David Allison KC
Unrivaled market knowledge and experience - and hugely respected by all players, including the judiciary. Has seen and done it all, so someone you want on your side.
South Square remains the preeminent restructuring and insolvency set and its silks and juniors continue to play a role in major proceedings. Representing the liquidators of Somerfield Stores Ltd, Tom Smith KC led Joseph Curl KC and Robert Amey in Cohen v Co-operative Group Limited, a High Court trial following the largest claim brought under s238 and s239 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Tom Smith KC also appeared alongside David Allison KC in Re Sino-Ocean, which saw the first use of an English restructuring plan for a Chinese state-owned enterprise and also involved Henry Phillips and Ryan Perkins. Daniel Bayfield KC led Matthew Abraham in Re Fossil (UK) Global Services Ltd, notable for its novel restructuring which involved a new method for NASDAQ-listed companies to restructure debt.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- Unrivaled bench strength - a deep pool of excellent, specialist barristers across the range of seniority.
- The strongest set in the market, by far.
- The market-leading set.
- Excellent commercial set.
- For high-stakes restructuring and restructuring litigation, South Square is the only chambers we use.
- South Square is and remains the leading chambers for Restructuring and Insolvency matters.
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.
David Alexander KC
David is at the heart of the team; he gets stuck in and does not rely on the work of juniors. He has tremendous presence and authority in court.
Daniel Bayfield KC
Daniel can cut through a large and complicated case and identify the good arguments to run and the bad ones to leave alone. His advocacy is concise, focused, and compelling.
Joseph Curl KC
Joe was very commercial and responsive. He can read a courtroom very well and knows when saying less is more. He knows how to deliver key messages in a simple and pragmatic way. I would definitely use him again.
Richard Fisher KC
Richard is very user-friendly and provides cogent, practical advice. He is very good at cutting through thorny technical issues such as those arising from insurance insolvencies and financial institution special administrations.
Barry Isaacs KC
Adam Al-Attar KC
Adam is unquestionably one of the most talented young KCs at the bar. He is strong in all facets, both advocacy and analysis. I would be comfortable entrusting him with any matter and have seen him represent clients on a number of the most complex transactions currently in the market.
Glen Davis KC
Mark Arnold KC
Stephen Robins KC
Stephen is an intellectual powerhouse. He is brilliant to have in your corner because all bases are covered; you know that if he’s against you, he will be able to formulate an incredibly academic and novel argument that may convince a judge that the law is not what they thought it was! Stephen is both excellent on his feet and in writing; he is user-friendly and understands the insolvency landscape well.
Tony Beswetherick KC
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.
Matthew Abraham
Great at collaborating with the rest of the legal team to develop strategy as the deal progresses and to act as a sounding board for the transaction team. Excellent advocate and great court presence. This is our go-to barrister who is a silk in waiting.
Marcus Haywood
Marcus is incredibly bright, practical, and sensible. He is extremely user-friendly, strong on his feet, and very methodical. Marcus is my go-to barrister for insolvency matters and consistently secures good results. Marcus is also clear when he advises against a course of action.
Charlotte Cooke
Charlotte is my go-to senior junior on cross-border insolvency recognition matters. Charlotte is incredibly clever, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the very complex cross-border recognition regimes, and is also super user-friendly and helpful. Charlotte is very well-liked by those instructing her and by the judges she appears before.
Clara Johnson
Clara is incredibly bright, technically excellent, and very user-friendly. She provides clear, pragmatic advice on both corporate and personal insolvency issues and is a calm and persuasive advocate. She is responsive, commercial, and someone you want on your team in complex insolvency disputes.
Oliver Hyams
Oliver's written drafting is excellent.
Oliver's attention to detail and research is excellent.
We worked with Oliver on a complex insolvency matter, and he was knowledgeable and reliable throughout.
Lloyd Tamlyn
Andrew Shaw
Andrew is sensible, clear, and analytical. He is great to work with - he gets stuck into the detail and gives commercial, sensible, and practical advice.
Madeleine Jones
As an advocate, Madeleine is clear, persuasive, and highly effective. Her advocacy is underpinned by meticulous preparation, ensuring that she has a comprehensive understanding of both the facts and legal issues before presenting a case. She is able to distill complex issues into clear and compelling arguments, adapting her approach to suit her audience and advancing her clients' positions with confidence and credibility. She is particularly skilled at managing clients and their expectations, communicating difficult messages sensitively while maintaining trust and confidence throughout the course of a matter.
Daniel Judd
'Daniel is an extremely bright and capable barrister who has a remarkable ability to readily analyze and assess complex cases.'
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.
Paul Fradley
Paul Fradley is an outstanding junior in the insolvency field – genuinely one of the best I have worked with at his level. He combines real intellectual firepower with a strong work ethic: he is always prepared, responsive, and consistently produces work of a very high standard under time pressure. He is also very creative, while remaining commercially grounded in his advice. His advocacy is already strong: he engaged confidently and fluently with the judge's questions. It was advocacy of a quality well above what one would expect at his level of call.
Rabin Kok
Extremely bright and capable. Rabin is a pleasure to work with, very responsive, and has a great handle on both the case generally and the law more broadly. I would be very happy to work with him again.