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England - London Bar
2

Administrative law and human rights

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39 Essex Chambers

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‘Excellent in terms of administrative and human rights law’ 39 Essex Chambers has a range of ’extremely committed and clever counsel’ at the silk and junior level, and are regularly instructed in major administrative law matters. ‘The best of the best when it comes to judicial review’, Jenni Richards KC represented the claimant in R (Clifford) v SSWP, a challenge to the consultation process on changes to the Work Capability Assessment, and Katherine Apps KC recently led for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers in a challenge to the introduction of sub-six-figure personal injury and clinical negligence claims – the matter settled. An ’excellent leading junior’, Catherine Dobson  led acted for Friends of the Earth in its judicial review of the government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan, and Emily Wilsdon undertook oral advocacy as part of the government team in the aforementioned Clifford v DWP case. Saara Idelbi and Sam Fowles joined the team in August 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'The clerks are excellent - they go above and beyond to ensure that they can service your needs, in particular Sheraton Doyle and Peter Campbell'
  • 'The clerks are always helpful and responsive, particularly Aithne Moran, Oscar Redif, and Sheraton Doyle.'
  • 'The clerking team at 39 Essex is outstanding, including Oscar Redif, Max Head, Sheraton Doyle, Theo Mitchell, Janet Yennusick, Peter Campbell, Anthony King, and Aithne Moran. They are helpful, responsive, organised, approachable, and excellent problem solvers. No issue is too big for them to tackle.'
  • 'Sheraton Doyle and Peter Campbell stand out as welcoming, informative and extremely professional.'
  • 'A very strong set - excellent range of counsel available covering a broad range of topics, especially within the public sector where all specialities are covered. '
  • 'Barristers at 39 Essex have always worked handled complex and sophisticated matters well, with exceptional understanding of the law and ability to work creatively to achieve the best outcome for the client.'

Lawyers

Leading Silks

KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.

1
Jenni Richards KC
‘Jenni is a complete superstar. Written advice is brilliant. She is an extremely well prepared advocate with a thoroughly and detailed understanding of the medical profession and the regulatory context in which it operates. This preparation makes her an outstanding advocate.’
3
Fenella Morris KC
‘Fenella is always pleasant to deal with and is excellent with clients in terms of building rapport, listening to their objectives and presenting a one team approach’
4
Katherine Apps KC
'Katherine is a public law encyclopaedia. She has a winning way with clients and excels in this field particularly in matters with an equalities crossover. Her advocacy is robust and effective and tailored to each case.'
4
Victoria Butler-Cole KC
‘Excellent advocacy and has the client’s best interests always at heart. Her perspicuity in dealing with complex situations and issues helps to drive cases forward and keeps the focus where it needs to be.’
4
Nicola Greaney KC
'Nicola is an excellent barrister. She is so approachable and personable, and devotes time to clearly explaining complex issues to clients. She is also very flexible and has a natural ability to quickly develop rapports with opponents, judges and colleagues alike, inspiring confidence.'
4
Alan Payne KC
‘An outstanding counsel who know this area of law inside out and who has an excellent manner with clients.’

2024 Silks

KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.

1
Colin Thomann KC

Leading Juniors

Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.

2
Catherine Dobson
'Catherine is an all-round exceptional barrister. She is incisive, quick, sophisticated in her analysis, and a brilliant drafter. She is a standout junior in her field.'
3
Katherine Barnes
'Katherine has a refreshingly ordered approach to her work, which is a blessing in urgent judicial reviews. She's able to grapple with novel and complex issues as and when they arise and appears unflappable in the face of challenging cases.'
3
Scarlett Milligan
'Scarlett is a talented public lawyer. She is hard working and detail oriented. She is able to get on top of large volumes of material very quickly and to cut through to the heart of an issue. Her submissions are persuasive, well-structured and comprehensive, and she has a fantastic manner with judges.'
3
Benjamin Tankel
‘Benjamin is an extremely hard-working advocate who quickly gets to the heart of matters and drills down into key issues very quickly. He is exceedingly easy to work with and communicates well with all clients. Ben’s advocacy is very skilled, drawing the judge into the arguments without dramatics or repetition.’
3
Emily Wilsdon
‘Emily is a true public lawyer. She is clever, conscientious and really cares about what she does. She has a fantastic manner with clients and judges really listen to her. She has a wealth of experience in public law. She will undoubtedly be a future leader of the public law Bar.’
3
Stephanie David
‘Stephanie has an incredible attention to detail and a first rate legal brain, which is a powerful combination, especially on complex public law cases. She is a brilliant junior in that she takes work off the silk and produces pleadings and advice which need little review.’
3
Arianna Kelly
‘Responsive, sensitive to client’s needs, understands how judges and tribunals think, and anticipates the issues. Written advocacy is clear and persuasive, and her manner with the client and opponents, including difficult opposing parties, is excellent.’
3
Tom Tabori
‘Tom is really enthusiastic and extremely intelligent. He is not afraid of working on unusual cases. His written work is exceptional, his oral submissions powerful and he is really easy to work with.’
4
Adam Boukraa
‘Perceptive, conscientious, and quick. Detailed research. Quick to spot and resolve issues.’
4
Sam Fowles
‘Sam is very quick on his feet, putting his points in a clear, structured, impactful way that carries considerable force. His insights go to the core of the issues, which is also greatly appreciated by those who instruct him. He impressively balances being an objective advisor with passionate advocacy.’
4
Rose Grogan
4
Saara Idelbi
‘Her approach to documents is forensic, her advice is technical but straightforward, clients love her robust approach to their cases and her advocacy is a master class in quiet preparation. A truly class act.’
4
Ruth Keating
Ruth is simply fantastic, she is wonderful to work with, incredibly proactive and goes above and beyond in terms of providing support to her instructing solicitors. Her legal analysis is exemplary, she is incisive and gets to the heart of the issue quickly and clearly. She is also pragmatic in her advice, demonstrating a clear understanding of the client’s objectives and using that to guide her advice.’
4
Nicola Kohn