‘A pre-eminent set in media and entertainment law’, Blackstone Chambers offers ’a range of high quality practitioners’ who regularly represent major film, theatre and record companies, music and newspaper publishers, and high profile performers. Ian Mill KC, leading Hollie Higgins, is representing the defendant in Holmes v Coldplay, a dispute between the band, which alleges its world tour was mismanaged, and its former manager, which alleges unpaid commissions. Jason Pobjoy is acting for the BBC as the broadcaster continues its internal inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct by DJ Tim Westwood. In Studiocanal v Wild Bunch International, James Segan KC acted for the major French film producer and distributor in the High Court dispute regarding the licensing of Studio Ghibli films to Netflix.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
- Profile
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The clerks room is one of the best. Gary Oliver and his team do a brilliant job.'
- 'Senior clerk Adam Sloane is excellent. Billy Brian s also fantastic and is able to work magic in getting an application listed in the High Court.'
- 'Clerks are on a par with its members. Derek Sutton is a star.'
- 'Blackstone is Blackstone. The Real Madrid of UK sets.'
- 'Very strong set. Probably the go-to for major music industry related cases. They have impressive strength in depth.'
- 'Blackstone offer some of the top barristers practising in this area of law - a top choice for contractual disputes in the music industry.'
- 'Blackstone chambers is in my view one of the top sets in London if not the top set. They have strength and breadth and there are no weak links in the chain.'
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.
Jessica Boyd KC
‘Jessica is a fantastically intelligent and thoughtful KC. She is an expert on all things public law and has also built up great expertise in acting for Ofcom in media-related decisions, combining her public law experience with freedom of speech rights – making her unique in her field. Brilliant pleadings and an excellent advocate.’
Robert Howe KC
James Segan KC
James is very clear, thorough and practical with his advice and his advocacy.'
Tom Weisselberg KC
2023 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.
Daniel Burgess
‘Daniel is extremely thorough and intelligent. His advocacy is calm and assured.’
Celia Rooney
‘Celia is extremely clever and very hard working. She is one of the barristers at Blackstone who is willing to roll her sleeves and get into the trenches with you.’
Shane Sibbel
‘Shane has a quick mind, is capable of thinking through complex problems and coming up with insightful solutions, in addition to his very competent and effective drafting skills.’
Hollie Higgins
‘Hollie is extremely bright, capable and robust. She is able to cut through the issues with clear and sensible advice and she is very thorough and persuasive in her written arguments. A future star.’
Jason Pobjoy
‘Jason has an extraordinary capacity for work. His written work is superb and his advice in conference is exceptional. He is always very well prepared and his advocacy skills are excellent too.’
Mark Vinall
‘Mark is very bright and clear in his approach. He gets to the heart of the issues quickly and was very easy to work with.’