Serle Court is highly esteemed by clients as 'a brilliant Chancery commercial set'. Jonathan Adkin KC and Zahler Bryan acted for the Republic of Mozambique in the high-profile "tuna bonds" litigation, which involved allegations of bribery and breaches of fiduciary duty; the High Court ruled in favour of the Republic. Philip Marshall KC is 'an excellent barrister for heavy-weight commercial and fraud litigation'. Bolstering the team at the senior end, Matthew Morrison KC took silk in March 2025.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Charlie Payne is very responsive.'
'Charlie Payne is fantastic, responsive and helpful. For Charlie, nothing is ever too much trouble.'

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.

Elizabeth Jones KC

‘Simply outstanding; case winning, energetic, talented, bright.'

Philip Marshall KC

‘Philip is a forceful individual who provides robust advice.'

Dominic Dowley KC

Jonathan Harris KC

‘Jonathan has unparalleled expertise. He is extremely thorough and is able to identify angles others cannot.'

Justin Higgo KC

‘Smart, eloquent, always one step ahead and moving faster than anyone else.'

2025 Silks

Matthew Morrison KC

‘Matthew is great at providing clear and concise advice that clients can easily understand. His advice and drafting of pleadings are consistently of the highest standard and he is able to get to grips with even the most complex disputes with ease.’

2026 Silks

James Weale KC

‘James is a persuasive and forceful advocate who can really be relied on to fight a client’s corner.’

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.

Simon Hattan

‘Absolutely super: pragmatic, thorough and very user friendly.'

Adil Mohamedbhai

‘Adil is a standout junior, he has exceptional legal acumen and strategic insight.'

David Drake

‘David has an extremely sharp legal mind. He is able quickly to analyse and deconstruct extremely complex commercial legal positions and, importantly, his opinions and drafting are clear and to the point.’

Marc Delehanty

‘Marc is very clever. His amiable personality and competitive spirit make him a joy to work with on any matter.'

Paul Adams

‘Paul stands out as being the most gifted individual in his generation. Outstanding intellect; outstanding court performer; caring and devoid of ego.’

Thomas Elias

'Thomas is a very strong advocate, capable of running and presenting difficult cases in a clear and persuasive manner.'

Jennifer Meech

‘Jennifer is astute, commercially minded, tactical, and extremely intelligent. She leaves no stone unturned when considering a brief.'

Zahler Bryan

‘Zahler is extremely capable and knowledgeable. She delivers well, and is technically excellent.'

Emma Hargreaves

‘Emma is a very talented barrister, extremely bright, with a strong understanding of the law, tactically savvy, and has considerable legal expertise.’

Sophie Holcombe

‘Sophie is a calm presence and a safe pair of hands. Her drafting is clear and persuasive.'

Lara Kuehl

‘Lara is a robust advocate who is confident and persuasive. She is a delight to work with and always has a commercial, bigger-picture view in mind.’

Wilson Leung

‘Wilson is incredibly responsive and has an impressive ability to digest a huge amount of detail. He is a great asset for client interests.'

Stephanie Thompson

‘Stephanie is very bright and able. She is hardworking and simplifies complexity.’

Stephen Doherty

‘Stephen has built an excellent reputation for Middle East related work.’

James Mather

'He displays considerable strategic thinking and was not afraid of putting forward his own views even where these differed from more senior team members. His written work is very strong and he is dependable and hard-working.'