Commercial litigation

3 Verulam Buildings

3 Verulam Buildings ‘consistently fields the best and the brightest at the commercial Bar’, regularly handling multi-jurisdictional, complex cases at all levels of the English court system and globally. The set continues to be active in high-value corporate insolvency-related claims, including Phones4u Limited v Vodafone Group, where Ewan McQuater KC led Adam Kramer KC and Hannah Glover in Vodafone’s defence against allegations, brought by the collapsed retailer’s liquidators, that mobile phone networks conspired with each other to terminate their dealings with it. Andrew Onslow KC, Peter De Verneuil Smith KC, and Adam Kramer KC acted for various claimant groups in a FSMA s.90/90A securities claim against Glencore, accused of hiding corrupt activities through misleading statements in published prospectuses. In Umbrella Interchange Fee Claimants v Mastercard, Adrian Beltrami KC was instructed to act for over 1,000 merchants in claims brought against Mastercard and Visa in respect of alleged unlawful interchange fees. Another key case includes Jonathan Davies-Jones KC, Clarissa Jones, and Georges Chalfoun’s defence of Siam Commercial Bank in Suppipat v Narongdej and others, involving an alleged fraudulent conspiracy related to the sale of a major wind energy company in Thailand.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Stuart Pullum is highly effective and easy to use. He is also a great promotor of junior barristers.'
'Stephen Penson is responsive and a consummate professional.'
'Stephen Penson and Stuart Pullum run a tight ship and maintain the client-friendly service, which earns continued loyalty to this set. '
'James Kelly is fantastic in the clerks' room. He is impressive and a great asset.'
'3VB consistently fields the best and the brightest at the commercial Bar. Their strength lies not just in their technical expertise but in their unassuming attitude and commercial approach.'
'3VB is a strong set, with impressive juniors.'
'3VB is a leading set for commercial litigation.'
'3VB are the set to beat - their strength in depth and value for money are unmatched.'

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.

Adrian Beltrami KC

'Adrian is a first-class advocate. He melds brevity with clarity and deadly effectiveness.'

Ali Malek KC

Ewan McQuater KC

‘Ewan is impressive.'

Andrew Onslow KC

Jonathan Davies-Jones KC

'Jonathan works extremely hard. His performance is nothing short of exceptional.'

David Head KC

‘ David is very user-friendly, combining a great legal brain with commerciality. Always a pleasure to work with.’

Hodge Malek KC

‘ Hodge’s strength is his capacity to be extremely convincing, elegant and to the point. He is an excellent KC.’

Jonathan Nash KC

'Jonathan is impressive.'

David Quest KC

Richard Salter KC

Peter De Verneuil Smith KC

‘Peter is extremely knowledgeable and experienced. He is superbly clever, and his advice is always well considered, practical and clear.'

John Jarvis KC

Andrew Sutcliffe KC

‘Andrew excels at taking very complicated issues and making them simple - both to the judge and to the client. Andrew is also an absolute pleasure to work with.'

Matthew Hardwick KC

‘Matthew is very thorough and gets stuck into the detail, but is also strategically on point and able to see the bigger picture very clearly. Very easy to work with - listens to all views willingly and will adapt his approach where appropriate.'

Rajesh Pillai KC

‘Smooth but forceful advocate with an excellent blend of commercial nous and forensic detail. Intelligent leader who marshals his team well to cover all aspects of large-scale litigation.'

Nicholas Craig KC

Excellent judgement, highly responsive, and a joy to work with. Highly persuasive and skilled advocate: master of the art of turning what at first sight appears a weak case into a highly credible one.'

Andrew Fletcher KC

Christopher Harris KC

‘A true class act. Christopher is calm, authoritative and unflappable in the most bitterly fought and high-stakes claims.’

Adam Kramer KC

‘Razor sharp legal analysis. Adam is a fearless advocate with a deceptively light touch that triumphs over the more heavy-handed approach often adopted by his opponents.'

Jamie Riley KC

‘Jamie is a leading silk with great gravitas but also excellent client handling skills. He is a pleasure to work with and a real team player.’

2025 Silks

William Edwards 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.

Richard Hanke

‘Richard is extremely bright and cuts straight to the point. His advocacy is excellent: sharp, incisive and pacy.'

George McPherson

‘George consistently impresses with his attention to detail and written advocacy skills. He has a keen analytical mind and a pragmatic approach to complex legal challenges.'

Can Yeginsu

‘Can is an outstanding advocate - precise, authoritative, and a master cross-examiner. A client favourite and a real pleasure to instruct.'

Philip Hinks

‘Philip is particularly good at identifying the points that matter. He comes across well in court – not aggressive, but will hold his ground under questioning.’

Lisa Lacob

‘Lisa is commercial and easy to deal with. Someone you want in your corner.'

James McWilliams

‘James is an unrivalled junior with in-depth legal knowledge, excellent drafting skills, and a firm but collegiate manner with clients. He is clear and precise, and his explanation of the law is excellent.'

Anne Jeavons

'Anne is an exceptional barrister: her client service is excellent, she delivers work of the highest quality, she is always commercial, she is laser-focused on the route to victory, and she is an immensely persuasive advocate both in terms of her written work and her oral advocacy.'

Chloë Bell

‘Thoughtful in her written work and in-person. Committed.’

Yash Bheeroo

'Yash provides highly commercial and first-rate advice to clients. He is an excellent advocate who never misses a detail, and he is fearless in his case strategy and an absolute pleasure to work with.'

Christopher Bond

'Chris is a thoughtful and measured counsel, and able to think strategically about a dispute. He is also adept at extracting the right information from his own witnesses and from hostile witnesses in cross-examination.'

Christopher Burdin

‘Christopher has an encyclopaedic memory. He is assured and commercial, and entirely robust and feisty when appropriate and called for.’

Cleon Catsambis

'He is a charming but challenging opponent - quick on his feet and with a keen eye for a good point.'

Georges Chalfoun

‘Responsive and with a quick and clear grasp of the details, Georges is an extremely capable junior who has quickly become an integral part of the wider matter team. He is unfailingly enthusiastic and great with clients and more junior members of the team alike.’

William Day

‘Will is an excellent advocate and punches way above his weight. He is a really good junior.'

Charlotte Eborall

‘Charlotte is extremely impressive and strikes the perfect balance of being incredibly sharp, pragmatic and client-friendly. She is an excellent advocate and her written work is excellent and precise.’

Judy Fu

'Judy is an enthusiastic team player who provides seriously substantial support to the matters that she works on. She is invaluable to clients.'

Kate Holderness

'Very good written submissions.'

Dominic Kennelly

As a former solicitor, Dominic is particularly attuned to the needs of his instructing solicitors. A bright mind and talented junior who is one to watch.'

Alexia Knight

'Excellent responsiveness, quick to identify the key points of any case, and an excellent advocate.'

Liisa Lahti

'Liisa is highly professional, a "straight shooter", and knowledgeable. Liisa is capable of providing focused legal advice on complicated issues, allowing the client to make accurate decisions.'

Anthony Pavlovich

James Potts

'James is extremely smart and responsive, and his drafting is first-class.'

Peter Ratcliffe

‘Peter is wonderfully responsive and helpful. He is also very smart, practical and clear.’

Emmanuel Sheppard

'Emmanuel is a calm head in difficult legal situations. His written work is clear and concise, he is a fearless advocate, and he has dealt well with some tricky client issues.'

Mark Wassouf

'He is fantastically smart but also extremely practical and has a great deal of commercial common sense.'

Rebecca Zaman

'Very thorough, both in written work and in her advocacy. She makes the details easy to process and she is very mature for her level.'

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.