5 Essex Court > London, England > Set Profile
5 Essex Court Offices

5 Essex Court
TEMPLE
LONDON
EC4Y 9AH
England
5 Essex Court > The Legal 500 Rankings
London Bar > Inquests and inquiries Tier 1
5 Essex Court's team comprises several inquest and coronial law specialists; and in addition to the set's expertise in police-related inquests, its 'high-quality' members represent healthcare providers, emergency services, government departments, local authorities, prison services and the military. Jason Beer QC is currently engaged in four public inquiries, namely Grenfell Tower, Undercover Policing, Magnox, and Post Office Horizon IT; and Fiona Barton QC is one of the country’s leading QCs specialising in police law. At the senior-junior level, Alison Hewitt consistently acts as counsel to inquests in high-profile, complex and sensitive investigations, such as acting for HM Senior Coroner for Avon in relation to Spencer Ashworth (Deceased), who had a history of mental health difficulties and was fatally shot by armed police after driving through three counties, allegedly threatening to shoot other drivers with a handgun.
Rising stars
Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
Set
‘The set as a whole are leaders in their field.‘
‘Five Essex Court is a powerhouse of coronial lawyers, who lead and inspire younger members of chambers who specialise in this area.‘
‘When I have used other sets, I have felt that the whole service has not matched 5 Essex Court.‘
‘It is rare to have a set of chambers where the reception, clerks, and junior and senior barristers are equally impressive in the service they offer.‘
‘High-quality barristers, a pleasure to work with, well prepared, sensible and without question a safe pair of hands for whoever they are representing.‘
Clerking
‘The clerks are fantastic – always willing to help and responsive.‘
London Bar > Police law (forces and constables) Tier 1
5 Essex Court ‘are a pre-eminent set acting for the police‘ fielding ‘a ‘talented team of specialists in all areas of police law‘. Leading cases include representing the Secretary of State for the Home Department and Secretary of State for Justice in the inquests and civil action proceedings arising out of the terror attack at Fishmongers’ Hall and on London Bridge in November 2019, and in Halabi v The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, acting for the Metropolitan Police in a high profile challenge to the national regime for monitoring sex offenders. ‘Leader in her field ‘ Fiona Barton QC defended the DPP in Young v Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police & Director of Public Prosecutions in a claim for misfeasance, false imprisonment, and breaches of convention rights. Andrew Waters is a top junior in both police and disciplinary law; he acted for Norfolk Constabulary in a disciplinary hearing concerning a firearms officer who was removed from her firearms role following her alleged failure to disclose serious concerns about another officer in the firearms unit.Leading Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
Set
‘One of the the top sets for police work.’
‘Outstanding. I consistently go to 5 Essex Court for police work.’
Clerking
‘Mark Waller is still the ‘go to’ clerk for police work. Excellent knowledge of this area of work and is able advise on the right barrister for the job. He runs a tight and professional team, always friendly, approachable and professional.’
‘Like the barristers, all the clerks are approachable and helpful.’
London Bar > Employment
Leading Juniors
5 Essex Court > Set Profile
Overview
5 Essex Court is a top tier set of chambers recognised for exemplary client service, depth and breadth of experience in its specialist areas and outstanding quality of counsel. Chambers has a formidable reputation in its core areas of practice – police law, public/administrative law, public inquiries, inquests, professional disciplinary/regulatory, information law, employment law and human rights. Members, many of whom are recognised as leaders in their field, have appeared in some of the UK’s most significant civil law cases, inquests and inquiries over the last decade. Chambers represents a broad range of clients in both the public and private sectors and across the United Kingdom. The public accountability of many of the set’s clients is always a key consideration and members deploy measured, forensic advocacy coupled with an accessible, efficient and practical approach. A number of members accept direct public access work.
Work Undertaken.
Police Law
Pre-eminent in this field, Chambers is consistently recommended as the leading set for police law. The strength in depth of the police law team is highlighted by the large number of members ranked at all levels of call in this area of expertise. 5 Essex Court’s highly regarded specialists are instructed by every police force in England and Wales and by Police Scotland on all aspects of police law. They have a formidable and unrivalled record of appearances in almost every case, inquest or inquiry of substance concerning police law to Supreme Court level. Public/Administrative Law: Legal challenges to public bodies have been at the core of 5 Essex Court’s work for more than half a century. Members are often involved in public law cases that break new legal ground. They regularly advise and act in a wide range of public law cases for individuals, ministers and government departments, local authorities, regulatory authorities and other public bodies. The team includes members of each of the Attorney General’s panels of counsel. Members are particularly known for their work in cases that have a civil liberties, human rights or criminal justice dimension.
Public Inquiries
5 Essex Court continues to lead in this area with members instructed in most major inquiries including the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Renewable Heat Inquiry, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and the Undercover Policing Inquiry. The public inquiries team represents a broad range of clients and members are also regularly instructed as counsel to the inquiry. Public inquiries are inherently high profile and members are consistently praised for their effective handling of the sensitivities and challenges facing clients who are often in the spotlight for an extended period.
Inquests
Recognised as a leading set, 5 Essex Court offers a comprehensive service covering all stages of an inquest. The team comprises a large number of recommended specialists including a senior coroner. In addition to renowned expertise involving the police, members have extensive experience of representing clients from a range of sectors including other emergency services, healthcare providers, government departments, local authorities, prison services, security firms, publicly listed and private companies. Members of the inquest team have appeared in the most high-profile inquests of recent years, both as counsel to interested persons and as counsel to the inquest, including: Deepcut, London Bridge Attack, Westminster Terror Attack, Birmingham Pub Bombings, Perepilichnyy, Poppi Worthington and Maughan.
Data Protection and Information Law
From national security to cyber security, 5 Essex Court’s team regularly provides advice and advocacy in matters relating to information and data protection law, with extensive experience acting for government, police forces, businesses and regulators.
Members of our team appear in UK courts and tribunals from the Supreme Court down in some of the highest-profile cases involving information law. Significant matters in this area include R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police (SWP) in the first ever legal challenge against the use of automatic facial recognition technology. Sir Cliff Richard v BBC, R (Miranda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and R (Catt & T) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis.
The information law team provides practical advice and excellent advocacy at all stages, from time-sensitive crisis management through to complex and high-value litigation.
Employment Law
Chambers has a team of talented employment law specialists recognised for their experience and practical advice and representation across the full scope of employment law issues.
5 Essex Court’s barristers are renowned for their expertise representing government departments, public bodies and Chief Constables in employment law, as well as mainstream private industry companies of all sizes. They apply their vast experience in some of the most contentious and complex employment cases relating to public bodies as well as all industry sectors, from national retailers and service providers to blue-chip financial institutions.
Our employment law specialists represent and advise both employers and employees from the public and private sectors and regularly appear in Employment Tribunals as well as senior courts up to Supreme Court level. The team is recognised for giving sound practical and pragmatic advice. A number of our barristers pursued other careers such as Industrial relations, in industry before joining the Bar, so we have first-hand knowledge of the commercial issues facing clients.
Human rights
5 Essex Court barristers appear in some of the most ground-breaking human rights challenges in the courts today. Chambers’ caseload includes challenges to the actions of the police, government departments, prisons and other public bodies in the full range of courts from county level up to the Supreme Court. The team is skilled, robust and creative in dealing with claims which push the boundaries of human rights jurisprudence. The experience of members of the team includes international law and Commonwealth human rights litigation.
Disciplinary/Regulatory
Building on its widely recognised expertise in police misconduct, 5 Essex Court has a strong presence in the wider regulatory context. Members of the team represent regulators, companies and individuals across a range of sectors, including healthcare, energy and professional services, and in all manner of proceedings concerning regulatory law issues. These include professional discipline, civil claims, public inquiries and inquests.
Personal Injury
5 Essex Court’s personal injury team acts for a broad range of private and public sector clients including insurers, corporates, the police, prisons, government departments, and local authorities, as well as direct access clients. Members’ expertise covers the full spectrum of personal injury cases, from the most serious and complex multi-track claims to the simplest small track claims. Clients benefit from the team’s ability to draw on their expertise in other overlapping core areas of practice including employment, regulatory and human rights law.
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Senior Clerk | Mark Waller | clerks@5essexcourt.co.uk | 020 7410 2000 |
Member of Chambers | BEER QC, Jason (1992) | ||
Member of Chambers | BARTON QC, Fiona (1986) | ||
Member of Chambers | STUDD QC, Anne (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | LEEK QC, Samantha (1993) | ||
Member of Chambers | PAYNE QC, Alan (1996) | ||
Member of Chambers | APTHORP, Charles (1983) | ||
Member of Chambers | HEWITT, Alison (1984) | ||
Member of Chambers | WALSH, Simon (1987) | ||
Member of Chambers | WATERS, Andrew (1987) | ||
Member of Chambers | OULTON, Richard (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | WAITE, John-Paul (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | RAWAT, Bilal (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | HARRIS, Melvyn (1997) | ||
Member of Chambers | HODGE, Alastair (1997) | ||
Member of Chambers | VON WACHTER, Victoria (1997) | ||
Member of Chambers | HOBBS, Daniel (1998) | ||
Member of Chambers | BRANSTON, Barnabas (1999) | ||
Member of Chambers | FORTT, Russell (1999) | ||
Member of Chambers | VENTHAM, Charlotte (2001) | ||
Member of Chambers | CORNELL, Kate (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | PALMER, Claire (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | WHITELAW, Francesca (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | COLLIER, Beatrice (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | LANDAU, Jonathan (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | THOMAS, Mark (2006) | ||
Member of Chambers | WOLFE, Georgina (2006) | ||
Member of Chambers | HARLAND, Robert (2006) | ||
Member of Chambers | DIXEY, Jonathan (2007) | ||
Member of Chambers | TAHERI, Peter (2007) | ||
Member of Chambers | PRICE, Emma (2007) | ||
Member of Chambers | HAYWARD, Cicely (2008) | ||
Member of Chambers | IDELBI, Saara (2008) | ||
Member of Chambers | COHEN, Robert (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | CLARKE, Amy (2010) | ||
Member of Chambers | TALALAY, Robert (2010) | ||
Member of Chambers | USTYCH, Alex (2010) | ||
Member of Chambers | HODGE, Catriona (2012) | ||
Member of Chambers | MEREDITH, Alice (2013) | ||
Member of Chambers | MOSS, Aaron (2013) | ||
Member of Chambers | GOSS, John (2015) | ||
Member of Chambers | REICHHOLD, Remi (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | LAVERACK, Peter (2015) | ||
Member of Chambers | JOYCE, Molly (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | MESSLING, David (2017) | ||
Member of Chambers | WRIGHT, Jennifer (2018) | ||
Member of Chambers | MONIGHAN, Conor (2019) | ||
Member of Chambers | DOBBIE, Sarah (2020) | ||
Door Tenant | BASSETT, John (1975) | ||
Door Tenant | ALLEN, Dr Stephen (1992) | ||
Door Tennat | CHECA DOVER, Olivia (2007) |
Barrister Profiles
Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Charles Apthorp | Charles’ areas of expertise include police law, employment law, commercial litigation and… | View Profile |
![]() | Fiona Barton | Examples of her work include: The London Bridge Terrorist Attack Inquests [2019]… | View Profile |
![]() | Jason Beer | Jason often leads teams of counsel in complex, high-profile and sensitive… | View Profile |
![]() | Barnabas Branston | Barney acts for a range of clients including police forces across England… | View Profile |
![]() | Amy Clarke | Amy acts on behalf of constabularies across the country in cases involving… | View Profile |
![]() | Robert Cohen | Notable cases: R(Hambleton) v HM Coroner for the Birmingham (1974) Inquests (appeal… | View Profile |
![]() | Beatrice Collier | Notable recent work includes: Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, R. (on… | View Profile |
![]() | Kate Cornell | Notable civil cases include: defending a claim for alleged breach of Article… | View Profile |
![]() | Jonathan Dixey | Jonathan’s clients include police forces, public bodies and coroners. Recent high profile cases… | View Profile |
![]() | Russell Fortt | Recent work includes a scoping exercise for the IPCC into the policing… | View Profile |
![]() | John Goss | John acts in civil claims, police discipline cases, judicial reviews and has… | View Profile |
![]() | Robert Harland | Robert is a member of the Attorney General’s B panel and is very… | View Profile |
![]() | Melvyn Harris | He advises and represents both Claimants and Respondents in the private and… | View Profile |
![]() | Cicely Hayward | Ciicely specialises in the areas of Police law, Inquests, Employment law, Public Law and… | View Profile |
![]() | Alison Hewitt | Alison specialises in inquests and is very experienced in all aspects of… | View Profile |
![]() | Daniel Hobbs | Dan has been conducting employment cases ever since he qualified in 1998.… | View Profile |
![]() | Alastair Hodge | Alastair has successfully acted for both teachers and head teachers in misconduct… | View Profile |
![]() | Catriona Hodge | Catriona specialises in police and public law, inquests, employment, human rights and… | View Profile |
![]() | Saara Idelbi | She regularly appears and advises on matters in the Tribunals, Coroners’ Court,… | View Profile |
![]() | Molly Joyce | Molly regularly acts for police forces before the Crown and Magistrates’ Court… | View Profile |
![]() | Peter Laverack | He frequently acts in the High Court, Crown Court, County Court and… | View Profile |
![]() | Samantha Leek | Particular expertise in inquests and civil claims arising out of: deaths in… | View Profile |
![]() | Alice Meredith | She has particular experience in civil claims including discrimination and ECHR claims,… | View Profile |
![]() | David Messling | David joined 5 Essex Court as a tenant in September 2019 after… | View Profile |
![]() | Aaron Moss | From 2017 to 2019, Aaron was instructed as junior counsel (CTI) to… | View Profile |
![]() | Richard Oulton | Richard specialises in employment, police misconduct, commercial and personal injury law. He… | View Profile |
![]() | Claire Palmer | She is regularly instructed by a number of government departments as well… | View Profile |
![]() | Alan Payne | Alan, who is develop vetted, acts for variety of clients including police… | View Profile |
![]() | Emma Price | Emma’s inquest practice focusses on article 2 inquests into deaths in detention… | View Profile |
![]() | Bilal Rawat | Significant cases include: Grenfell Tower Inquiry (as counsel to the Inquiry);… | View Profile |
![]() | Remi Reichhold | Remi is currently junior counsel for the Government of Mauritius in relation… | View Profile |
![]() | Anne Studd | Anne undertakes judicial reviews, civil claims, inquests and inquiries for police forces… | View Profile |
![]() | Peter Taheri | Peter’s practice is mainly focused on Inquests and on work across the… | View Profile |
![]() | Robert Talalay | Robert has considerable trial experience as well as particular expertise and interest… | View Profile |
![]() | Mark Thomas | Having acted as junior counsel for the Metropolitan Police in the landmark… | View Profile |
![]() | Alex Ustych | Alex specialises in police law, inquests/inquiries, data protection/information law, employment law, public… | View Profile |
![]() | Charlotte Ventham | Notable cases: Rees & others v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis… | View Profile |
![]() | John-Paul Waite | In addition to the above areas, John-Paul has a particular specialism in… | View Profile |
![]() | Simon Walsh | Simon now focuses his practice on police discipline and regulatory work after many… | View Profile |
![]() | Andrew Waters | Representing and advising police forces in England and Wales across the whole… | View Profile |
![]() | Francesca Whitelaw | Francesca is appointed to the Attorney-General’s B Panel of Junior Counsel to… | View Profile |
![]() | Georgina Wolfe | Georgina appears regularly as sole counsel and junior counsel before a range… | View Profile |
![]() | Victoria von Wachter | Victoria advises a wide range of private and public sector clients on… | View Profile |
Languages
English- Inquests and inquiries
- Police law (forces and constables)
Top Tier Set Rankings
- Employment