New Square Chambers

John has a busy and varied practice predominantly in Property & Real Estate and Commercial Dispute Resolution. Very much in demand, John is developing a considerable following of clients both regionally and nationally. He deals with complex and high value litigation in the High Court and County Courts. John acts on behalf of companies, private individuals and government departments, having been appointed to the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Counsel in 2020. John read law at the University of Leicester and graduated with a First Class Honours degree. He was awarded a Harmsworth Scholarship and completed a common law pupillage in London. He is also direct access qualified and is happy to accept instructions from businesses and individuals looking for advice and representation. Away from the Bar, John is a keen (if not accomplished) sportsman and musician, an active member of his local Round Table and an avid Leicester City fan.

James Davies is an experienced commercial and traditional chancery barrister with an established County Court and High Court practice. His practice encompasses commercial litigation, company and shareholder disputes, insolvency and wills and trusts disputes. Prior to coming to the Bar James qualified as a Chartered Accountant specialising in SMEs. Many of his cases feature complex financial elements or multi-generational family business disputes which draw on this expertise: “he’s brilliant on detail. He’s particularly good where there is a debate over figures or where there are issues over complex transactions” and “methodical and thorough in high-value disputes”. He has been consistently ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for commercial litigation. James acts as the editor of the Surveyors and Accountants chapters of the Encyclopaedia of Professional Partnerships by Sweet & Maxwell. He is a regular contributor to LexisNexis PSL and LexisNexis Webinars. James also has an established practice as a mediator, having successfully mediated a number of business and chancery disputes.

Guy is a chancery and commercial specialist who acts in complex cases which often raise difficult and/or novel points of law. His commercial work includes banking, finance, commercial contract, company and partnership and professional negligence. Guy also has expertise in more traditional chancery matters, including landlord and tenant, property and trusts. In administrative law matters, Guy has particular experience of acting for commercial clients whose business interests have been adversely affected by administrative decisions. He has extensive appellate experience at all levels up to the Supreme Court.

Amit’s practice spans commercial litigation/arbitration, insolvency and company work. He has particular interest and expertise in civil fraud, contempt, technology disputes and group actions. Amit’s has a domestic and international client base with a Middle Eastern focus. They value his discretion, insight and strategical approach to litigation. While Amit is regularly led, he particularly enjoys and thrives un-led at trials, for which he has developed experience beyond his call. Amit’s family background in business, including international trade and commercial property, to a large extent guides his more candid and commercial approach to clients and disputes.   Prior to coming to the Bar Amit worked at the Financial Conduct Authority, Slaughter and May LLP and undertook government policy work in Nepal. Amit has also worked as in-house counsel in both the Personal Tax Litigation and Insolvency departments of HM Revenue and Customs Solicitor’s Office.

Jessica “is fast developing a strong commercial chancery practice, with a focus on insolvency, and is certainly a name to note at the junior Bar” (Legal 500 UK 2021). Jessica is a “superb advocate” (Legal 500 UK Bar 2022) who is “excellent on her feet” (Legal 500 UK 2021). She appears as sole counsel regularly in the High Court, and was successful in the Court of Appeal in the important case of Bell v Ide. She is well accustomed to conducting cases from pre-action advice through to trial, whilst throughout maintaining a pragmatic and commercial approach. During her five-year appointment to the Attorney-General’s C Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (2017-2022), Jessica was frequently instructed by HMRC and the Official Receiver in insolvency cases, and by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in director’s disqualification proceedings. In addition to domestic work, Jessica is developing a thriving offshore practice. She has received instructions from the Channel Islands, the UAE and Gibraltar, and has an ongoing consultancy arrangement with the dispute resolution department of a leading offshore firm in Jersey (assisting with trust, company and insolvency matters) Jessica has contributed to Atkin’s Court Forms, and has also written for Lexis PSL, the Trusts and Estates Law and Tax Journal, the Corporate Rescue and Insolvency Journal, Insolvency Intelligence, and Estates Gazette.

Sarah is a specialist Wills, Trusts, and Estates barrister. Sarah’s expertise extends to Property and Commercial Litigation, as well as Family Law matters involving aspects of Chancery and Commercial Law, such as trusts, inheritance, and companies. Prior to coming to the Bar Sarah read for a Ph.D. and tutored. Having subsequently qualified and worked as an investment analyst in asset management and private banking in the City, she gained sound understanding of financial matters and dealing with high net-worth individuals. In her previous capacity as in-house counsel to a commercial bank, Sarah advised on financial services regulation; the incorporation of offshore funds and companies; commercial landlord and tenant; and contract. Sarah contributes to the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents.

Amy Berry is well known and well liked amongst her peers for her succession work often on behalf or involving those who have lost capacity. Amy thinks laterally, she has to as she is dyslexic, and her work is bespoken and forward thinking. Amy has had a varied life and she deploys her skills at people management, farming, property development, acting as a trustee and caring/working with the disabled to create a real niche practice with a large following. Amy is in great demand and has an unbelievable ability to manage and resolve the most complex of cases and people; she is a survivor and ensures all her clients (both professional and lay) survive too. All those years playing chess and cards make her a great strategist; she can and does out manoeuvre her peers and will guide you out of tricky situations while retaining composure and charm. Her work and practice sit largely within traditional chancery work including trusts, wills, estates, equitable remedies, court of protection, tax, property, farming, building, construction, planning, inheritance and related professional negligence. She is regularly involved in large and complex claims and mediations. But is equally happy dealing with anyone and everyone. Amy enjoys her work and gets a sense of pride in ensuring her work helps society grieve after what are usually the most harrowing of experiences. Amy has an uncanny ability to work with anyone and often her clients are those that solicitors find the most difficult to deal with. She is comfortable and at ease in any court room or mediation whether in person or remote. She has a lovely manner that glows, giving a sense of calm and confidence to her clients but strikes fear in those she is about to cross examine. She is often instructed by her opposing solicitors after they see her in court or after mediations (and wishing they had instructed her first). Above all Amy is succinct, kind, considerate and patient. She will not faulter on her integrity, honesty or candor. She can be firm when required. And always adds value to a legal team.

Stuart David Armstrong

Stuart is a property specialist with more than 20 years’ experience. His practice encompasses landlord and tenant issues (relating to both residential and commercial properties) including forfeiture of leases, variation of leases, renewal of business tenancies, dilapidations and leasehold enfranchisement. Stuart also deals with a range of other real property matters including boundary disputes, adverse possession, freehold covenants and disputes as to beneficial ownership/trusts. Clients range from private individuals to large companies. Stuart regularly gives seminars in his practice areas and appears in a range of courts and tribunals, including the Court of Appeal, High Court and county court as well as the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) and the Upper Tribunal. Stuart is a trained mediator and has also acted as an expert in the construction of legal documents. He accepts Public Access work. Stuart's GDPR privacy policy is available upon request.

Jian Jun (JJ) Liew

JJ’s commercial chancery practice spans the full breadth of Chambers’ practice area. He is well versed in cutting through dense facts and engaging with complex principles of law. JJ keeps up to date and regularly comments on recent significant decisions in his practice areas on LexisPSL and on the New Square Chambers website. This also includes publications in legal journals, such as: “In Defence of Ingram v Little: Understanding Collateral Offer and Acceptance” (2017) 6(1) OUULJ 34. “Parker v Financial Conduct Authority – A Missed Opportunity?” (2021) 35.3 TLI 185. “Mistake, misprediction, and risk-taking in tax-avoidance” (2022) 28(4) T&T 285, co-authored with Aidan Briggs. JJ has a firm grasp of financial services regulatory work, having been seconded to the Retail Investments team of the Financial Conduct Authority’s General Counsel’s Division. JJ is currently seconded to the China Practice team of McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP.

James’ busy commercial chancery practice spans Chambers’ practice areas and he is particularly at home with complex disputes which engage multiple overlapping areas of law. James welcomes instructions across the full range of commercial-chancery work including insolvency, trusts and estates, property, commercial litigation, civil fraud and company. James appears frequently in his own right in the High Court and County Courts. Recent reported decisions include successfully setting aside a statutory demand relying upon the penalty doctrine in Slowikowsa v Rogers [2021] EWHC 192 (Ch), defending against presentation of a winding-up petition under the Coronavirus test in Newman v Templar Corp Ltd [2020] EWHC 3740 (Ch) and led trial experience with Nigel Hood in a four-week High Court dispute with issues of civil fraud and partnership dissolution (Sidhu v Rathor [2020] EWHC 1916 (Ch)). James is also a contributor to the forthcoming Third Edition of Gough on Company Charges, has written for Trust and Trustees and contributes to Lexis Nexis’ dispute resolution panel. Before coming to the Bar, James spent ten months at Canada’s leading boutique litigation firm Lenczner Slaght as a Fox Scholar. Previously, James tutored trusts law at the London School of Economics and obtained first class honours in his LLB from University College London. James can be instructed on a direct access basis.

Hermione Williams

Hermione has a multi-faceted chancery commercial practice. Her areas of practice comprise commercial litigation, trusts and estates, company, insolvency and property law. As few cases fall neatly under one category, clients find her experience across this spectrum of areas invaluable from a practical as well as strategic perspective. Hermione’s domestic practice has been enhanced by her international experience. She has worked in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Hong Kong and Guernsey, doing cross-border litigation. In the BVI and Hong Kong, the cases she worked on typically involved shareholder disputes, claims against directors, cross-border fraud and asset-tracing claims; whereas in Guernsey the matters were trust focused. Such experience at the “coal face” and moreover working in-house as part of a team, ensures that Hermione is a well-rounded litigator who genuinely adds value. Hermione has an excellent eye for detail and has a strategic, meticulous and sensitive approach to the detail of a case. She is described as an articulate and effective advocate who is able to present her arguments cogently and think on her feet. As a natural problem solver, Hermione systematically identifies solutions for the benefit and for the protection of her client’s best interests in order to secure their objectives. Though able to work alone, she thoroughly enjoys working hard as part of a team to do this. Hermione’s six years at the commercial and chancery Bar in England, combined with her time offshore, equips her to offer clients a high level of technical expertise. This experience, in conjunction with her instinctive commercial acumen, commitment and tenacity, enables Hermione to deliver legal advice that instils confidence in and loyalty from her clients.

Raj is a chancery practitioner with a focus on real property, probate and public rights over land which include: Town & Village Greens, Rights over Commons, Highways and Wayleaves including stationing Telecommunications apparatus. Directory acknowledgements include: "Sensible, straightforward and smart. He knows his law." Chambers UK 2018 "Raj is a sound, sound chancery lawyer and a good performer." Chambers UK Bar, 2018 "He is extremely approachable, very user-friendly, and nothing is too much trouble for him. He always fights your corner." Chambers UK, 2017

Millie has developed a commercial chancery practice spanning the breadth of chambers’ practice areas, including trusts and estates, property, commercial litigation, company and insolvency. Millie is regularly instructed as sole counsel both in the High Court and County Court and has been praised by solicitors as a deft advocate. Millie has a first-class degree in law from University College London.

“Intellectually outstanding” and “strategically perceptive”, William Hopkin is a first-choice for complex litigation and technical advice. Whilst being a “great orator”, “able to disarm the most aggressive opponents”, he remains a “personable barrister who can relate to clients”. (Quotes from The Legal 500, UK Bar) William’s breadth of knowledge and experience, across high-level commercial Chancery practice, enables him to be “exceptionally skilled at identifying the crux of an issue, finding a sensible and pragmatic resolution to cases”. He is commended for the clarity and focus that he brings to difficult matters, with solicitors describing him as “extremely able at assimilating complex information quickly” and “very astute”. William has acted in a range of notable matters that combine the overlapping areas of his practice: company, commercial, property, trusts and charity – the last being a particular area of specialty. Recent examples of his work include: successfully appearing in the leading authority on fiduciary relations and bribes in commercial transactions (Wood & Pengelly v Commercial First et al [2021] EWCA Civ 471); being appointed to conduct an independent investigation for a national charity; and tackling company issues in respect of one of the UK’s largest estates dedicated to charity. William acts for a spectrum of organisations including universities, banks, public bodies and charities, as well as for private individuals and companies. Over the last 20 years, he has served on the board of a number of organisations, operating in the UK and internationally, with this experience giving him a very practical edge. “He is exceptionally talented at offering pragmatic and cost-effective advice” and it has been noted that “his advice is first rate, commercially minded, and pragmatic”. William is, also, an accredited mediator, and a member of the Society of Mediators. In 2022 he mediated a range of matters such as rights of way, unlawful eviction, noise, nuisance, boundaries and privacy. William was elected to the Executive Committee of the Charity Law Association in July 2023. *Quotes are from the Legal 500 UK Bar

James specialises in disputes concerning trusts, wills, and estates, where he is described as “superb” (Legal 500, 2022). He also acts in general commercial matters. His practice ranges from the high-value (a claim against a £118 million estate) to the bizarre (a disputed trust made primarily to benefit a tortoise). His reported cases include: Lattimer v Karamanoli [2023] EWHC 1524 (Ch) (rectification and construction of will; £10 million estate) Chiemelu v Egemonye [2023] W.T.L.R. 17; [2023] W.T.L.R. 23; [2023] W.T.L.R. 35 (spousal 1975 Act claim) Fennessy v Turner [2022] WTLR 1295 (adult child 1975 Act claim) F v R [2022] EWCOP 49 (variation of will trust) Fullard v Kershaw [2022] EWHC 2189 (Ch) (costs of proceedings to remove executors) Eade v Hogg [2021] EWHC 1057 (Ch) (rectification of will to determine company shareholding; £6.4 million estate) Fellner v Cleall [2021] EWHC 3599 (Ch) (costs of proceedings to remove administrator) Blu-Sky Solutions Limited v Be Caring Limited [2021] EWHC 2619 (Comm) (penalty and onerous / unusual clauses in telecoms contract) O. Trading Ltd v Favorite Border LDA [2021] 10 WLUK 420 (unless orders; 1.2-million-euro loan dispute) Rochford v Rochford [2021] WTLR 951 (1975 Act claim; costs of failing to mediate) Carpmaels & Ransford LLP and Collyer Bristow LLP v Regen Lab SA [2021] EWHC 845 (Comm) (debt claim arising from patent litigation) Zauli v Lughi [2020] Lexis Citation 282 (enforcement of 2.7-million-euro Member State judgment subject to appeal under Brussels I recast) Re LMS [2020] EWCOP 52 (variation of will trust) Razaq v Baig [2019] EWHC 3490 (Ch) (right of partners to continue business of dissolved partnership) He is instructed in on- and off-shore disputes. James has first-class degrees in history from Lincoln College, Oxford and law from St John’s College, Cambridge. He received the two highest student scholarships awarded by Lincoln’s Inn.

On successful completion of a third six pupillage, Robert became a tenant of New Square Chambers in May 2023. He completed his 12-month pupillage at Essex Court Chambers. Robert accepts instructions across all areas of commercial, insolvency, company and civil fraud work. From 2021-2022, Robert worked as the Judicial Assistant to Lord Hamblen and Lord Leggatt at the Supreme Court. While at the Court, Robert assisted on several significant cases, including: Guest v Guest [2022] UKSC 27 (proprietary estoppel). Gol Linhas Aereas SA v MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners (Cayman) and others [2022] UKPC 21 (refusal to recognise and enforce an arbitral award under article V of the New York Convention). Royal Bank of Scotland International v JP SPC 4 and another [2022] UKPC 18 (whether a bank’s Quincecare duty could be extended to a duty of care owed in tort to the beneficiary of an account known by the bank to be a trust account). Before starting pupillage, Robert taught Contract, Administrative and Roman law at the University of Oxford and was a teaching fellow in contract law at UCL. At the same time, he completed a DPhil with a thesis exploring possible legal methods for regulating stored human genetic material. Robert has a BA in Law (First), BCL (Distinction), and MPhil from the University of Oxford. He also holds an LLM from Harvard Law School. At Oxford, Robert won numerous mooting competitions, including the Shearman & Sterling and Maitland Chambers Intercollegiate Moots, and volunteered with Lawyers Without Borders in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He also won The Times 2TG Moot in 2019.

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Wills, trust and estates, property