Set Profile > The Chambers of Richard Booth QC > Brighton , South East

The Chambers of Richard Booth QC > The Legal 500 Rankings

The Chambers of Richard Booth QC > Firm Profile

 

A leading civil and public law set (with a large annexe in Brighton) providing advisory, advocacy and mediation services with a pre-eminent reputation for its clinical negligence and healthcare practices, its expertise in public law and human rights and its professional disciplinary work.

The set: Established over 70 years ago, its reputation for quality is reflected in the fact that it counts among its members and former members the former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf, four Lord Justices of Appeal and three former chairmen of the Bar. Chambers runs the highly acclaimed UK Human Rights Blog and the well-established Human Rights Update and podcast, Lawpod UK.

Types of work undertaken: Members are recognised as leading practitioners in a range of areas including: clinical negligence; professional discipline; personal injury; public and administrative law; public inquiries; healthcare; environmental law; professional negligence; immigration and asylum; employment and equality; costs; coroners and inquests; sports; and cyber tax. Chambers has a mediation service, with accredited mediators and arbitrators, including a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Chambers is widely recognised as the leading set for clinical negligence. It acts for both claimants and defendants, representing individuals, groups and numerous health authorities, NHS Trusts, GP’s and consultants nationwide. Landmark cases include: Darnley v Croydon Health Services, CN & GN v Poole BC, Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board, Nyang v G4S and Dr Thomas, and Meiklejohn v St George’s NHS Trust, as well as the group actions such as the Paterson litigation, Barclays Bank litigation, Infected Blood Inquiry or arising out of benzodiazepine administration, femodene use, organ retention and MMR.

Chambers handles personal injury litigation for claimants and defendants and has a particularly strong niche practice in handling historic child abuse claims. Cases include representing victims of Jimmy Savile, the Grafton House and Elm House abuse cases, and IICSA cases.

Healthcare work has included: the right to treatment abroad on the NHS; whether guidance on the withdrawal of artificial nutrition is compatible with human rights; and the rights of parents to be notified of their daughters seeking of an abortion. A large number of its members were heavily involved in the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust Public Inquiry.

Chambers has a growing practice in coronial inquests, often arising from its expertise in healthcare and public law. Members have also appeared in high profile inquests such as the Perepilichny Inquest and the  recent Birmingham Pub Bombings, London Bridge Inquests, Westminster Bridge Inquests and Manchester Bombing Inquests.

The human rights practice is founded on the expertise gained through running the human rights blog and podcast stream Lawpod UK. Significant cases include R v Jogee, as well as the healthcare cases mentioned above. Chambers has a long experience of public inquiries, including the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Infected Blood Inquiry, Al-Sweady Inquiry, the Leveson Inquiry, the Detainee Inquiry and the inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa in Iraq, and the Victoria Climbie and Alder Hey Inquiries.

The environmental practice includes: the recent case for Japanese Knotweed, M4 Road Relief case, the test case on the applicability of new pollution regulations; measures to mitigate the problem of dolphin by-catch in fishing nets; flooding; claims for water and methane escape from mines; waste and land fill issues; asbestos and groundwater pollution; aircraft noise; dust pollution; interference with TV reception and judicial review of abatement notices.

Chambers is regularly involved in disciplinary work involving all types of professionals and internal inquiries into the competence and conduct of clinicians, solicitors, architects, surveyors and accountants. Cases include Dr. Michalak v GMC & Ors,  Dr Wakefield and subsequent appeals (MMR scare  representing three parties, including the GMC); the Dr Waney Squier case (shaken baby) and Webster v Liddington (the Isolagen litigation).

Chambers tax practice acts for both taxpayers and HMRC. Cases include injunction reviews of the ‘Alcohol Wholesalers registration scheme’,
Court of Appeal case concerning ‘Talacre’ carve out (Case C-251/05), the Supreme Court judgment on third party consideration in Airtours Holidays Transport Limited v HMRC and Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Ltd v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2017] UKSC 26 as well as Loyalty Management (UK) Ltd, BAA Ltd, Newnham College and Mayflower Theatre.

In costs and funding matters, members have appeared in a number of leading cases including: Church v Great Western Hospitals, Cashman v Mid Essex Hospitals, and Hall v Everton FC.

Please visit the Careers section on our website for more details on our two Pupillages, Mini-Pupillages and Assessed Mini-Pupillages.

 

The Chambers of Richard Booth QC > Firm Profile

 

Chambers has been in Brighton since 1972 as an annexe of One Crown Office Row, a long -established common law set in the Temple which has maintained strong Sussex connections for over 50 years. Members practise from centrally located modern premises, only a few minutes walk away from the Brighton District Registry and county and magistrates courts. Chambers is fully integrated into the IT infrastructure of One Crown Office Row in London. Conference, library and seminar facilities are excellent.

The set: Chambers is by far the largest set based in Brighton. For some time, it was the only regional set to have won preferred set status with Brighton and Hove City Council for its family, civil and criminal work.

The set has grown quickly in recent years, to its current strength of 56 members based in Brighton. Its turnover has grown significantly in recent years, reflecting the dynamism of the local legal scene and chambers success in capturing an increasing share of the work available. It now services clients along a wide stretch of the South coast, from Portsmouth to Hastings, and clients in Hampshire, Surrey and Kent, in addition to Sussex.

The heart of the Civil Practice Group’s work is commercial dispute resolution and property litigation.  It acts for and against public authorities, companies, partnerships and individuals. The commercial practice ranges from contracts to shareholder and director disputes. Property litigation includes sales and purchases of land, options, easements, boundaries, leasehold enfranchisement and town and country planning. The group also has  expertise in probate & trusts, personal injury, professional negligence and employment law.

Our Criminal Team is committed to providing advocacy and advice to the highest possible standard. Our highly experienced team generally covers courts from Portsmouth in the West to Canterbury in the East and up to and including London in the North. However, Members of the Team are happy to travel beyond this region to cater for clients’ needs.

Chambers has a fully committed Family Law Team who undertake the whole range of family proceedings. We have specialists in both Public and Private Law Children, Financial Remedies, Domestic Violence & Injunctions.The team comprises advocates that excel in their field with strength in numbers and expertise from Senior counsel to Junior members. Uniquely, we offer accredited Arbitrators for Child Arbitration.

Members of the family team ensure they are approachable, and sensitive to the client’s needs.   We have excellent conference facilities in a central Brighton location and our Chambers are conveniently located close to the major family centres of Sussex. With extensive expertise in Criminal, Civil & Family Law, One Crown Office Row is able to pride itself both on client care and professional excellence. We are available for emergency applications and can normally accept instructions at very short notice. Our local practice gives us extensive experience and knowledge of local judicial practice.

Types of work undertaken: Chambers undertakes all types of general common law work civil, criminal and family. While it is particularly widely recognised for its strength in all types of family proceedings, chambers also has wide experience of landlord and tenant and building work, professional negligence, personal injury, employment and licensing, and prosecuting and defending crime, increasingly all types of regulatory crime. In many of these practice areas (eg in matrimonial finance and personal injury), practitioners benefit from having access to leading silks in these areas, based in One Crown Office Row, London. A good number of members are also trained mediators (www.disputesmediated.com) and many accept instructions under the Bar Council’s Direct Access arrangements (www.barristerforme.com).

Recruitment: up to two pupils are taken annually, each with an award of £10,000 for the first six months and a guaranteed level of earnings of £10,000 for the second six. Applications are accepted by CV and covering letter sent to Chambers. Please visit the Careers section on our website for more details.