With a reputation for being ‘the leading public and administrative law set’, Blackstone Chambers is also highly regarded for its ‘strong core of human rights work’. In a prominent case highlight, Sir James Eadie KC (as "Treasury Devil", the government's first-choice external counsel), Thomas de la Mare KC, Tom Leary and Hollie Higgins appeared for various parties in the Divisional Court in Liberty v Secretary of State for the Home Department, a judicial review challenging the Public Order Act 1986 (Serious Disruption to the Life of the Community) Regulations 2023, which were found to be ultra vires as it defined a threshold of "serious disruption" as "more than minor". Lord Pannick KC garners praise as ‘one of the outstanding legal minds of his generation’, and Monica Carss-Frisk KC is ‘one of the most persuasive advocates at the Bar’. Tristan Jones KC was elevated to silk in March 2024.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Gary Oliver is a star. He knows the business and very commercial.'
- 'Gary Oliver is always available for any queries.'
- 'Mat Swallow and Adam Sloane have always gone the extra mile.'
- 'Billy Brian is very organised, responsive, and lovely to work with.'
- 'A strong team of clerks. Dean Tolman is highly capable and helpful. A real pleasure to work with this team.'
- 'The clerks are always helpful and pragmatic.'
- 'The service is always of a high standard.'
- 'Blackstone has incredible strength-in-depth.'
- 'Blackstone has terrific bench strength in public law.'
- 'Blackstone is a fantastic set in human rights law.'
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.
Lord Pannick KC
He commands the court with a unique presence and is strategically brilliant.'
Dinah Rose KC
Monica Carss-Frisk KC
An outstanding leader. Judges respect her highly, and listen to every argument.'
Kate Gallafent KC
She has brilliant technical knowledge, and commands the trust and respect of the court.'
Tom Hickman KC
A gifted and creative legal thinker.'
Sam Grodzinski KC
For his opponents, Sam is depressingly good. He has a tendency to make his case sound irresistibly correct.'
Ivan Hare KC
His knowledge of the law is exceptional and he has an easy, understated advocacy style.'
Ben Jaffey KC
Thomas de la Mare KC
James Segan KC
panache.'
Kieron Beal KC
Jessica Boyd KC
She is an exceptional advocate. She has a great ability to identify the key legal and tactical issues in a case and her advice is always well judged and considered. Judges appreciate the clarity of her advocacy, which is always well pitched.'
Shaheed Fatima KC
Charlotte Kilroy KC
Charlotte is an outstanding advocate.'
Hanif Mussa KC
A consummate advocate with a huge intellect. He is insightful and very persuasive.'
David Pievsky KC
David is commercially aware and user-friendly.'
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.
Tristan Jones KC
His legal analysis is extremely sophisticated.'
2025 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.
Naina Patel KC
Naina is a compelling advocate, who is able to cut through to the heart of a case.’
Jason Pobjoy KC
Jason has a brilliant mind, allied to very strong emotional intelligence, and provides a wonderful service to instructing solicitors.’
2023 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.
Tom Richards KC
Tom's ability to identify all the pertinent issues in each case, and relay the same to judges in a digestible manner, is remarkable. He is a calming presence in court.'
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.
Paul Luckhurst
An excellent tactical thinker.'
Iain Steele
He is proactive, pragmatic and approachable.'
Daniel Cashman
A junior who listens and is firm in his advice.'
Tom Coates
A client focused barrister, who always provides very thoughtful, timely advice.'
Emma Dixon
Emma is an outstanding barrister with a dynamic approach.'
Tom Leary
Ravi Mehta
Ravi is strategic, dedicated and demonstrates great judgement.'
George Molyneaux
An incredibly clever and astute barrister, who has an enviable combination of technical knowledge and tactical acumen.'
Navid Pourghazi
A junior with meticulous attention to detail.'
Celia Rooney
Celia is wise far beyond her year of call. She is confident making difficult calls under pressure.'
Sarah Wilkinson
A very approachable and engaging junior with a calm and measured demeanour.'
Isabel Buchanan
Isabel is extremely bright. Her legal analysis is impeccable.'
Hollie Higgins
Hollie gets on top of the issues really quickly. An incredibly responsive junior.'
David Lowe
Natasha Simonsen
She is extraordinarily clever, and a good strategist.'
Rising stars
Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.
Gayatri Sarathy
Gayatri is extremely bright and exceptionally hard-working.’