Covering the full spectrum of competition law cases, Blackstone Chambers‘ members demonstrate a strong track record acting for both claimants and defendants in high-profile collective proceedings. Exemplifying this expertise is Brian Kennelly KC, who continues to be instructed in significant damages cases and collective proceedings. Kieron Beal KC continues to represent the claimants in the long-running Umbrella Interchange Fee Claimants vs Visa and MasterCard proceedings. Hanif Mussa KC acted for the respondents in Granville Technology Group Limited and others v LG Display Co Limited, a Court of Appeal case concerning the assessment of damages in competition law claims. Thomas de la Mare KC is another key competition silk within the set and Paul Luckhurst is a junior to note.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- A broad spread of real specialists who know what they are doing.
- Blackstone Chambers offers real depth across general commercial, competition, and public international law disputes, with a host of standout performers spanning multiple practice areas. The set combines breadth with genuine strength in depth — clients benefit from having access to leading names across these overlapping fields, often within a single case.
- A strong competition law set.
- Blackstones are fantastic to work with - commercial, pragmatic, and unstuffy.
- Exceptional and exceptionally deep bench of talented lawyers.
- Overall, an excellent set. We work regularly with a number of barristers and are currently working closely with the amazing Tom Mountford.
- The set is one of the paramount UK sets for administrative law and competition law.
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.
Kieron Beal KC
Simply the best in the business. Absolutely excellent at all aspects of the work.
James Segan KC
James is excellent. He is incredibly bright, articulate, commercial, pragmatic, and thorough. He is confident in his advocacy, thinking on his feet and making excellent legal arguments. His understanding of the law is outstanding, and his application of it to the facts in issue is even more impressive! As a result, his strategic advice is second to none. His experience, calmness, and insights are what make him a go-to KC on the sports/competition law intersection. Not least, he is wonderful to work with.
Hanif Mussa KC
Hanif is a class act. He is poised, precise, and persuasive in his advocacy. Courts trust him. He is also an effective leader.
Jessica Boyd KC
I do believe that Jessica is the best in this area. Her technical knowledge is superior and aptly matched by her ability to navigate complicated and high-stakes situations. She is fantastic with clients and very well respected. She has a particular knack for dealing with unique and complex organizations.
Tristan Jones KC
Tristan is wonderful to work with. A brilliant combination of being technically brilliant, commercial, and great to have as part of the team.
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.
Jason Pobjoy KC
Jason is a superstar. He is a true master of EU and UK competition law. He is also brilliant with clients (both solicitors and end clients) and a joy to work with.
Naina Patel KC
I found Naina to be very proficient, technically sound, and strategically minded, all of which was helpful in enabling us to settle the case on commercial terms.
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.
Emily Neill
Emily Neill is a strong senior junior in competition law, who combines sound legal judgment with a client-friendly manner. She is calm and pragmatic in her advice, and clients value her ability to cut through complexity and provide clear, commercially sensible guidance even in high-pressure matters.
Tom Coates
Tom is a tremendously bright and considered advocate. There is no bluster - just calm, considered advice, distilling complex issues into a simple narrative for clients.
Ravi Mehta
The barrister is extremely knowledgeable and can address extremely complex and nuanced issues while at the same time being able to communicate those issues and advice to the client in a simple way that is easy to understand. His advocacy skills are excellent. He holds the attention of the room and again makes complex issues appear simple to the judge and those he is cross-examining.
Hollie Higgins
Hollie is very bright, very articulate, and very hardworking. She is a real pleasure to work with, and she is one to watch. She will undoubtedly be a future star of the bar.
Gayatri Sarathy
Gayatri is one of the rising stars of the competition litigation bar and is destined to go far. Gayatri's level of commitment and dedication is unrivaled - you will not find a harder worker - and she has an excellent understanding of not just the law and economics of a case but also the strategic bigger picture.
Isabel Buchanan
Isabel is an exceptional junior barrister - engaged, clever, and with brilliant drafting. I wish I could have her on the team for all of my cases!