Jonathan Crow KC
‘Superb advocate — a true leading light of the Bar. Completely unflappable, no matter the complexity of the issue or the pressure of the situation.'
4 Stone Buildings is well-regarded for its expertise in handling a broad spectrum of complex commercial disputes. The team has a solid track record in appearing before offshore forums, as well as the Commercial and Chancery courts in the UK. Jonathan Crow KC represented the claimants before the Court of Appeal in Hulley Enterprises Ltd & Others v The Russian Federation, a longrunning dispute concerning the enforcement of an arbitration award against the Russian government. The Court rejected the Russian government's claim of state immunity on the grounds of issue estoppel. Christopher Harrison is 'charm personified with a steel core of no-nonsense capability'. Donald Lilly KC took silk in March 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The service from the clerks is immaculate. The client is always put first. They are flexible, commercial and always a pleasure to deal with. Ryan Tunkel is an absolute star. He is brilliant at understanding the client's needs and nothing is too much trouble.'
- 'Ben and Ryan are superb.'
- 'Ryan Tunkel is outstanding.'
- 'Ben Lashmar, Ryan Tunkel, Ed Tolfts and Louie Millard are highly responsive and professional.'
- '4 Stone Buildings is a very strong set with a number of impressive barristers working on top commercial cases.'
- 'Strong bench of barristers.'
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.
George Bompas KC
‘George is extremely user friendly and despite his seniority he is always willing to roll up his sleeves.'
John Brisby KC
‘Highly engaging, combative and excellent in all respects.'
Richard Hill KC
‘A strong practitioner with a loyal following.'
Sharif Shivji KC
He is an excellent barrister: clever, hard-working, exceptionally nice, and tactically wise. He is also an excellent advocate.’
Orlando Fraser KC
Hermann Boeddinghaus KC
Andrew De Mestre KC
Very user friendly, with excellent strategic judgement and a mastery of the detail.'
Alexander Cook KC
'A seriously impressive advocate. Extremely bright, organised and has a charming manner.'
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.
Donald Lilly KC
‘Donald is an excellent lawyer, he has top rate legal ability and judgement. He is also very hard-working, and is always a pleasure to work with.’
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.
Christopher Harrison
‘Christopher is exceptional. He has brilliant strategic insight whilst spotting the finest details in a case to position the client as optimally as possible. His advice is always bang on point and his written work is always precise and incredibly well considered. His advocacy is crisp, polished and very effective.'
Tom Gentleman
‘Tom is a tremendously able and knowledgeable commercial lawyer, with vast legal knowledge and an unerring eye for the simple killer points.'
Gregory Denton-Cox
A future star of the commercial Bar.’
Zara McGlone
'Zara is a tenacious advocate, a team player and easy to work with.'
Andrew Rose
‘Andrew is an excellent lawyer, very clever and analytical, and knows insolvency and equitable principles inside out.’
Albert Sampson
‘Very knowledgeable and an excellent client manner.’
Alastair Tomson
A great tactician. Very strong advocacy skills.'
Edward Crossley
Edward has fantastic strategic insight. He is brilliant at spotting the weaknesses in the opponent's position and devising creative strategies to exploit it.'
Lara Hassell-Hart
‘Lara is excellent at positioning the client strategically for the best outcome. She relishes the challenge with a difficult legal case and is creative at finding solutions for the client.'
Emma Horner
‘Tenacious and diligent, always extremely helpful'.
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.
Nicholas Wright
'Nicholas is incredibly bright and technically outstanding. Extremely reliable, personable and a pleasure to work with. It is clear that Nicholas will go far. '