42 Bedford Row > London, England > Set Profile
42 Bedford Row Offices

LONDON
WC1R 4LL
England
42 Bedford Row > The Legal 500 Rankings
London Bar > Employment Tier 3
Housing ‘a great employment team with an excellent range of barristers‘, 42 Bedford Row‘s barristers regularly appear in Employment Tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the High Court. In recent highlights, senior junior Jonathan Davies acted for over 400 claimants in a sizeable, multi-party pay claim in the High Court (Prior v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis), which concerned the payment of overtime, and away from home and hardship allowances; and at the more junior end of chambers, Eleanor Wheeler represented the respondent in in Walsh v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd, comprising an EAT appeal hearing that involved a previously undecided issue of flexible working law and procedure.2023 Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
Set
‘42BR has a number of counsel with excellent employment experience and expertise; and a common theme is the practical and helpful approach taken by counsel.‘
‘A great employment team with an excellent range of barristers who work really collaboratively, which helps to solve problems for different sorts of clients.‘
‘Provides a consistently high standard of service.‘
‘A great set, with good all-rounders.‘
‘A go-to set for employment work.‘
Clerking
‘The clerks at 42BR stand out. They could not be more helpful and accommodating, whether it be a last-minute hearing or a client on a budget – they always find a package to suit clients’ needs.‘
London Bar > Social housing Tier 3
42 Bedford Row‘s social housing team provides a ‘fantastic service’ and has ‘good availability with a range of counsel of different call’. Members act for individuals, such as tenants and landlords, as well as local and public authorities and housing associations in work. In a recent matter, Iris Ferber KC successfully acted for the council in Southend-on-Sea Borough Council v Shaw, a case concerning the defendants’ breach of anti-social behaviour injunctions to return to their house allegedly to care for 200 guinea pigs; the committal sanction of “asset seizure” was deployed by the court to order the seizure and rehoming of the guinea pigs, which had been subject to severe abuse by the defendants. In another matter, Mathew McDermott acted for the local athority in Allen v Ealing LBC, a case concerning the service of notices of intended prosecutions against local authorities.2023 Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
Set
’42 Bedford Row is an excellent chambers.’
‘The chambers is well known to deliver to a high standard and I cannot find any fault.’
‘Excellent chambers. Always helpful, reasonably priced and excellent value for the quality of the team.’
‘A great set of chambers with a good range of barristers at all levels.’
‘An established set of housing and public law barristers.’
Clerks
‘The clerks are excellent. They are professional, helpful, organised and have good time management skills. They listen to our requests and will work according to our needs.’
London Bar > Children law (including public and private law) Tier 3
42 Bedford Row is a set of ‘highly experienced barristers who are knowledgeable on the law and its implementation’. Tina Cook KC is ‘a very knowledgeable and formidable barrister’ practicing solely in children law matters and representing all parties, parents, local authorities, and children with a majority of her cases in the High Court. Gemma Taylor KC is an ‘extremely efficient, effective and persistent advocate’ and has extensive experience of handling cases that involve complex medical evidence, serious injuries, and sexual abuse. Jonathan Bennett specializes in care and adoption proceedings, while ‘strong cross-examiner’ Katie Phillips focuses on public law work. Gemma Farrington KC was appointed silk in 2022.Leading Silks
2022 Silks
Leading Juniors
Testimonials
Set
‘42 Bedford Row Chambers is a very experienced set and the go-to chambers.’
‘42 Bedford Row is an excellent set of chambers with a supportive team of barristers who appear to work as a team and collaborate with each other in a professional way.’
‘42 Bedford Row is a very busy and well-regarded set with excellent members and provides counsel for all types of care work.’
‘42 Bedford Row is a very good set.’
‘42 Bedford Row offers a varied training program and has very experienced counsel in all fields of public and private law.’
‘42 Bedford Row has a good standard of care practitioners.’
Clerking
Work highlights
South Eastern Circuit > Family and children law
Rising Stars: Child Law (Public and Private)
Leading Juniors: Child Law (Public and Private)
London Bar > Personal injury, industrial disease and insurance fraud
Personal injury - Leading Juniors
London Bar > Clinical negligence
Leading Juniors
London Bar > Inquests and inquiries
London Bar > Property litigation
Leading Juniors
Regional Bar > South Eastern Circuit > Family and children law
Rising Stars: Child Law (Public and Private)
Leading Juniors: Child Law (Public and Private)
42 Bedford Row > Set Profile
42 Bedford Row is one of the leading multi-disciplinary sets of chambers with 120 members specialising across the spectrum of civil and family law. The set is instructed across England and Wales and internationally on both complex and sensitive matters requiring the highest levels of skill, and on relatively more straightforward matters that require very efficient resolution.
The set: 42 Bedford Row represents a group of 120 barristers who work for law firms, corporate clients, local authorities, public institutions and private individuals. It has well-established practice groups in family, business and property, employment, housing, personal injury and clinical negligence, with increasing strength and depth in every field year on year. Further specialist teams have now been developed in the fields of coronial law, Court of Protection, animal welfare, disciplinary and professional regulatory matters. Building such a breadth of expertise under one roof has proved to be a compelling proposition for clients of all types.
42 Bedford Row is well-known for the quality of its advice and advocacy and for its high levels of client service and it is especially proud of the fact that it works for clients from all parts of the UK and internationally. On any given day, members will be working for clients in courts and tribunals across England and Wales and in countries across the world.
Types of work undertaken: Members are organised into specialist practice areas that share expertise with each other and organise workshops for clients. With 120 members the set is particularly known for its family work (child protection and growing financial remedy work); clinical negligence and personal injury; employment and rapidly growing business and property, housing, inquest, animal welfare and professional regulatory and disciplinary practices. Many barristers accept direct public access work.
20 members are listed individually as leaders in their fields in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500. Past members include Rose LJ, Janet Smith LJ, Leveson LJ, David Clarke J and Caroline Swift J.
In the last year 42 Bedford Row has maintained or won places on over 20 client panels, often for multiple practice areas. The set continues to be a strong destination for barristers coming from other chambers looking to develop their careers and join a progressive, commercially managed set with a very strong client focus.
Main Contacts
Department | Name | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Chambers Director | Vincent Denham | vincent.denham@42br.com | 020 7831 0222 |
Director of Clerking | Steve Sheridan | steves@42br.com | 020 7831 0222 |
Senior Practice Manager | James Tidnam | jamest@42br.com | 020 7831 0222 |
Senior Practice Manager | Stuart Ritchie | stuartr@42br.com | 020 7831 0222 |
Member of Chambers | COOK KC, Tina (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | TAYLOR KC, Gemma (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | FARRINGTON KC, Gemma (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | HENDERSON KC (Scot), Lisa (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | WOODWARD-CARLTON KC, Damian (1995) | ||
Member of Chambers | NEWMAN, Philip (1977) | ||
Member of Chambers | LEDERMAN, Howard (1982) | ||
Member of Chambers | POTE, Andrew (1983) | ||
Member of Chambers | AZIM, Rehna (1984) | ||
Member of Chambers | DABBS, David (1984) | ||
Member of Chambers | FORD, Monica (1984) | ||
Member of Chambers | BENNETT, Jonathan (1985) | ||
Member of Chambers | VICKERY, Neil (1985) | ||
Member of Chambers | KING, Fawzia (1985) | ||
Member of Chambers | MAITLAND-JONES, Mark (1986) | ||
Member of Chambers | BRAITHWAITE, Garfield (1987) | ||
Member of Chambers | HALL, Jeremy (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | PHIL-EBOSIE, Sheila (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | CRAMSIE, Sinclair (1988) | ||
Member of Chambers | HAUKELAND, Martin (1989) | ||
Member of Chambers | COSTER, Ronald (1989) | ||
Member of Chambers | KILCOYNE, Desmond (1990) | ||
Member of Chambers | HIGGINS, Adrian (1990) | ||
Member of Chambers | WALTERS, Edmund (1991) | ||
Member of Chambers | FURNISS, Richard (1991) | ||
Member of Chambers | TODMAN, Deborah (1991) | ||
Member of Chambers | OTWAL, Mukhtiar (1991) | ||
Member of Chambers | UDUJE, Ben (1992) | ||
Member of Chambers | HYDE, Marcia (1992) | ||
Member of Chambers | BUTTIMORE, Gabriel (1993) | ||
Member of Chambers | BALDWIN, Marcus (1994) | ||
Member of Chambers | HAWKES, Naomi (1994) | ||
Member of Chambers | McCORMACK, Philip (1994) | ||
Member of Chambers | CHAN, Susan (1994) | ||
Member of Chambers | MATTHEWSON, Scott (1996) | ||
Member of Chambers | SHEPHERD, Jude (1996) | ||
Member of Chambers | AHMAD, Aysha (1996) | ||
Member of Chambers | GARDNER, Eilidh (1997) | ||
Member of Chambers | WOODHOUSE, Nigel (1997) | ||
Member of Chambers | MANN, Christopher (1998) | ||
Member of Chambers | CREW, Gillian (1998) | ||
Member of Chambers | O'BRIEN, Niamh (1998) | ||
Member of Chambers | BHACHU, Sharan (1999) | ||
Member of Chambers | THOMAS, Rebecca (1999) | ||
Member of Chambers | SALTER, Michael (1999) | ||
Member of Chambers | LITTLE, Richard (2000) | ||
Member of Chambers | GREGORY, Richard (2000) | ||
Member of Chambers | PIEARS, Angela (2001) | ||
Member of Chambers | KHAN, Arfan (2001) | ||
Member of Chambers | PHILLIPS, Katie (2002) | ||
Member of Chambers | CHALONER, Mark (2002) | ||
Member of Chambers | WOOD, Thomas (2002) | ||
Member of Chambers | BRAIER, Jason (2002) | ||
Member of Chambers | CAMERON, Robert (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | DILLON, Anne (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | WALKER, Maria-Amália (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | SMITH, Siân (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | DAVIES, Jonathan (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | NABI, Sajjad (2003) | ||
Member of Chambers | BUTLER, George (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | THAROO, Safia (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | HOLLOWAY, Orlando (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | CHAN, Rachel (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | STROUD, Amy (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | GLAISTER - YOUNG, Shelly (2004) | ||
Member of Chambers | FERBER, Iris (2005) | ||
Member of Chambers | JEPSON, Amanda (2005) | ||
Member of Chambers | ROBERTSON, Mary (2005) | ||
Member of Chambers | SINGER, Nick (2006) | ||
Member of Chambers | ATKINSON, Jessica (2006) | ||
Member of Chambers | WEBBER, Ruth (2006) | ||
Member of Chambers | VAKIL, Sarah (2006) | ||
Member of Chambers | KOHANZAD, Rad (2007) | ||
Member of Chambers | CLARK, Neil (2007) | ||
Member of Chambers | IRVINE, Celeste (2007) | ||
Member of Chambers | PRYOR, Alison (2008) | ||
Member of Chambers | McDERMOTT, Mathew (2008) | ||
Member of Chambers | MENDOROS, Stephanie (2008) | ||
Member of Chambers | KOCHNARI, Kate (2008) | ||
Member of Chambers | NETTLESHIP, Helen (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | STIMMLER, Ben (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | GIACHARDI, Laura (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | ARLIDGE, Heather (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | GRANT, Michael (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | WELCH, Tim (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | HAMMOND, Sara (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | BERTHELSEN, Eleonore (2009) | ||
Member of Chambers | URQUHART, Catherine (2010) | ||
Member of Chambers | ZOVIDAVI, Hamed (2010) | ||
Member of Chambers | MACKENZIE, Charlotte (2011) | ||
Member of Chambers | TROY, Pauline (2011) | ||
Member of Chambers | FOSTER, Natalie (2011) | ||
Member of Chambers | BIDNELL-EDWARDS, Nicholas (2012) | ||
Member of Chambers | SCARBOROUGH, Christi (2012) | ||
Member of Chambers | LLOYD-JONES, Edward (2012) | ||
Member of Chambers | PEARCE, Jonathan (2012) | ||
Member of Chambers | PATEL, Krishma (2012) | ||
Member of Chambers | LIBERADZKI, Stefan (2013) | ||
Member of Chambers | KELLEHER, Lee (2013) | ||
Member of Chambers | SHARPE, James Arthur (2014) | ||
Member of Chambers | JOLLEY, Peter (2014) | ||
Member of Chambers | WHEELER, Eleanor (2014) | ||
Member of Chambers | BARKER, Chantelle (2014) | ||
Member of Chambers | PHIPPS, Vondez (2014) | ||
Member of Chambers | YOUNGS, Jennifer (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | GORDON, Max (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | WHITTINGTON, Louise (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | FIREMAN, Jamie (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | DAVIS, Samuel (2016) | ||
Member of Chambers | ARCHER, Katherine (2018) | ||
Member of Chambers | CARTER, Andrew (2018) | ||
Member of Chambers | CLAXTON, Kate (2019) | ||
Member of Chambers | COX, Hannah (2019) | ||
Member of Chambers | WINSPEAR, Robert (2019) | ||
Member of Chambers | HOWELLS, Catrin (2019) | ||
Member of Chambers | CLUBB, Charmaine (2020) | ||
Member of Chambers | FULLER, Paul (2021) | ||
Member of Chambers | SAMURIWO, Hazel (2021) | ||
Member of Chambers | McGRATH, Zoe (2022) | ||
Member of Chambers | THOMAS, Philippa |
Barrister Profiles
Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Aysha Ahmad | View Profile | |
![]() | Mr Jonathan Bennett | Mainly public law care proceedings, but also other family and local authority… | View Profile |
![]() | Sharan Bhachu | View Profile | |
![]() | Nick Bidnell-Edwards | View Profile | |
![]() | Jason Braier | View Profile | |
![]() | Miss Susan Chan | Susan practices in employment law, public law, personal injury/clinical negligence and inquests.… | View Profile |
![]() | Miss Tina Cook | Family law specialist with a special emphasis on children work,. Tina often… | View Profile |
![]() | Gillian Crew | View Profile | |
![]() | Jonathan Davies | View Profile | |
![]() | Samuel Davis | View Profile | |
![]() | Gemma Farrington | View Profile | |
![]() | Miss Iris Ferber KC | Specialist in all aspects of employment law and in property law, especially… | View Profile |
![]() | Mr Richard Furniss | Richard is a well-known specialist in medical law, and has vast experience… | View Profile |
![]() | Mr Richard Gregory | Richard Gregory is an established personal injury and clinical negligence practitioner, with… | View Profile |
![]() | Miss Naomi Hawkes | Naomi was called to the Bar in 1994. She has over 20… | View Profile |
![]() | Mr Orlando Holloway | Orlando was called to the Bar in 2004. Since becoming a tenant… | View Profile |
![]() | Marcia Hyde | View Profile | |
![]() | Desmond Kilcoyne | View Profile | |
![]() | Kate Kochnari | View Profile | |
![]() | Rad Kohanzad | View Profile | |
![]() | Mathew McDermott | View Profile | |
![]() | Miss Katie Phillips | Katie is a family law specialist, practising across all areas of children… | View Profile |
![]() | Michael Salter | View Profile | |
![]() | Miss Jude Shepherd | Jude Shepherd is Head of the Employment Team at 42 Bedford Row | View Profile |
![]() | Nick Singer | View Profile | |
![]() | Amy Stroud | View Profile | |
![]() | Miss Gemma Taylor | Gemma practises family law, primarily public law care and adoption proceedings for… | View Profile |
![]() | Safia Tharoo | View Profile | |
![]() | Rebecca Thomas | View Profile | |
![]() | Benjamin Uduje | View Profile | |
![]() | Catherine Urquhart | View Profile | |
![]() | Tim Welch | View Profile | |
![]() | Eleanor Wheeler | View Profile | |
![]() | Thomas Wood | View Profile | |
![]() | Mr Damian Woodward-Carlton | Damian is a family practitioner, appearing in the Family Court (High Court,… | View Profile |
Diversity
Out of our 140 workforce:
- 47% are female.
- 48% are from a non-white British heritage.
- 7% have a disability.
- 4% are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
- 58% attended a UK State School.
- 55% are the primary carer for a child under the age of 18. 42BR have policies in place to ensure carers are equipped to work from home to facilitate childcare arrangements, as well as having a maternity policy in place.
- 80% of our QC’s are female.
- 42BR have one female Head of Chambers, and one male Head of Chambers.
*This data was collected in December 2020 via questionnaire. “Workforce” includes self-employed barristers, pupils and employed staff. The questionnaire return rate for this data was 62%. The results reflect only those who responded. As such, they may not accurately reflect the make-up of chambers as a whole. Some of those who responded to the survey either did not answer all the questions or did not give their permission for their data to be processed or published.
42BR is committed to ensuring that no-one within Chambers, whether a barrister, member of staff, client, contactor, pupil, mini-pupil or student, receives less favourable treatment (directly or indirectly) on the grounds of age, gender reassignment, marital status or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, disability, race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, sexual orientation, or religion or belief.
42BR, is a diverse and forward-thinking Chambers. Two of our members were recently chosen by the Bar Council to be Social Mobility Advocates in their I Am The Bar campaign. We also have a member who is a Mentor for Bridging the Bar.
We have several initiatives, outlined below, which ensure everyone has the same opportunities to access the Bar.
42BR’s Schools Outreach Programme is grounded in our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion. The aim of the programme is to provide access to information about becoming a barrister to those from under-represented or ‘non-traditional’ backgrounds, specifically those from non-fee-paying schools.
Similarly, 42BR offers a University Outreach Programme which works in a similar way to the Schools Outreach Programme, outlined above, but for university students.
42BR is proud to support the Bar Council’s “10,000 Black Interns” initiative, in which we offer an internship to a student of Black African, Black Caribbean, and/or Black British heritage, including those of mixed Black ancestry.
42BR also runs a funded internship scheme to engage those from minority backgrounds, who have completed Bar school, but are yet to obtain pupillage. The purpose behind the programme is to enable interns from minority groups to improve their prospects of beginning a career at the Bar through educational and career development opportunities. An Internship Committee ensures the fair recruitment of interns and ongoing support during their time in Chambers.
42BR offers 8 mini pupillages per calendar month. The selection panel comprises of two members of Chambers, both of whom have undergone equality and diversity training.
Our commitment to pro-bono work has increased significantly over the last year; many members are active supporters of Advocate and we are viewed as a core resource by them. One of our junior members sits on Advocate’s Young Bar Executive Committee.
As part of our on-going support of our more junior members, 42BR has a mentoring scheme in which members below 5 years call are paired with more experienced members. The scheme is designed to facilitate conversation between mentor and mentee to promote well-being, mental health and personal and career growth in Chambers.
We are also in the process of setting up a mentoring scheme in which all members are offered general support, including guidance when returning from parental leave, sick leave, assistance with applications for judicial appointments or any other concerns.