Brian Kennelly > Chambers of Tom Weisselberg KC and Jane Mulcahy KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Blackstone Chambers offers ‘great strength in depth, at both silk and junior level’ for competition work, operating at the forefront of regulatory and private damages actions in the UK; as well as a recognised reputation for international expertise, representing governments, regulators, defendants and claimants across multiple jurisdictions. Acting under temporary admission to the Hong Kong Bar, Competition Commission of Hong Kong v W Hing Construction, James Segan KC represented the Commission in the first case heard in the that forum about pecuniary penalties for contravention of that jurisdiction’s competition law. In two significant judgments handed down by the CAT, Brian Kennelly KC and Paul Luckhurst represented UBS in a case regarding applications for opt-out collective proceedings under 47B of the Competition Act; while Monica Carss-Frisk KC, Jessica Boyd KC, Isabel Buchanan and Tom Coates appeared in CityFibre Limited v Ofcom, with the tribunal dismissing CityFibre’s appeal under section 192 of the Communications Act 2003.

Blackstone Chambers is widely recognised and respected for its bench strength in EU law, with members regularly instructed on behalf of UK government departments, EU institutions and multinational corporations in high-profile cases in the field. Brian Kennelly KC appeared before the Court of Appeal in Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair, a case concerning compensation for cancelled flights and the status of EU judgments post-Brexit. Kieron Beal KC is ‘a brilliant advocate who makes the complex simple‘. Among the junior end of chambers, Emily Neill is singled out for her expertise in cross-border and Brexit issues, and Ravi Mehta is ‘an outstanding technician‘.

Praised as ‘one of the strongest sets for group litigation matters’, Blackstone Chambers offers a breadth of experience with ‘uniformly excellent barristers, across the range of call’. Notable instructions for Gayatri Sarathy include acting in Alex Neill Class Representative Ltd v Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Ltd & Ors, collective action proceedings in relation to allegations concerning the system for selling games and add-on content on the PlayStation Store, as well as acting for the proposed defendants in £850m proposed collective action proceedings in relation to allegations concerning the technical performance of certain iPhone models and operating systems. Shaheed Fatima KC is currently instructed for the defendants in numerous large group actions, including Municipality of Mariana v BHP and Okpabi v Shell, while Brian Kennelly KC represents Visa in Sainsbury’s Supermarkets ltd v Visa Europe Services, the long-running group litigation brought by Sainsbury’s and other retailers concerning the multilateral interchange fees charged by Visa and Mastercard, which recently went to the Supreme Court, with dozens of further claims before the CAT and the High Court.