undisputed leaders in their field and represent clients at every level up to the European Court.
The set: Cloisters is known for its expertise along with a modern, flexible approach and outstanding client care. Most of its 60 barristers are ranked leaders in their field.
Types of work undertaken: Cloisters acts for large multinational and national businesses, SMEs, small employers, employees, non-government organisations, charities, regulators, local authorities, associations, government departments, universities, unions, professional bodies, professionals and individuals.
Clinical negligence: Cloisters is the predominant claimant clinical negligence set, with a large team of silks and juniors. It has an outstanding reputation for dealing with multimillion-pound catastrophic birth and spinal injury claims and is at the cutting edge of clinical negligence law, playing a lead in many of the major cases.
Employment: Cloisters is the go-to set for all aspects of employment and discrimination law. It is consistently instructed in landmark cases cementing its reputation as an expert in the field.
Human rights and civil liberties: Cloisters was founded on a commitment to civil liberties. The set has unrivalled expertise in dealing with difficult and novel issues involving both domestic and European law. Seven members are appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) panel of preferred counsel. The team covers domestic and international areas and is involved in the European Court of Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Inquests and inquiries: Cloisters is a sought-after set for providing representation to bereaved families and dependants in the most complex and sensitive of inquest proceedings. It is well versed in Article 2 inquests, coronial law and judicial review stemming from areas that include healthcare deaths, workplace deaths, road traffic accidents, death in prison, and deaths of children and young people.
Personal injury: Chambers personal injury team is highly sought-after for its expertise in maximum severity work, with experience ranging from multimillion-pound catastrophic injury claims to industrial and traffic accidents, and claims relating to explosions, disease and the armed forces.
Professional discipline and regulatory: Cloisters is recognised for its expertise across a wide range of professions and members of the team appear regularly in front of different panels. The team is well placed to draw on the expertise gained from Cloisters other areas of practice.
Public law: Cloisters represents and advises on discrimination, human rights, judicial review and public inquiries, both for and against public bodies and regulatory authorities. The team brings particular insight into matters relating to education and healthcare professionals.
Sports, media and entertainment: the team acts for the FA in high-profile matters as well as for a wide range of sports bodies and personalities. The team’s strength lies in applying exemplary legal technical skill in a sporting context to produce ground-breaking, creative solutions for clients.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Members of Chambers | ALLEN QC, Robin (1974, 1995) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DONOVAN QC, Joel (1991, 2011) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MITCHELL QC, Jonathan (Scotland) (1979, 1992) | ||
| Members of Chambers | NAPIER QC, Brian (Scotland) (1986, 2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | TAYLOR QC, Dr Simon (1984, 2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | EPSTEIN QC, Paul (1988, 2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ROMNEY QC, Daphne (1979, 2009) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HITCHCOCK QC, Patricia (1988, 2011) | ||
| Joint Head of Chambers | ALGAZY QC, Jacques (1980, 2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GLYN QC, Caspar (1992, 2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GALBRAITH-MARTEN QC, Jason (1991, 2014) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CRASNOW QC, Rachel (1994, 2015) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LATIMER-SAYER QC, William (1995, 2016) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DYER QC, Simon (1987, 2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | JOLLY QC, Schona (1999, 2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | COGHLIN QC, Thomas (1998, 2018) | ||
| Members of Chambers | WILLIAMS QC, Edmund (2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | SEAWARD, Martin (1978) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ENGELMAN, Phillip (1979) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BUCHAN, Andrew (1981) | ||
| Members of Chambers | O'DEMPSEY, Declan (1987) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CASSERLEY, Catherine (1991) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GENN, Yvette (1991) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MICHELL, Paul (1991) | ||
| Members of Chambers | HORAN, John (1993) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LAWSON, Daniel (1994) | ||
| Members of Chambers | COWEN, Sally (1995) | ||
| Members of Chambers | ROBERTSON, Sally (1995) | ||
| Joint Head of Chambers | McLEISH, Martyn (1997) | ||
| Members of Chambers | REINDORF, Akua (1999) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BROWN, Thomas (2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | JACOBS, Linda (2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | McCANN, Claire (2000) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BEALE, Anna (2001) | ||
| Members of Chambers | OHRINGER, Adam (2001) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GODFREY, Hannah (2002) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MASTERS, Dee (2004) | ||
| Members of Chambers | FRASER BUTLIN, Sarah (2005) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DYAL, Daniel (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MILSOM, Christopher (2006) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DOBBIE, Olivia-Faith (2007) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MUSGRAVE, Caroline (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | STIRLING, Catriona (2008) | ||
| Members of Chambers | CAIDEN, Nathaniel (2009) | ||
| Members of Chambers | OMERI, Sheryn (2010) | ||
| Members of Chambers | LORD, Chesca (2011) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BARRETT, Rachel (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | BURTON, Tamar (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | DANVER, Jennifer (2012) | ||
| Members of Chambers | GILLIE, Tom (2013) | ||
| Members of Chambers | POURGHAZI, Navid (2015) | ||
| Members of Chambers | COOK, Jonathan (2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | FITZPATRICK, Ruaraidh (2017) | ||
| Members of Chambers | MEENAN CATHERINE (2018) |
Lawyer Profiles
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Jacques Algazy QC | Jacques Algazy practices in employment, commercial, European, and public law. His robust… | View Profile |
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Robin Allen QC | Head of Cloisters; has appeared in many of the leading employment, discrimination,… | View Profile |
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Rachel Barrett | Barrister specialising in employment, discrimination, personal injury, clinical negligence, human rights and… | View Profile |
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Anna Beale | Barrister specialising in employment and discrimination law; experience includes CA; EAT; and… | View Profile |
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Tom Brown | Barrister specialising in employment, equality, EU, commercial, public, immigration and human rights… | View Profile |
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Andrew Buchan | Barrister who has been specialising in personal injury since 1984. He has… | View Profile |
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Tamar Burton | Tamar specialises in employment and discrimination, personal injury and clinical negligence. In… | View Profile |
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Nathaniel Caiden | Barrister specialising in in employment, discrimination and equality, personal injury, and clinical… | View Profile |
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Catherine Casserley | Practises employment, discrimination and human rights law. Previously employed by the Disability… | View Profile |
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Tom Coghlin QC | Tom Coghlin QC specialises in employment and discrimination law. He is sought-after… | View Profile |
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Jonathan Cook | Employment, Discrimination & Equality, Clinical Negligence, Commercial Law, Personal Injury, Requlatory | View Profile |
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Sally Cowen | All areas of employment law equality and discrimination law. Personal injury and… | View Profile |
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Rachel Crasnow QC | Leading QC specialising in employment law, with emphasis on discrimination and human… | View Profile |
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Jennifer Danvers | Jen Danvers accepts instructions in all of Cloisters’ areas of practice, and… | View Profile |
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Olivia-Faith Dobbie | Olivia is a courageous advocate with a strong court presence. She is… | View Profile |
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Joel Donovan QC | Barrister practising mainly in complex high-value clinical negligence and PI, including grave… | View Profile |
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Daniel Dyal | Noted for his excellent legal knowledge and regarded as highly personable and… | View Profile |
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Simon Dyer QC | Simon Dyer QC has specialised in clinical negligence claims since 2000 and… | View Profile |
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Philip Engelman | Barrister specialising in employment, public law and general commercial law. He has… | View Profile |
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Paul Epstein QC | Paul is an employment and discrimination law specialist. He has appeared in… | View Profile |
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Ruaraidh Fitzpatrick | Clinical Negligence, Discrimination & Equality, Employment, Human Rights, Personal Injury, Regulatory | View Profile |
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Sarah Fraser Butlin | Specialising in employment, clinical negligence, personal injury. | View Profile |
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Jason Galbraith-Marten QC | Jason is undoubtedly one of the UK’s leading employment and equality lawyers.… | View Profile |
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Yvette Genn | Yvette Genn is a specialist employment lawyer with in-depth expertise in complex… | View Profile |
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Tom Gillie | View Profile | |
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Caspar Glyn QC | Caspar advises on contentious disputes and is a trial and appellate lawyer.… | View Profile |
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Hannah Godfrey | Barrister (called 2002) at Cloisters Chambers specialising in personal injury and clinical… | View Profile |
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Patricia Hitchcock QC | Queen’s Counsel. Specialising in complex high-value claims, especially brain and spinal injury,… | View Profile |
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John Horan | Barrister in discrimination and equality and employment. On the day before the… | View Profile |
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Linda Jacobs | Linda Jacobs is a barrister at Cloisters (2000 call, Middle Temple, Harmsworth… | View Profile |
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Schona Jolly QC | Schona is a cutting-edge equalities lawyer with employment and human rights specialisms… | View Profile |
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William Latimer-Sayer QC | William specialises in catastrophic personal injury and clinical negligence. He has a… | View Profile |
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Daniel Lawson | Dan specialises in personal injury, clinical negligence and insurance law. | View Profile |
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Chesca Lord | Barrister specialising in employment and discrimination, personal injury, and clinical negligence. Chesca… | View Profile |
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Dee Masters | Dee is ranked in both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500… | View Profile |
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Claire McCann | Claire McCann specialises in employment, equality and public law as well as… | View Profile |
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Martyn McLeish | Martyn McLeish is an experienced personal injury and clinical negligence junior, recommended… | View Profile |
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Paul Michell | Paul is an employment law specialist. He regularly acts in equal pay,… | View Profile |
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Christopher Milsom | Chris enjoys a practice at the forefront of employment and equalities law.… | View Profile |
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Caroline Musgrave | Caroline specialises in employment, discrimination, personal injury and clinical negligence work. She… | View Profile |
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Brian Napier QC | Practises employment and discrimination law in England and Scotland (Faculty of Advocates).… | View Profile |
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Declan O’Dempsey | Declan O’Dempsey is a member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s… | View Profile |
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Adam Ohringer | Adam is an employment specialist who still maintains a broader civil law… | View Profile |
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Sheryn Omeri | Barrister specialising in employment and discrimination, clinical negligence, human rights, public law… | View Profile |
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Navid Pourghazi | View Profile | |
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Akua Reindorf | Akua Reindorf specialises in employment and discrimination law. She has substantial experience… | View Profile |
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Daphne Romney QC | Daphne was called to the Bar in 1979 and took silk in… | View Profile |
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Martin V Seaward | Barrister specialising in personal and fatal injuries, occupational pensions, coroner’s inquests, administrative… | View Profile |
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Catriona Maria Stirling | Catriona is a specialist in clinical negligence, medical law and personal injury.… | View Profile |
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Dr Simon Taylor QC | Simon is a medical doctor as well as a barrister and specialises… | View Profile |
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Ed Williams QC | Ed is named by the Legal 500, Chambers and Partners and Legal… | View Profile |