One Essex Court is ‘at the top of the market for commercial disputes work’. Laurence Rabinowitz KC is ‘a true litigation heavyweight who combines a calm demeanour with an ability to find solutions in the most complex of cases’. Sonia Tolaney KC and James MacDonald KC are acting for the defendants in BM Brazil & Ors v Sibanye, a $1.2bn claim concerning the alleged wrongful termination of share purchase agreements for the acquisition of two Brazilian mines from a private equity firm; the defendants had invoked an MAE clause to terminate the agreements following a geological event at one of the mines. In a boost to chambers, Michelle Menashy KC and Niranjan Venkatesan KC were both elevated to silk in March 2025.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Darren Burrows is one of the best clerks at the Bar.'
'Darren Burrows is excellent - accessible, clear and fair.'

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.

Neil Kitchener KC

Stephen Auld KC

'Great sector knowledge and legally and commercially astute.'

Camilla Bingham KC

'Fantastic advocate. Very intelligent and pitches propositions and arguments to the judge with great skill.'

Lord Grabiner KC

John McCaughran KC

'John is one of the leading commercial silks. A true class act, and a stand out lawyer.'

Craig Orr KC

‘Craig's attention to detail is extraordinary. His oral advocacy is very powerful.'

Lord Wolfson KC

'He is a top choice for heavyweight and high profile commercial litigation.'

Alain Choo Choy KC

Jeffery Onions KC

Richard Boulton KC

'Richard is absolutely fantastic. He's incredibly clever and is always the smartest person in the room - but without any ego.'

Sa’ad Hossain KC

‘Sa’ad has a brilliant mind with a wonderful forensic approach to advocacy. Clients also love him and hang on his every word.'

David Cavender KC

Charles Graham KC

brilliant client-handling skills.’

Rhodri Davies KC

'Very client and user friendly. Fantastic advocate.'

Michael Fealy KC

‘ Intellectually strong and willing to fight.'

Sebastian Isaac KC

‘Seb is a highly talented silk. A superstar of the bar for many years to come.’

James MacDonald KC

He is a superstar.'

Simon Colton KC

‘Simon is absolutely superb. Extraordinarily bright; works at great speed; incredibly responsive; clear and crisp drafting.'

Conall Patton KC

'Conall is absolutely superb. One of the brightest and best barristers - everything he says has substance and is the product of thoughtful analysis.'

Alexander Gunning KC

Edmund Nourse KC

‘Edmund is the person to have in your corner if the gloves are off.’

Anna Boase KC

‘Anna is fiercely intelligence - the speed and precision of her analysis, and the clarity with which she conveys it, is unrivalled at her level.'

Hannah Brown KC

‘Hannah is a powerful advocate, who is always well prepared. Her communication skills are second to none.' \n \n

Laurence Emmett KC

‘Approachable and easy to work with. Great on his feet.'

Richard Gillis KC

‘Richard is meticulous in his preparation, and a considered advocate who is particularly strong on legal submissions.'

Orlando Gledhill KC

‘Orlando is a tenacious and fearless advocate with a good commercial approach to litigation.'

Jamie Goldsmith KC

‘Jamie is pretty much the perfect modern barrister. A real part of the team who rolls his sleeves up and gets stuck into the case.'

Alexander Polley KC

‘Phenomenally bright, fantastic written work and exceptional on his feet.'

2024 Silks

Nicholas Sloboda KC

‘Nick is an excellent barrister. He is quick to get up to speed on complex issues and he is very pragmatic and commercial.'

2025 Silks

Michelle Menashy KC

Niranjan Venkatesan KC

Alexander Brown 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.

Emma Jones

Clare Reffin

‘Clare is superb. Hugely knowledgeable and good commercial instincts.'

Nehali Shah

‘Nehali provides clear, thorough and thoughtful advice, which takes account of the client's commercial and wider strategic interests and objectives. She is a pleasure to deal with and a trusted advocate and adviser.'

Sandy Phipps

‘A brilliant junior. Phenomenally hard-working, clever, a great drafter, excellent judgment and a seriously nice person..’

Michael D’Arcy

‘Michael is an excellent lawyer. He combines his considerable technical ability with a practical, client-focused approach.'

Tamara Kagan

‘Tamara is excellent; technically superb, a brilliant draftsman, and a total pleasure to work with. She is highly pragmatic.'

Michael Watkins

‘A really superb senior junior who is super bright. He is a real star and a vital member of the team on any case.'

Simon Gilson

Patrick Harty

‘Really excellent. Strong on company law and not afraid to take a strong view.’

Douglas Paine

‘Excellent junior. Really on top of detail and lightning quick.'

Maximilian Schlote

‘Extremely hard-working and the quality of his work is always excellent.'

Derek Spitz

Very calm advocate - unflustered, methodical and well-prepared. Extremely effective cross examiner.'

Mehdi Baiou

Hannah Glover

Adam Rushworth

‘A super senior junior. Extremely knowledgeable on litigation tactics.’

Joyce Arnold

‘Joyce is a very strong junior who punches above her weight.'

Daniel Benedyk

‘A star of his generation. Extraordinarily hard-working, legally gifted, self-starter whose work is of the highest quality.'

Nathaniel Bird

An incredibly talented and in-demand senior junior. A go-to.'

Abra Bompas

‘A tremendous junior. Absolutely first rate.'

Oliver Butler

‘Oliver is a pleasure to work with. He is detail-oriented, responsive and highly analytical.'

Eleanor Campbell

Eleanor is an extremely impressive barrister. She is very good at team working on complex technical and contractual matters.'

David Caplan

'David is an absolute star across all areas. His advocacy - oral and written - is fantastic.'

James Ruddell

Joshua Crow

‘Very bright. Exceptional written work.'

Timothy Goldfarb

‘A very bright junior who is a delight to work with. His written work is excellent and his oral advocacy is clear and to the point.'

Henry Hoskins

‘Razor sharp attention to detail; expansive legal knowledge; safe pair of hands; extremely smart and also very use friendly.'

KV Krishnaprasad

Andrew Lodder

‘Andrew is extraordinary. He is bright and knowledgeable, has strong judgement, works very hard and delivers speedy turnaround - all with an easy-going manner that makes everything seem effortless.'

Sam O’Leary

‘Exceptionally bright, hardworking, all over the detail, strategically adept but, most of all, an absolutely first-rate court advocate capable of facing off against top-level silks.’

Stephanie Wood

‘Stephanie is an exceptionally clever junior, whose written advocacy is consistently of the highest calibre — lucid, persuasive, and meticulously crafted.'

Veena Srirangam

'Veena has an exceptionally astute legal mind and a sharp instinct for case strategy. She can quickly assess whether a particular approach is likely to succeed, and she is committed to ensuring every aspect of a case is on the strongest possible footing.'

Daniel Fletcher

Saul Lemer

Rachel Oakeshott

Oscar Schonfeld

Alyssa Stansbury

Sophie Weber

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.

Matthew Hoyle

‘A highly cerebral barrister and a confident, well-prepared advocate.’

Tom Foxton

‘He is an outstanding barrister across every metric. He is whip smart, technically excellent and exceptionally creative in identifying arguments, notwithstanding difficult factual patterns. His written and oral advocacy are both superb. In particular, he is calm and measured in his oral presentation, thinks quickly on his feet and is able to gain the respect and trust of the judge.’

Katherine Boucher

Katherine has a consistent ability to distill complex legal issues into compelling arguments. She is also notably responsive and collaborative, earning trust quickly through her thoughtful communication and client-focused approach.'

Ben Lewy

‘ Ben is very bright and understands the case quickly almost always comes up with new and important points to help strengthen the claim and then advocates in a very pleasant yet persuasive manner. ’

Michael Kotrly

Sabrina Nanchahal

‘Sabrina makes an instant impact, a true pocket rocket. She is not afraid to contribute to discussions and always adds value. Her drafting is superb and her client skills even better.’