Ben Cooper KC
The best employment lawyer at the bar, and probably the best lawyer in any practice area. The sharpest mind I have ever come across, paired with total (and totally unmerited) modesty. A pleasure and a privilege to work with.
Renowned for its depth across employment law, Old Square Chambers handles cases ranging from complex discrimination and whistleblowing claims in the High Court and appellate courts. Recent work has included Nadia Motraghi KC, Rad Kohanzad, Daisy van den Berg acting in the case of Wicked Vision Ltd v Rice, which was heard by the Supreme Court, concerning the interpretation of whistleblowing law and previous precedent. The set has a track record of work for trade unions and their members – representing a member of BALPA, Michael Ford KC and Stuart Brittenden KC appeared before the Court of Appeal in Ryanair v Lutz, a case concerning the scope of the agency workers regulations applies to pilots employed through multiple companies. Betsan Criddle KC, Adam Ross and Nadia Motraghi KC acted before the Court of Appeal in Bicknell v NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Commissioning Board a case considering the scope of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations 2006 and whether the activities of an NHS commissioning body amount to “economic activity”, which is an essential requirement in a TUPE claim.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- An excellent set - great caliber of counsel.
- They remain a reliable and esteemed set for High Court employment matters, especially in the healthcare sector, and with a great clerks team.
- I have always had very positive experiences using counsel from Old Square Chambers, and their clerks are responsive and helpful.
- Chambers are approachable and responsive. They are always willing to answer queries and provide additional information/options where requested.
- They have a great reputation for high standards and a modern, friendly approach.
- My 'go to' chambers for serious employment work, Old Square offers excellent service and support (especially for virtual hearings in chambers). They have a strong team capable of taking on employment law work at any level, and a strong talent pipeline for the future.
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.
Katharine Newton KC
Katharine is a pleasure to work with. She has a friendly and direct manner, striking an excellent balance between being professional and down to earth. Katharine is all over the detail, while keeping the bigger picture and client objectives in mind. She's excellent on her feet - very friendly but can be devastating when making submissions and in cross-examination. She's also unbelievably hardworking and always responsive and contactable.
Lord Hendy KC
Mark Sutton KC
Calm, brilliant at understanding the case and keeping the proceedings running in a civil way; commands the respect of judges and opponents. Excellent specialist knowledge. Clients all adore the style and want to have him back time and again.
No weaknesses known to me.
Oliver Segal KC
Oliver Segal KC is in a class of his own. He is highly intelligent and can always be relied on to give advice of the highest quality in the most difficult of cases. His skills as an advocate are formidable, and he always appears calm and unphased in even the most highly pressurized situations, when the stakes for clients are extremely high. He would always be my first choice senior counsel, particularly for High Court injunction challenges.
Michael Ford KC
Ben Collins KC
Ben blends the calm authority of silk with the tenacity and work rate of a campaigning junior. His ability to distill complex principles into straightforward logical propositions is unmatched.
Betsan Criddle KC
Betsan is one of my favorite barristers to work with. She's an absolute star while also being easy to work with and extremely client-friendly.
Nadia Motraghi KC
Nadia is a robust advocate who puts the client's objectives at the heart of case strategy. She has an excellent understanding of complex legal issues allied to very good client care. She has a particular strength in NHS discrimination cases.
Deshpal Panesar KC
Deshpal is extremely easy to work with, and he has an authoritative, clear, and calm style. He holds the bench in his thrall. Clients love him, as he puts them at their ease.
Ijeoma Omambala KC
She is particularly adept at working with client personnel at all levels, translating complex legal issues into clear and practical advice while maintaining a firm grasp of the finer details.
Simon Cheetham KC
Simon is personable yet formidable. His spoken advocacy is highly compelling. He is engaging and very good with clients.
Eleena Misra KC
Eleena is a pleasure to work with; she promotes a real team approach and puts clients at ease when dealing with complex legal issues. She is a fantastic advocate, pragmatic, and technically excellent.
Stuart Brittenden KC
Stuart is my first choice of employment barrister. He is bright, exceptionally hard-working, very responsive, always ready to muck in, and an excellent advocate. He also has an encyclopaedic knowledge of industrial relations law in particular.
2026 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.
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.
Jack Mitchell
An expert in whistleblowing claims, he is thorough and well-prepared. His advocacy is mature and persuasive. It is clear that judges and clients respond well to him.
Madeline Stanley
Madeline is a truly remarkable barrister and would always be my first choice of junior counsel, particularly for industrial action ballot challenges. She is highly intelligent, incredibly thorough, and her advice is always incisive. In addition, she is highly skilled at devising case strategy and tactics to put the client in the best possible position. Her skeleton arguments are extremely well crafted.
Melanie Tether
Melanie is an exceptional barrister. She is clever, hard-working, and has amazing analytical skills. As a result, she can digest the most complex cases and produce written pleadings that simplify matters, provide a roadmap to move forward based on, and set out your client's case in the strongest way.
Spencer Keen
Spencer is a very calm and reassuring presence, always well prepared and well organized. This is reflected in his advocacy style, which is calm and unflashy.
Louise Chudleigh
Louise resonates integrity. I know that when I instruct Louise, not only will she do excellent, thorough, and timely work, but she will also recognize the importance of her role at a human level. That is very valuable when the objective is not just to complete a piece of work, but also to play our part in helping clients to resolve matters and, where possible, repair relationships.
Darshan Patel
Approachable and smart, Darshan is super responsive and has a great eye for detail. Very good with clients.
Laura Gould
Laura's cross-examination was clinical; she used the case materials to destroy the credibility of a key witness, turning the case on its head. A first-class barrister.
Robin White
Robin is an excellent advocate who works very hard for her clients. Her cross-examination is second to none. She has a formidable knowledge of the law, especially in discrimination cases.
Rosalie Snocken
Rosalie was excellent in cross-examination - she swiftly and deftly delivered hammer blows to the opponent's case. She was an extremely safe pair of hands.
Adam Ross
Adam has exceptional attention to detail, strategic thinking, and formidable legal knowledge. Adam's advocacy skills are impeccable, with a real skill in cross-examination, and his submissions are succinct, persuasive, and authoritative. On cases I instruct Adam on, he is an asset to be involved in an early stage to get the benefit of his practical commercial advice and analytical ability. His written advocacy is also of excellent quality.
Laith Dilaimi
Strong communicator, able to explain complex legal issues in plain English, great with clients - down to earth and grounded. Good analytical skills. No weaknesses.
Rad Kohanzad
Rad brings a rare combination of intellectual rigor, calm authority, and commercial realism. He has sufficient gravitas to advise boards and decision-makers with confidence, yet avoids unnecessary legalism. His advice is clear, structured, and focused on practical outcomes rather than academic exposition. He is particularly strong where matters involve disability considerations, reputational risk, and procedural sensitivity, and he approaches those issues with care, balance, and sound judgment. He is an excellent advocate; his written work is first class, and he is personable, easy to work with, and able to establish rapport and instill confidence with clients.
Serena Crawshay-Williams
Serena was excellent - she was well prepared, responsive, and clear in her written submissions.
Benjamin Jones
Conor Kennedy
Really excellent. He was thorough, very responsive and collaborative, did a good job in court, and successfully defended the application.
Rachel Owusu-Agyei
Christopher Edwards
Clear pragmatic advice - clear explanations and good with clients. Advocacy is clear and well-structured. Very helpful at discussing strategy.
James Chegwidden
James is very detailed and good to work with; he provides good assurance to clients and is very personable.
Oliver Isaacs
Attention to detail. Extremely knowledgeable and excellent with clients.
Tara O'Halloran
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.
