Linenhall Chambers > Chester, England > Set Profile

Linenhall Chambers Offices

Chambers of Duncan Bould
Linenhall Chambers
1 STANLEY PLACE
CHESTER
CH1 2LU
England
Visit website 01244 348282 01244 342336

Linenhall Chambers > The Legal 500 Rankings

Wales and Chester Circuit > Crime (general and fraud) Tier 1

The ‘excellent barristers‘ of Chester-based Linenhall Chambers regularly handle serious criminal matters, including murders and other types of homicide, sexual offences, serious fraud, and drugs conspiracies, across Chester and North Wales, the set’s presence in the latter aided by its six fluent Welsh speakers. Matthew Dunford prosecuted a romance fraudster who was convicted of money laundering offences, while Simon Rogers and Ember-Jade Wong prosecuted a twelve-defendant case involving the importation of over 18kg of cocaine and 19kg of amphetamines into North Wales. Anna Pope‘s advocacy is ‘persuasive and to-the-point‘ and she has an excellent reputation for prosecuting serious sexual offences, particularly those involving vulnerable witnesses. Simon Mills is now a circuit judge.

2023 Silks

Leading Juniors

Anna Pope – Linenhall Chambers ‘She is very bright, extremely hard-working, personable, and committed to her work. As an advocate she is persuasive and to-the-point. She is very thorough in her preparation of cases and overall is an excellent lawyer.'
Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 2
Simon Rogers – Linenhall Chambers 'He is an excellent all rounder, with experience prosecuting multi-handed drugs conspiracies and difficult sexual offences. His advocacy is second to none and his client care impeccable. A true star.'
Ranked: Tier 2
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 3
Matthew Dunford – Linenhall Chambers ‘He has great communication skills and these are invaluable during case preparation and at court.’
Ranked: Tier 3
James Coutts - Linenhall Chambers 'James has an excellent informal manner with clients, puts them at their ease, and is effortlessly articulate in court. He has a can-do attitude and a pragmatic approach to cases. An outstanding barrister who is first choice for both the prosecution and the defence.'   
Ranked: Tier 3

Testimonials

‘Linenhall Chambers in Chester has many excellent barristers who provide a service in Cheshire and North Wales, with some barristers bilingual.’ 

‘Full range of experience within chambers so they can cover the full range of cases.’ 

‘Linnenhall is a very good set. Its members are well-respected barristers, and the clerks are efficient and personable.’

‘Linenhall Chambers is very well run and their clerks are available should any queries or problems arise.’

Wales and Chester Circuit > Family: children and domestic violence Tier 1

Linenhall Chambers is ‘the best chambers in the North Wales and Chester area’ for children work, with members regularly instructed to act in complex cases by families and local authorities, among others. The set has a particularly strong reputation for working with vulnerable individuals and notably includes four members able to conduct cases in Welsh. Daniel Dodd heads the family team and specialises in complex and sensitive child law cases involving death and serious injury. Kathryn Anslow regularly represents local authorities, parents, and children in relation to a wide range of matters, including serious physical abuse, long-term chronic neglect, sexual abuse, and substance misuse and addiction. Hannah Horton is ‘clear and firm with her advice‘ and has a care led practice split between representing parents and local authorities. Nicholas Sefton handles cases involving  issues surrounding attachment disorders in children, among others.

Rising stars

Clare Bate – Linenhall Chambers 'She is very professional and provides documents, such as orders and case summaries, in a very timely fashion. Moreover, her advocacy is clear and persuasive.'
Ranked: Tier 1

Leading Juniors

Ranked: Tier 1
Sarah Morgan – Linenhall Chambers ‘She is always well prepared but her main strength is cutting through the extraneous and focussing on the key issues to resolve a case properly. Her style of advocacy is very calm and measured but leaves no stone unturned.'
Ranked: Tier 1
Nicholas Sefton – Linenhall Chambers ‘He is an extremely effective advocate with a depth of tactical, practical and legal knowledge which means he provides solutions to any complexity within a case. His client care is commendable and clients feel confident in his ability to represent them in difficult and highly emotional cases and reassured by his logical and calming influence. The judiciary’s clear trust in him makes him an effective and successful advocate.’ 
Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 2
Hannah Horton – Linenhall Chambers ‘Hannah is a strong advocate, very hardworking and professional. A very approachable and talented barrister.’
Ranked: Tier 2

Testimonials

‘Lucy Morris in particular is very responsive.’

‘The best chambers in the North Wales and Chester area. Counsel are all of a high standard with a particularly strong and experienced family team.’

‘Linenhall Chambers always offers excellent communication and service from dedicated family law clerks.’

‘When we have contacted chambers they have always been helpful and provided availability where possible, often going the extra mile to see if anything is due to change in the diaries to allow for counsel to become available.’

Wales and Chester Circuit > Personal injury Tier 2

Members of Chester-based Linenhall Chambers are well known for representing both defendants and claimants in fast-track personal injury cases on the Wales and Chester Circuit. Dominic Joyce ‘remains in control of any situation‘ and has particular experience handling cases concerning road traffic accidents, including those involving credit hire and alleged fraud. He also acts in employers’ and occupiers’ liability cases. Russell Moffat also has broad personal injury experience, with expertise in cases involving credit hire.

Leading Juniors

Ranked: Tier 2
Dominic Joyce – Linenhall Chambers ‘He is thorough and has an ability to pick up issues very well, and advise and advocate in a manner which is not aggressive but effective.’
Ranked: Tier 3
Ranked: Tier 3

Testimonials

‘James D’Arcy is excellent. He does the main clerking for the more senior barristers and always accommodates our needs.’ 

‘Linenhall Chambers provides a good skill set of barristers and the clerking always accommodates our firm well.’ 

‘The clerking team does excellent work. They respond to availability queries for their members promptly so that in the instances they are not able to provide counsel there is enough time to find alternative representation. They are also very polite and professional and respond to queries and try to provide the best counsel for the case.’ 

Work highlights

Northern Circuit > Crime (general and fraud)

Leading Juniors

Denise Fitzpatrick - Linenhall Chambers  ‘Denise is a brilliant advocate. She immediately puts clients at ease, she never fails to attend a conference without being fully prepared, and she is equally outstanding conducting hearings themselves.’
Ranked: Tier 1
Ranked: Tier 3

Wales and Chester Circuit > Chancery, probate, and tax

Linenhall Chambers > Set Profile

Linenhall Chambers was formed in 2011 following the amalgamation of the two largest chambers in Chester, each with a history going back over 60 years. Now with over 60 members and specialist and experienced support staff, the chambers primarily serves the law firms, legal departments, public authorities and bodies, businesses and individuals in Cheshire and the Wirral and in North and Mid Wales, as well as in Shropshire, Staffordshire and Herefordshire. Members are regularly instructed by clients from across England and Wales with matters proceeding in these localities and also appear in courts across the country for local clients.

The chambers has a long tradition of providing legal services for Wales and many of its members are able to provide advice and conduct cases in Welsh.

Types of work undertaken: Linenhall Chambers has a broad practice with members specialising in a wide variety of areas of law. The areas of work undertaken include both prosecution and defence criminal work, private and public law family work, property and landlord and tenant disputes, commercial disputes, professional negligence claims, contested probate matters, personal injury litigation for claimants and defendants, housing, regulatory and disciplinary matters, health and safety, inquests, Court of Protection proceedings and mental health issues, public law including procurement, education, immigration, prison law, planning and environmental law.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Senior criminal clerk Gareth Stickels
Senior family clerk Gavin Reeves
Senior civil clerk James D'Arcy
Chambers manager Hannah Meredith-Jones
Members of Chambers HENKE KC, Ruth (1987; Silk 2006)
Members of Chambers THOMAS KC, Andrew (1989; Silk 2008)
Members of Chambers TILLYARD KC, James (1978; Silk 2001)
Members of Chambers WILLIAMS KC, Rhodri (1987; Silk 2010)
Members of Chambers MEDLAND KC, Simon (1991; Silk 2011)
Members of Chambers SCHOLZ, Karl (1973)
Members of Chambers JAMIESON, Anthony (1974)
Members of Chambers SOMERVILLE, Tom (1979)
Members of Chambers MOSS, Peter (1980)
Members of Chambers HALSALL, Kim (1982)
Members of Chambers LE BROCQ, Mark (1982)
Members of Chambers BOULD, Duncan (1984)
Members of Chambers OWEN, Elen (1985)
Members of Chambers MILLS, Simon (1986)
Members of Chambers HORNBY, Robert (1990)
Members of Chambers PHILPOTTS, John (1990)
Members of Chambers AUSTIN, Jonathan (1991)
Members of Chambers MORRIS, Shan (1991)
Members of Chambers SAMMON, Sarah (1991)
Members of Chambers DUNFORD, Matthew (1992)
Members of Chambers EDWARDS, Owen (1992)
Members of Chambers ERWOOD, Heather (1993)
Members of Chambers ROBERTS, Huw (1993)
Members of Chambers MULLAN, Richard (1994)
Members of Chambers ABBERTON, David (1994)
Members of Chambers WILLIAMS, Nicholas (1994)
Members of Chambers HEWITT, Alexandra (1995)
Members of Chambers PRICE, Anna (1996)
Members of Chambers MINTZ, Simon (1996)
Members of Chambers MASSELIS, Maria (1997)
Members of Chambers LLWYD, Elfyn (1997)
Members of Chambers AP MIHANGEL, Sion (1998)
Members of Chambers MOFFAT, Russell (1998)
Members of Chambers DOUGLAS-JONES, Ben (1998)
Members of Chambers BLYTHIN, David (1999)
Members of Chambers CORBETT JONES, Matthew (1999)
Members of Chambers ROBERTS, Gareth (1999)
Members of Chambers WILLIAMSON, Brett (2000)
Members of Chambers LLOYD, Trefor (2001)
Members of Chambers JAMIESON, Fiona (2002)
Members of Chambers MIHANGEL, Mair (2002)
Members of Chambers ROGERS, Simon (2002)
Members of Chambers DODD, Daniel (2003)
Members of Chambers MEREDITH JONES, Kate (2003)
Members of Chambers KERRUISH-JONES, Matthew (2003)
Members of Chambers BARNES, Paulinus (2004)