Chambers of Paul Hopkins QC > Firm Profile

9 Park Place is one of the largest and longest-established sets on the Wales and Chester Circuit.

The set: A multi-disciplinary set with 57 tenants, including five silks (two of whom are associate members), providing a comprehensive advisory and advocacy service to the legal community across Wales and beyond. It has large practice teams in its primary practice areas of civil, chancery and commercial, crime, family and employment.

Types of work undertaken:Administrative and local government: members of the public law team handle cases involving administrative, environmental, housing and planning law. Clients include central and devolved government departments, local authorities and regulatory authorities such as the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales. Members possess extensive experience of devolved matters and have been at the forefront of developments of the law in Wales. The team deals with all aspects of housing law, from straightforward possession and disrepair claims to more complex matters, including unlawful eviction, harassment, beneficial interest disputes and judicial review proceedings which affect housing issues.

Civil, chancery and commercial: a large practice team offers expertise in all areas, ranging from the sale and supply of goods and services to large-scale company or partnership disputes, building disputes and advising and acting in the interpretation and construction of commercial contracts. Chancery specialists are available to deal with disputes concerning land and property, including HM Land Registry adjudications, wills, trusts and probate issues, village green inquiries, Court of Protection matters and intellectual property claims. Insolvency practitioners provide specialist advice and advocacy in all aspects of insolvency and bankruptcy. In the field of common law, the team handles disputes including landlord and tenant, forfeiture, rent review and leasehold enfranchisement, professional negligence as well as traditional contract and tort disputes.

Crime: the crime team handles the whole spectrum of criminal work. Expertise covers specialist areas such as sexual offences and child abuse, serious fraud, confiscation, money laundering, homicide, violence, drugs and vehicle crime. Members are frequently involved in the highest profile cases heard on circuit.

Employment: members of the team act for both employers and employees, providing advisory services and advocacy in employment tribunals and appellate courts. They have substantial experience in all aspects of employment law, including unfair and wrongful dismissal, redundancy, discrimination, equal pay, transfer of undertakings, working time claims, restraint of trade and breach of confidence.

Family: the family team has expertise in all areas of matrimonial, cohabitee and civil partnership litigation. They handle every aspect of public law children work, representing parents, local authorities and guardians, as well as all private law children disputes. In addition, the team has specialists in ancillary relief work, where members are frequently instructed in high-value cases and have particular interests in the forensic examination of family and related business interests.

Immigration: chambers’ specialist barristers appear in both first-tier and upper-tier tribunals and in judicial review applications. They undertake all aspects of tribunal work, including immigration, asylum, nationality, deportation and human rights.

Personal injury and clinical negligence: clients range from individuals to major trade unions, insurers and large employers. The teams work includes all types of injuries, from the minor to the catastrophic, whether sustained at work, in road accidents or elsewhere. Members handle claims involving industrial diseases, fatal accident litigation and inquests, psychiatric illness arising from trauma and stress at work as well as employers€™, occupiers€™ and product liability matters. In the clinical negligence field, all aspects of medical and dental neglect are covered.

Regulatory:  chambers specialists act for public bodies, individuals and groups and are experienced in areas such as licensing, animal welfare and care standards, Companies Act, the environment, food standards, health and safety, parole hearings, professional disciplinary cases and trading standards proceedings.

http://www.9parkplace.co.uk