Eleanor Grey KC
A silk with exceptional intellectual rigour.’
39 Essex Chambers has ‘enormous strength in depth’ in the inquests and inquiries space. Eleanor Grey KC is leading the group of counsel representing one of two trusts involved in the Lampard Public Inquiry into a number of unexplained mental health inpatient deaths in Essex. Elsewhere in chambers, Jenni Richards KC is representing the Care Quality Commission in the Thirlwall Inquiry into the deaths of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, for which former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby is serving a whole life tariff for murder. Philip Dayle and Saara Idelbi joined the team in August 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Sheraton Doyle is excellent, as is Peter Campbell.'
- 'The service from the clerks is first rate and Peter Campbell is a person always ready to go the extra mile.'
- 'The clerks are always friendly and easy to work with.'
- 'The clerks are great.'
- '39 Essex is a powerhouse set.'
- '39 Essex is a brilliant and extremely talented set.'
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.
Jenni Richards KC
‘Jenni is a complete superstar.’
Kate Grange KC
‘She is formidably bright, and can marshal facts and legal argument with great skill.’
Alan Payne KC
‘Alan is an excellent advocate who has a very good manner with clients.’
James Strachan KC
‘James has a superb intellect and a careful, measured advocacy style.’
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.
Samantha Jones
‘She is responsive, thorough, excellent with clients and exhibits a great deal of calm under pressure.’
Anna Bicarregui
pragmatic and friendly approach.’
Philip Dayle
Philip has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law and is a joy to work with.’
Saara Idelbi
She is a really good inquest advocate – calm and adopts a sensitive tone while being on top of the detail and arguing her point when she needs to.’
Nicola Kohn
Nicola is a highly skilled advocate.'
Scarlett Milligan
‘Scarlett has an incredibly sharp mind.'
Rachel Sullivan
‘Rachel is always all over the detail in every case. She gives pragmatic advice which gets to the heart of an issue.’
Emily Wilsdon
'Emily is an experienced inquest and inquiry barrister. Her experience ranks far beyond her year of call. She has a sensitive and thoughtful approach.'
Katharine Scott
Daniel Laking
‘He has a sharp mind and fantastic attention to detail.’