PJ Kirby KC KC > Gatehouse Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Gatehouse Chambers Offices
1 Lady Hale Gate, Gray’s Inn
WC1X 8BS
England
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PJ Kirby KC KC
Work Department
Commercial dispute resolution; costs; banking, finance and credit; civil fraud; employment; professional negligence.
Position
PJ has enjoyed a long and successful career at the Bar having previously been a partner in a Holborn firm of solicitors. He took silk in 2013 – the only costs specialist to do so that year.
PJ’s practice covers costs litigation, commercial dispute resolution and professional negligence. Recommended by the legal directories for his “great knowledge in relation to complex,cross-border, multi-party-funded litigation“, he is instructed by a wide range of solicitors from City firms to High Street practitioners. As well as cases in England & Wales PJ has appeared in the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal in relation to the legality of CFAs and in the DIFC in Dubai and much of his work has an international dimension.
PJ is recognised as an expert in the field of costs and is often instructed on appeals in relation to problems over retainers, CFAs etc. He is also often instructed to draft bespoke DBAs, CFAs or CCFAs for firms of solicitors.
PJ sits as a Deputy District Judge and is a Bar Council appointed High Court costs assessor. PJ is also an ADR group accredited mediator and is on the Costs ADR (CADR) panel of mediators.
Career
Qualified 1989; solicitor Supreme Court 1983-89; deputy district judge; barrister assessor in costs appeals. Formerly a partner in a firm of Holborn solicitors.
Silk: 2013
Memberships
- Employment Law Bar Association
- Employment Lawyers Association
- Commercial Bar Association
- London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association
- Professional Negligence Bar Association
- London Court of International Arbitration
- British Insurance Law Association
Education
- L.B. (Hons)
- Former Solicitor
- Deputy District Judge
- Barrister Assessor on High Court Cost Appeals
- ADR Group Accredited Civil & Commercial Mediator
- Costs ADR (CADR) panel of mediators
Leisure
Family, faith, football and food – although the order of importance tends to vary !
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Costs and litigation funding
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1PJ Kirby KC –Gatehouse Chambers ‘PJ has a superb manner in court. He leads in conferences with lay clients and takes control and provides confidence.’
Offering a ‘well-skilled costs team at all levels’, Gatehouse Chambers members are well-versed at handling complex appellate cases, as well as assisting litigation teams on applications for security for costs, wasted costs and non-party costs orders. The ‘superb’ PJ Kirby KC continues to regularly advise on detailed assessments, costs budgeting and funding arrangements; having recently led Martyn Griffiths in Wilkins v Serco, a case of fundamental importance to the extension of the fixed costs regime. In Abbott v Ministry of Defence, Robin Dunne acts for the MoD in the determination of the costs arising from the claimant’s solicitors incurring in excess of £3m in issuing claims following the High Court finding that they could not be issued on one claim form.