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 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.'

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.

John Wilson KC

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.’

2024 Silks

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

‘Joshua is one of the best juniors at the family Bar and prodigiously hard working. He takes his work and achieving a good outcome for his clients extremely seriously, he is sensible and pragmatic in the points he takes and in negotiations, and he gives realistic and sensible advice to clients and can absolutely be relied upon when the going gets tough.’

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.’

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.'

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.'

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.'

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.'

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.'

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.'

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.’

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.'

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.'

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.'

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.’

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.