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

Blackstone Chambers is particularly strong in its work at the intersection of public law and immigration, handling judicial reviews relating to asylum and deportation before appellate courts, and is noted for being ‘at the top of their game on public law matters‘. Lord Pannick KC is representing the Government in the high-profile Rwanda litigation in R (AAA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, while Charlotte Kilroy KC represents a claimant charity in a related appeal and Jason Pobjoy was part of the team which secured interim relief for refugee claimants before the European Court of Human Rights. James Eadie KC – as “treasury devil”, the government’s first-choice outside barrister – Tom Hickman KC are also active in this space, crossing over between public law and immigration.

Blackstone Chambers has ‘a superlative administrative law and human rights practice‘, noted for its ‘incredible strength in depth‘; the team attracts praise as being ‘exceptionally knowledgeable in relation to public and administrative law issues‘. The set has an excellent reputation for its expertise in providing advice on public law issues within a commercial context. In a prominent case highlight, Tom Hickman KC, Jason Pobjoy and Gayatri Sarathy were part of a team in chambers who represented the claimants before the Divisonal Court in R (HM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, a challenge to the legality of the government’s secret and blanket policy to seize, search and retain data from the mobile phones of persons arriving the UK by small boats; the court ruled that the policy breached Article 8 ECHR and data protection laws. In another high-profile case, Lord Pannick KC and Monica Carss-Frisk KC appeared before the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in Q & Tse v Commissioner of Registration, a case concerning the jurisdiction’s policy on the issuance of ID cards to transgender individuals who had not undergone qualifying gender reassignment surgery – the case also involved issues of the jurisdiction’s rules of temporary admission of English barristers. Paul Luckhurst is ‘an excellent litigator with a fierce intellect‘ who is sought after for his strength in human rights law. The senior end of the group was bolstered by the elevation of Tom Richards KC to silk in March 2023. Sir James Eadie KC, in his role as treasury devil, is the government’s first-choice outside barrister.