Julian Milford KC
'Julian is calm, thorough, logical, insightful, exceptionally knowledgeable in public law, national security and data matters and deploys his knowledge lightly and effectively.'
11KBW has ‘has outstanding breadth and depth of high quality counsel’. At the silk level the set can features the ’exceptionally knowledgeable’ Julian Milford KC , who represented the defendant in R (TransActual) v Secretary of State for Health, a judicial review of secondary legislation prohibiting the prescription of puberty blockers to gender-questioning children (other than existing patients or in a future clinical trial) in the wake of the Cass Review - the claimant in the case was represented by Jason Coppel KC, as was, prior to his departure from chambers to join the High Court bench in November 2025. With strength in depth at the junior level, the ‘fantastic intellect’ Christopher Knight acted for the Home Secretary in the High Court against a judicial review by the Duke of Sussex concerning the provision of his police protection, and Heather Emmerson represented the claimant in a judicial review – which settled – over a policy of excluding houseboats from the winter fuel allowance.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
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.
Joanne Clement KC
'Impressive advocate. Slick, persuasive and clear, even though this area of law is highly complex. Goes above and beyond to accommodate clients.'
Nigel Giffin KC
James Goudie KC
‘James is the ne plus ultra of UK public and employment law. His professional career in these areas is without parallel. A joy to work with.’
Jonathan Moffett KC
‘Jonathan is an extremely approachable and personable barrister. Enthusiastic and energetic. Never fazed. Always a pleasure to work with. His advocacy is clear, concise, clever, orderly and ultimately successful.’
Anya Proops KC
‘Fiercely intelligent, competitive, combative and energetic.’
Andrew Sharland KC
'Has a good understanding of client, commercial, as well as legal considerations. Produces very well-made written arguments. Very knowledgeable in this area of law and very each to deal with.'
Daniel Stilitz KC
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.
Amy Rogers KC
'She is excellent on her feet, extremely hard working and a great choice as a lead counsel.'
Joseph Barrett KC
‘Extremely clever, very experienced, strong and accurate sense of how a dispute will develop, good and clear advice given immediately. Written work is of the highest standard.Good oral communicator with solicitors and clients, oral advocacy is impactful and well-prepared. Good cross-examiner.’
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.
Tom Cross KC
'His drafting and analysis skills are masterful. He has an ability to transform the most difficult thorny case into a coherent and compelling case. He has a great sense and feel of the Court. His understanding of the intersection of human rights ans discrimination law is second to none.'
Cecilia Ivimy KC
‘Cecilia is consistently user-friendly: clear, thorough, prompt, intellectually agile and with excellent judgement.’
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.
Heather Emmerson
Rupert Paines
Hannah Slarks
'Hannah’s attention to detail is exceptional. Her greatest strength is her ability to analyse a case from every angle. She is meticulous in crafting submissions that are focussed and persuasively articulate the strengths of her client’s case. Hannah’s advocacy is powerful and her oral submissions are polished. Judges appreciate her laser focus and ability to isolate the important legal aspects to be determined.'
John Bethell
'John is a superb barrister. His written work is extremely precise and focused. He is great with clients - he explains his thinking clearly and understands entirely the context in which decisions are taken by public authorities and the different pressures they are under. His oral advocacy is also masterful - a calm yet powerful delivery.'
Julian Blake
Ruth Kennedy
'Very personable and easy to work with.'
Stephen Kosmin
‘Stephen is meticulous and excellent on technical detail. No stone will be left unturned. His client manner is also excellent.’
Ben Mitchell
'Ben is technically very able. He is reassuringly familiar with the administrative court processes. He is approachable and responds promptly and is therefore a pleasure to work with.'
Jane Oldham
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.
