Deborah Bangay KC
'Deborah is just a brilliant all rounder, and because of her experience there is little she hasn't seen before and will always give proper, clear advice. Great with clients, on her feet and in writing, her advocacy is fearless.'
1 Hare Court has ‘a justly deserved reputation for pre-eminence with a jaw dropping array of brilliance, from junior juniors right up to the silks’, and chambers is especially adept at handling ultra-high-net-worth matters. Complex and high-value marital and Schedule 1 cases are areas of expertise for the ‘brilliant’ Deborah Bangay KC. With ‘excellent legal knowledge at her fingertips’, Rebecca Carew Pole KC regularly appears before the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court in cases surrounding nuptial agreements, jurisdictional issues, and high-value financial remedy claims. A ‘leading family finance silk at the bar’, Timothy Bishop KC has specialised in matrimonial finance proceedings for over three decades. Among the juniors, ‘formidable opponent’ Nicholas Wilkinson is frequently in the High Court and often appears unled against silks in significant financial remedy proceedings. Phillip Blatchly is also a key junior to note; his ‘advocacy skills are exemplary’. Richard Todd KC and Lily Mottahedan represented the former wife of Dale Vince in a financial remedy application against the energy entrepreneur - the case involved issues of alleged dissipation of assets in the form of donations to the Labour Party.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Great clerking with Steve McCrone, Michael Lay and Daniel Barnett warranting particular comment. Always polite and affable, keen to find a mutual agreeable path through any tricky situation that may arise and understanding their different barristers to a T.'
- 'The clerks are superb. Josh Patel is a recent lateral hire and has been an excellent addition to the team. Steve McCrone keeps everything running like a well oiled ship, and is on hand to deal with any issues that may arise. Daniel Barnett is very good and is responsive to queries.'
- '1HC's clerks operate as a single, efficient unit to get the job done. Daniel Barnett is always excellent. Charlie Parish and Josh Patel are future senior clerk material. '
- 'The clerking team are the best in the business. Steve McCrone is part of the fabric of the set after 35 years. Daniel Barnett is one of the best clerks in the business. Michael Lay is super efficient and a pleasure to deal with.'
- 'Steve McCrone, Michael Lay and Daniel Barnett run a clerks room which provides a truly first-class service. They will find a solution to any problem, and are always willing to go the extra mile. They are pro-active, responsive and a real pleasure to deal with.'
- 'Steve McCrone and Michael Lay are very hands on and prepared to roll their sleeves up to help find a solution if there are any issues.'
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.
Timothy Bishop KC
'Timothy is elegance and sophistication personified in his advocacy, in his client handling and in working with his instructing solicitors. A reassuring and calm presence for clients who immediately know they are in safe hands, a persuasive force to be reckoned with in the court room with sometimes only the lightest touch.'
Richard Todd KC
Justin Warshaw KC
'Justin is just fabulous on his feet, judges love him, and has a good sense of humour. He is also really responsive which is so helpful, he rolls up his sleeves, makes himself available and, there isn't a more impressive advocate when it comes to high-profile and big money cases.'
Rebecca Carew-Pole KC
‘Rebecca is in a class of her own. She is relentless in her preparation and lives and breathes her cases, her attention to detail is superb and she misses no detail, and she can charm judges, opponents and clients alike.’
Nichola Gray KC
Nicholas Yates KC
Nicholas is a formidable opponent; he is immaculately prepared and lays the groundwork for a hearing with his powerful written advocacy. In court, he is thorough and persuasive, and outside court, in negotiation, he is friendly, pragmatic, charming, and easy to do business with.'
Peter Mitchell KC
‘Peter is a supreme advocate and he thoroughly deserves premier rating as one of the most able silks doing high-net-worth financial remedy work. Judges, barristers and solicitors alike think he is amazing and say he is highly persuasive and authoritative, and he has charm and ability in bucketloads.’
Simon Webster KC
'Simon's client skills are exemplary; he is kind and compassionate, but firm when needed. His advocacy is silky smooth and there is no finer advocate.'
John Wilson KC
Ann Hussey KC
'Ann is a superb and persuasive advocate and a creative problem solver. An essential part of any litigation team who is a pleasure to work with and much respected by judges and clients alike.'
Geoffrey Kingscote KC
'Geoffrey is an excellent barrister. He has a great command of the facts and the law, and he brings skill, knowledge and compassion to his cases.'
2024 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.
Richard Sear KC
'Richard is a first class barrister. His is intellectually very strong with excellent analytical and communication skills. He is much admired by a large band of loyal solicitors. He has gravitas and composure which place him at a great advantage in the market place. He is also a man of complete integrity, despite his keen competitive instincts.'
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.
Rebecca Bailey-Harris
Phillip Blatchly
'Phillip's advocacy skills are exemplary, even against much more experienced opposition, he is measured, calm and highly persuasive. He reads the judge well, and knows exactly which points to push, and which to leave, his written notes are excellent and he works well with highly financially sophisticated clients.'
Kyra Cornwall
‘Kyra is a class act and a go-to barrister. She has an excellent manner with clients whilst being able to deliver difficult advice, she leaves no stone unturned in the papers and will go above and beyond with her research in tricky and unusual matters, her advocacy and written work are both first-rate and she captures the judge’s attention in an understated way.’
Joshua William Viney
Nicholas Wilkinson
‘Nicholas is incredibly good with clients and has the ear of the court. He is thorough in his preparation and impressive in both his written work and advocacy.’
Katherine Cook
'Katherine is one of the foremost senior juniors of the family division. Brilliant on the detail, sound judgement, and a very effective advocacy style, she is calm and persuasive and very good with clients.'
Christian Kenny
'Christian is unflappable, he has a measured advocacy style that clearly guides judges to the right outcome, and he is always a pleasure to deal with, taking the time to explain concepts and advice simply and plainly until they are understood. He has also dealt with some very tricky litigants in person, moving matters towards a sensible conclusion.'
Ben Wooldridge
Ben has an enormous capacity for absorbing information, and is meticulous in his preparation. He is at the very top of his game at the junior financial remedies bar and is the first choice for any case.'
Thomas Harvey
'Thomas really is first class. He is incredibly hard-working and generous with his time, clients take confidence from his unflappable manner and his obvious mastery of all the details of their case, and he is extremely bright, and takes a thoughtful and intellectual approach to cases.'
Lily Mottahedan
'Lily is always very astute, confident and intelligent in the advice she gives. She effortlessly holds her own against senior counsel, she is forceful in her submissions, both written and oral, and authoritative with the client.'
Amber Sheridan
Amber is a formidable advocate who brings exceptional clarity and strategy to every case. She handles emotionally charged situations with great sensitivity while remaining completely focused on securing the best outcome for the client.’
Emma Sumner
'Emma is now one of the leading juniors at the financial bar, and it cannot be long before she deservedly takes silk. Emma is diligent in her preparation, kind to and engaged with her clients and a forceful and persuasive advocate; this is why she is one of the very best.'
Madhavi Kabra
Madhavi has a first-rate knowledge of the legal principles in the highly technical area of cross-jurisdictional disputes and complex money cases. However, her real quality is her ability to exercise judgement and apply that knowledge to the factual matrix.'
Rachel Spicer
'Rachel is a highly experienced, super-clever and respected barrister; one of the best-known juniors of her generation who is at ease working on complex and high-profile financial cases. The safest of safe pair of hands, she has everything covered and is a delight to work with.'
James Webb
'James is an exceptionally hard working junior barrister who has real command of cases and shows excellent judgement. He is one to watch.'
Jude Allen
'Jude is a phenomenal advocate, she has impeccable judgement, and her down-to-earth style enables her to bring clients along with her. She works hard to find constructive, real-world solutions that result in settlements being achieved.'
Eleanor Harris
Eleanor is a strong advocate, she has excellent attention to detail and is good with client care, offering a kind and empathetic but firm approach. Eleanor has an impressive ability to wade through extensive documentation on complex matters to draw out the key strategic points, and she is able to distil complex legal concepts and relay them in a client friendly manner.’
Georgina Howitt
'The detail of Georgina's preparation and paperwork is first-class. Her advocacy is sharp and to the point, there are no wasted questions, and she is a first-class act; sharp, empathetic, assertive and all over the detail.'
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.
Edward Benson
Ed is exceptional in every respect. He works tirelessly on behalf of clients and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the papers. He is an excellent advocate and his technical expertise extends well beyond his years.'
Henrietta Boyle
Henrietta is fantastic. She has a brilliant way of explaining things to clients and winning their trust. She is extremely well-prepared and unflappable. She is very persuasive and crystal clear in her advocacy.'
Lydia Newman-Saville
'Lydia is incredibly bright, a great communicator and able to put clients at ease with her calm and collected approach immediately on arrival at court. Lydia's efforts and work rate put in during final hearings and appeals is effective, diligent and unrelenting, and she is always on hand to offer support, deal with queries and all preparations required.'
Christie O’Connell
'Christie has exceptional technical skill and empathetic accessible delivery, tailored to clients and case dynamics. She is a huge client favourite, delivering excellent results in clear and time efficient way, and she is very intuitive and gets straight to the crux of cases.'
Henry Pritchard
'Henry is meticulous and thorough in his preparation. He brings commercial and pragmatic solutions to the table and has a keen eye on settlement or narrowing the issues where possible, and he has an excellent manner with clients and is robust in his advocacy.'
Calum Smith
'Calum is a go-to barrister for financial remedy cases, he is intelligent, his drafting is punchy and rarely needs any amendment, and he's a star in court. He speaks plainly, isn't afraid to challenge the judge, has that ability not all barristers do where they can get on with all types of client and instil the client's confidence in them quickly.'