Atkin Chambers continues to be a market-leading set for construction disputes, featuring expertise across the engineering and infrastructure sectors at both the domestic and international levels. Members of the set regularly appear at the TCC to represent contractors and property owners in trials concerning professional negligence and construction defects. Instructions frequently involve international arbitration. The set’s Manus McMullan KC, Christopher Lewis KC and Peter Land have secured favourable outcomes for the Panama Canal Authority in four major arbitration proceedings as part of a long-running set of disputes concerning the third set of locks project. Also of note is Fiona Parkin KC, who recently appeared before the Supreme Court, acting for the defendant in URS Corporation v BDW Training, a case concerning limitation periods in the Building Safety Act. She is currently leading Katie Powell and Caspar Ramsay in defending a number of claims concerning alleged defects in tower blocks following the Supreme Court’s decision.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

It's one of the best sets of construction chambers.
One of the leading chambers in this area.
The clerks are extremely helpful.
Highly efficient and friendly to deal with, with a great range of highly adept barristers.
Great chambers. Great clerks team and I always get the feeling they are the best in class.
Atkin has a great range of dedicated construction and arbitration specialists.

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.

Stephanie Barwise KC

She is a fearsome and feared advocate and is highly regarded in the UK and abroad. She is simply brilliant.

Stuart Catchpole KC

Super. No. 1 construction silk in the world. Plus, a delight to work with.

Chantal-Aimée Doerries KC

David Streatfeild-James KC

Riaz Hussain KC

Good advocacy, nice style, adaptable.

Steven Walker KC

An outstanding barrister who is calm and measured when dealing with instructing solicitors and the client. His quality of advice is also outstanding, and he considers all angles, which provides a clear and objective analysis of the facts and the law.

Fiona Parkin KC

Top drawer. Very commercial and a great strategist.

Dominique Rawley KC

Dominique is hugely experienced and knowledgeable. Her written work is wonderfully clear and fluid. Her oral advocacy is razor sharp, and she is all over the technical and legal detail. She is a pair of utterly safe hands.

Stephen Dennison KC

Karim Ghaly KC

Karim is an exceptional advocate.

Jonathan Acton Davis KC

James Howells KC

James Howells KC is an outstanding advocate and one of the most reassuring barristers I have worked with. His calm, authoritative style immediately instills confidence in clients and legal teams alike. He has a remarkable ability to take the pressure out of difficult and high-stakes cases, cutting through complexity to identify the right strategy and maintain focus on the key issues. Clients trust him completely, and his judgment is consistently excellent. Combined with his exceptional advocacy skills and strong commercial instincts, this enables him to achieve excellent results time and again.

Mark Chennells KC

Ability to analyze the most complex questions in such a way as to provide a simple, straightforward pathway forward. Excellent with experts - especially in the ability to deal promptly with issues that arise during hearings. Clients appreciate his ability to go the extra mile and remain good-humored. They also obviously appreciate his ability to get results! Advocacy is deceptively strong - because he knows the papers so well - the simplest of questions can lead a witness to make concessions without their knowing.

Rupert Choat KC

Incredible knowledge of the law, beyond that of his peers. Unparalleled on paper: his written work is absolutely impeccable. On his feet, he is clear, commanding, and confident. He is destined for the stratosphere of his profession.

Catherine Piercy KC

Cat is a tremendous barrister and a star of the Bar. Her ability to win over clients, experts, and opponents is unmatched. Cat is always on top of the details and clear and concise on the law. Her commerciality and drive to resolve disputes for her clients is incredible.

Nicholas Dennys KC

Extremely bright and able to consider complex issues quickly and provide excellent, informed advice.

Andrew Goddard KC

Andrew's advocacy is excellent. Clear and persuasive.

Serena Cheng KC

Serena is exceptionally bright. She gets right into the detail and is able to gently steer clients through the most complex contractual disputes. Her advice is always clear, direct, and commercial. If I had an impenetrable dispute, I would always think of Serena first as someone who could clear a path through it.

Jennifer Jones KC

Jennifer Jones KC is excellent. A trusted advisor with an impeccable grasp of the law. Very commercial in her approach and provides accessible advice for clients.

Christopher Lewis KC

Amazing with technical details and a good advocate.

Martin Bowdery KC

Camille Slow KC

I regard her as one of the finest barristers in her field. She combines exceptional technical expertise with excellent judgment, providing incisive and commercially focused advice on the most complex matters. Her analytical skills are second to none, and she has a remarkable ability to identify the key issues and develop practical, effective solutions. Camille is also an outstanding leader of large legal teams. She brings together and manages multi-barrister teams (including leading junior barristers from other sets) with authority and clarity, ensuring that everyone is aligned and focused on delivering the best possible outcome. She inspires confidence in both colleagues and clients, and her strategic oversight is invaluable on significant and high-profile matters. Just as importantly, Camille is excellent with clients. She combines intellectual rigor with a highly personable approach, explaining complex issues clearly and building strong, trusted relationships. Clients have enormous confidence in her judgment, integrity, and advocacy, and I have always been impressed by her ability to remain calm, pragmatic, and reassuring, even in the most challenging situations. She remains one of the very few lawyers whose advice I trust implicitly. I would recommend her without hesitation.

2025 Silks

Andrew Fenn KC

Andrew is a masterful cross-examiner with an iron grip on his brief, the technical details, and the commercial instincts to navigate the most complex disputes.

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.

Nicholas Collings

Katie Powell

Katie is meticulous in her planning and preparation. Katie understands the complexity of the issues surrounding construction delay disputes and is highly experienced in cross-examining expert witnesses.

Lucie Briggs

Lucie is a great advocate and is a regular go-to barrister for us. She gets to grips with all of the details quickly and has a great rapport with clients.

Patrick Clarke

Attention to detail when voluminous documentation and multiple parties are concerned. It puts clients at ease, being down to earth. Realistic on prospects of case winning or losing. Commercially astute. A superb advocate, quick off the mark.

Omar Eljadi

Omar's strengths include his deep expertise in construction matters, impressive fact-finding skills, and strong attention to detail. He has distinguished experience in handling construction disputes. His participation in the legal team as counsel is invaluable.

Shourav Lahiri

Shourav Lahiri is an outstanding construction disputes counsel who combines excellent technical understanding with a very pragmatic and commercially focused approach. He quickly gets to the heart of complex issues and provides clear, structured advice that is easy to deploy in high-value disputes. He works seamlessly as part of the wider team, is highly responsive, and is consistently constructive in strategy discussions.

Mathias Cheung

Alongside his technical expertise, Mathias is very responsive and personable - he is always available and willing to assist when called upon and is a pleasure to deal with.

Zulfikar Khayum

Mr. Khayum demonstrates a superb ability to absorb detailed information on large-scale construction disputes and thereafter to provide detailed and coherent legal advice. He is a solid advocate who excels in cross-examination.

Rónán Hanna

Robert Clay

Simon Crawshaw

He is excellent and very hardworking. He reads every detail of the case.

Ryan Turner

Ryan is very thorough and pragmatic in his advice.

Samar Abbas Kazmi

Samar is unflappable and remains calm and focused as disputes develop - he is also personable and very easy to work with.

Marc Lixenberg

Marc is friendly and approachable and listens carefully before providing careful and detailed advice. He is very diligent, and I know he reads everything and does not cut corners. His written advice is always very detailed and carefully put together so that it reads well not just for me but also for clients. He provides great detail and careful explanation as to even the smallest detail. I have total confidence and faith in what he does and have never had to question anything.

Edmund Neuberger

Edmund is exceptionally bright and brings a level of intellectual firepower that is immediately apparent on complex matters. He analyzes issues with real precision, quickly identifying the key legal and factual points and providing advice that is both rigorous and practical. His judgement is excellent, and he has a strong ability to cut through complexity and focus the team on the issues most likely to influence the outcome of a case.

Arthur Graham-Dixon

Arthur is very bright and is a safe pair of hands for arbitrations with high-value claims and complex factual evidence. He is also adept and experienced at working with delay and quantum experts. He reliably gets into the detail of the work at hand but, crucially, can also be trusted to understand the big picture. His drafting is very good and precise.

Dalton Hale

Dalton has all the qualities you would wish for a top-drawer barrister - the ability to digest a large volume of materials, identify the key issues, and provide carefully considered legal and strategic advice. He has strong advocacy skills, being adroit at reading the court and thinking and responding on his feet.

Lauren Adams

She is extremely hard-working, detail-oriented, and thorough in her analysis. She is also very user-friendly.

Felicity Dynes

Depth of knowledge and experience in construction law. Ability to discern the best way forward through thickets of impenetrable complexity.

Laura Hussey

Very efficient, hardworking, and helpful. Did an excellent and thorough job with cross-examinations.

Nicholas Maciolek

Nicholas is level-headed, straight-talking, and has good judgment. He is an excellent draftsman and has worked very well as part of a big team, including a silk from another set of chambers.

Christopher Reid

Christopher is a bright and reliable barrister whose pleadings are always of a great standard. He is easy to work with.

David Johnson

David is a pleasure to work with. He is extremely able and also very personable. He grasps the relevant points quickly and works well as part of a team.

Mischa Balen

Very bright with a super amount of energy and tenacious when needed. A great advocate.

Caroline Greenfield

Very bright, very focused, gives great advice.

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.

Caspar Ramsay

Caspar is very personable and happy to discuss strategy and approach with an open mind. He has great technical knowledge and also works really well in a team, where multiple counsel are advising on the same case.

Ella Rutter

Ella is diligent beyond belief. Hardworking, friendly, and collegiate, she is a great junior to have on the team.

Max Twivy

Max is great to work with and very good at identifying the key issues. He is also good at responding within compressed timescales.