Set Profile > Chambers of Bill Braithwaite QC > Liverpool, England

Leading Sets Tier 1

Clinical negligence Tier 2

Mediators Tier 2

Paul Johnson at Exchange Chambers in Manchester is 'approachable, commercial, pragmatic and persistent - if anyone can get a settlement, Paul can'. Johnson has mediated over 700 disputes, and his mediation practice includes insolvency, shareholder and partnership disputes, inheritance and probate, professional negligence and banking.

Leading Sets Tier 3

Mediators Tier 4

Exchange Chambers' Paul Kirtley in Leeds is 'an excellent mediator who is approachable and sympathetic to the needs of parties and takes the time to put them at ease and explain things'. Kirtley is an accredited civil and commercial and workplace mediator, who has mediated in over 50 mediations. He regularly mediates in commercial, employment, public sector, negligence, personal injury, probate, trusts and property and boundary claims.

Clinical negligence

Paul Kirtley is the key figure in Exchange Chambers medical negligence team on circuit and is primarily instructed for the claimant in claims relating to the general practitioner, surgical and birth injury spaces.

Commercial, banking, insolvency and Chancery law

Exchange Chambers is home to several strong commercial practitioners, and is praised for the 'good availability of counsel', and particularly the set's contingent of 'very capable insolvency juniors'. Other notable aspects of the set's offering include competition and EU law work, where David Went is one of the most notable names outside of London, and shareholder disputes, where Lisa Linklater and Alfred Weiss are particularly strong. Recent highlights for the set include Linklater's representation of shareholders in a crowd-funded property development who sought to remove company directors, and Went's representation of the Road Haulage Association in a group action in the truck cartel scandal.

Commercial, banking, insolvency and Chancery law

Home to one of the largest commercial teams in the region, Exchange Chambers is a noticeable presence in all areas of commercial, banking, insolvency and Chancery work. The team features members with specialist practices in professional negligence, competition law, and credit hire litigation. In competition, David Went acts for a follow-on damages claimant in the truck cartel case.  Mark Cawson QC co-leads on behalf of the claimants in Municipio De Mariana and others v BHP Group, a multi-party claim arising from the collapse of the of a Brazilian dam in 2015 being brought against its British owners.

Construction, planning and environment

Members of Exchange Chambers practice across the construction, planning and environment sectors, with several members having operated in industry roles before their time at the Bar. Former chartered surveyors David Fearon and Peter Dixon lead the construction and planning practice groups respectively and have helped cement the set's reputation for 'excellent technical knowledge' among clients. James Malam recently represented the purchasers in a £6m claim against the developers of a block of 51 flats for breach of contract and failure to install fire safety features.

Costs

Exchange Chambers is home to costs specialist Richard Wilcock, who is particularly notable for his work on behalf of the NHS in costs matters. One notable recent case is Nicolaou v Cass, in which Wilcock represented the paying party in a challenge to a two-stage after-the-event insurance premium.

Crime

Exchange Chambers is home to one of the strongest criminal teams in the region, with barristers regularly appearing in serious and complex cases. According to one client, the set 'has some real quality barristers and great strength in depth', a sentiment which was echoed by several others, who praised the sets 'great ability to provide alternative counsel' even at short notice. High-profile instructions include Gordon Cole QC's representation of England cricketer Ben Stokes, who was acquitted of charges of affray concerning what the defence argued was Stokes' and a team-mate's intervention in a homophobic attack. Among the juniors, Mark Ainsworth was instructed as the leading junior in a three month trial to prosecuted the Liverpool-based Fernhill Gang, who supplied class A drugs within the city. David Potter was appointed to the circuit bench.

Crime

Exchange Chambers' 'tremendous strength in depth' enables it to provide a strong service across a wide range of criminal instructions. Nicholas Johnson QC recently acted for the first defendant in a gang-related assassination case, involving two murders, and in which three of the six charges led to acquittals. Emma Bennett departed the set for Parklane Plowden.

Employment

Exchange Chambers' employment team is instructed to represent clients at all levels of the court system, from employment tribunals up to the Court of Appeal, as well as in settlement meetings and mediations. Discrimination cases are a key area of work for the set. A recent highlight is Ashley Serr's continued representation of the respondent in De Groen v Gan Menachem Nursery, which concerned allegations of discrimination on the grounds of the claimant's lack of belief by the respondent Orthodox Jewish nursery, now in the appeals process - the matter was remitted back to tribunal after some findings of direct discrimination were upheld and some of indirect discrimination were not.

Family and children law

Family practitioners at Exchange Chambers are predominantly instructed in high-value financial remedy cases, as well as private Children Act matters. Particular areas of expertise include the representation of public figures, variations to shared parenting arrangements, and jurisdictional issues.

Inquests and inquiries

Exchange Chambers' members are instructed in a wide range of inquests and inquires, from extremely high-profile work such as Louis Browne QC's involvement in the Manchester bombing and Grenfell Tower inquiries (for Salford University and number of firefighters respectively), to the clinical negligence and personal injury-adjacent work undertaken by Sara Sutherland.

Personal injury

Exchange Chambers houses a large number of specialist personal injury counsel, across both the senior and junior ranks. A notable niche at the firm is the defense of claims brought against  the military, an area in which William Waldron QC and Louis Browne QC have thriving practices. Christopher Barnes represented former heptathlete Serita Shone in a claim against British Bobsleigh concerning an injury suffered in her first training run as a bobsledder. David Knifton QC co-led the case for the claimant in the Supreme Court in Lewis v Tindale and MIB, which concerned the liability of the Motor Insurers' Bureau for incidents involving uninsured vehicles on private land; in this instance an elderly farmer ran over a man he believed to be scrap metal thief, causing the claimant to break his neck.

Personal injury

Exchange Chambers 'always has the right person for the case' and its members are commonly instructed in high-value cases involving catastrophic injuries. Pankaj Madan represented the defendant in a chronic pain case, in which an injury resulted in a loss of employment rendering the claimant ineligible for indefinite leave to remain, resulting in a substantial loss of future earnings claim.

Property

Exchange Chambers is praised by clients for the wide range of 'very knowledgeable, experienced and capable' counsel within its property team, one of the largest in the region. Members are instructed on a wide range of matters including unlawful evictions, possession claims and boundary and easement disputes. In a recent highlight, Andrew Williams represented the claimant in a case concerning the interpretation of option agreements, throughout both the initial trial and appeals process.

Property

William Hanbury is the key figure in property litigation for Exchange Chambers in Leeds, with a practice including possession claims and disputes concerning leases and easements.

Public law

Exchange Chambers' public law team is best known for its work on behalf of local authorities and other government bodies in challenges brought against their decisions. Of recent note, Louis Browne QC acted for the senior coroner in R (Hughes) v HM Coroner for Sefton, an application for judicial review of an inquest touching upon the death of a woman in a care home, which was brought by the family on grounds of irrationality and insufficient inquiry into the deceased's clinical care and the cause of death, with permission eventually being refused.

Regulatory, health and safety, and licensing

Paul Kirtley at Exchange Chambers maintains a wide professional disciplinary practice covering police law, the regulation of solicitors and medical sector disciplinary proceedings. Other key areas include sports discipline work, where Kirtley acts for both athletes and governing bodies.

Regulatory, health and safety, and licensing

Members of the regulatory team at Exchange Chambers are instructed primarily on professional disciplinary and health and safety matters. The set's members accept both prosecution and defence instructions. John Jones QC recently defended an evangelical church in a health and safety prosecution following the death of a volunteer worker who fell through a suspended ceiling. Ian Whitehurst recently represented  a company in its appeal against a fine for the illegal dumping of waste, following the appellant's attempt to remove the waste and remediate the damage to the site.

Set overviews: England and Wales

Exchange Chambers is ‘the premier set in the north’, with ‘tremendous strength in depth without any dead wood’ across Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire. The set divides its expertise into a criminal team that has ‘standout counsel in the region for regulatory, health and safety, and crime’; a ‘commercial team with real talent’ that is ‘particularly strong in insolvency matters’; and a civil team including ‘local luminaries’ for family law in Liverpool. In recent chambers news, criminal specialist Richard Littler QC was a 2019 silk appointment; Andrew Haslam QC joined from St Paul's Chambers; Patrick Harrington QC, head of chambers at Farrar's Building, and 5 Paper Buildings’ Jonathan Elystan Rees joined as door tenants; while former Kings Chambers senior clerk Colin Griffin arrived as senior commercial clerk in January 2019. Tom Handley, the set’s chief executive is based in Liverpool, as is practice director and ‘solicitors’ dream’ Neil Wright, who ‘goes the extra mile’, and ‘superb’ chambers director Jonathan l’Anson. Also on Merseyside, senior criminal clerk Kate Masher provides ‘exceptional and up-front clerking’, while civil and family clerks Rachel Williams and Sarah Rotherham are ‘fantastic’. Further along the M62, the set provides ‘London service with a Manchester smile’. Nick Buckley, who also straddles the commercial and civil team, is for many ‘the best criminal clerk on the circuit’. Also in Manchester, commercial clerk Joe Mawson is ‘very responsive and helpful’. On the other side of the Pennines, Ian Spencer ‘runs Leeds with quiet, understated efficiency’. Offices in: Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds

Diversity/Community

Equality and Diversity
Chambers is committed to promoting the culture of equality and diversity and we are proud to underpin these values to our work and how we operate Chambers.

We are committed to treating all applicants equally and fairly and we assess candidates for pupillage, tenancy and staff roles on merit alone, without reference to background, racial group, colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality, religion or belief, gender, marital status, age, sexual orientation or disability.

We are committed to offering opportunities for gaining experience and practice development to all pupils and members of Chambers equally without discrimination. We offer mini-pupillage and work experience opportunities throughout the year.

We have ensured that Chambers is accessible to people using wheelchairs. We accommodate any requests for reasonable adjustments to assist disabled applicants.

We recognise the need to promote a positive and supportive community for both barristers and staff and to encourage a cohesive and collaborative culture. We have been recognised by the Bar Council for our commitment to Wellbeing at the Bar.

Pro Bono
We have been part of a pro-bono alliance with the National Autistic Society’s Education Rights Service for over five years. In 2016 Exchange Chambers won the pioneering Best Family Support Award at the National Autistic Society (NAS) Professional Awards for its pioneering pro bono alliance. A team of 30 barristers deliver legal support to families with autistic children and provide free representation before the Special Needs Tribunal. Our barristers undertake autism awareness and special educational needs training from the National Autistic Society.

Charity
In keeping with our commitment to wellbeing, we have a charity partnership with Mersey Counselling and Therapy Centre (MCTC), a charity that exists to provide mental health support to members of the community who are unable to access the help they need through the social care system or access care independently.