William Audland KC
‘No nonsense clear advice on complex issues, his friendly client focused approach. Outstanding both on his feet and in complex lengthy legal documents, able to maintain and persuade forceful positions and arguments.’
Highlighted for its ‘formidable strength and depth in all manner of injury claims’, 12 King’s Bench Walk holds significant experience in handling a broad spectrum of personal injury matters, and along with its strong presence in maximum severity workplace and road collision injuries, is regarded as ’the pre-eminent asbestos and industrial disease set in the UK’. William Audland KC leads a team from chambers representing the Rugby Football League – the English governing body of rugby league – in a claim brought by former professional and amateur players of the sport concerning brain injuries; the case is running in parallel to a separate claim against the governing bodies of rugby union, which the claimants seek to join. Arun Katyar successfully represented the defendant in a contested three-day liability trial after an employee at a car part factory was trapped in a moulding press and narrowly missed being fatally crushed.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
- Profile
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Clerks are always helpful and approachable. Rob Palumbo is always willing to go the extra mile.'
- '12KBW are excellent, with formidable strength and depth in all manner of injury claims'
- '12KBW is the pre-eminent asbestos and industrial disease set in the UK. They have an excellent bench. They offer external training that is a must attend for asbestos litigators.'
- 'An excellent set, particularly for personal injury, industrial disease and fatal injury work.'
- 'Good strength in depth. Provide excellent training programmes both in relation to industrial disease litigation generally but also dedicated asbestos claims training as well. '
- 'Clerks are helpful and willing to make well thought out recommendations. Efficient billing.'
- 'Support through 12KBW has always been exceptional. The strength of the set in general is excellent and market leading in my view.'
- '12KBW are a consistently strong set throughout their roster in my experience from KC through to junior counsel.'
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.
Simon Browne KC
‘A team player who uses all the strengths of the team, whether experts, solicitors and clients themselves.’
Michael Rawlinson KC
‘Michael is a suberb KC. down to earth and great with clients with a razor sharp mind. Someone you need in your team.’
Steven Snowden KC
‘A solid advocate who prepares well and conducts himself professionally and pleasantly.’
Stephen Worthington KC
‘Superb attention to detail, very practical and down to earth. Absolutely excellent at mediations and settlement meetings.’
Marcus Dignum KC
‘Marcus is a formidable courtroom advocate. He is a sensible and pragmatic negotiator.’
William Featherby KC
Andrew Hogarth KC
Patrick Vincent KC
‘Patrick is super intelligent and super smooth with his submissions. He has an endearing quality of being able to make the most complex of legal issues appear to be a matter of common sense.’
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.
2025 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.
Henry Charles
‘Excellent attention to detail and great with clients.’
Patrick Kerr
‘Inspires confidence with grasp of brief and in particular has excellent judgement. An absolute delight to work with he is very good at putting clients at ease. A deft negotiator and tactician in difficult cases.’
Nigel Lewers
‘His attention to detail is fantastic, he is able to get to the issues quickly and calmly he has exceptional client care skills, he is a pleasure to work with, but he is also technically brilliant.’
Niall Maclean
‘Always immerses himself totally in a case - able to offer significant insights into the development of expert evidence.’
Philip Mead
David Sanderson
‘Impeccably polite, highly responsive and a joy to work with. Clients love him and his advice is spot on. His advocacy is incisive and he inspires real confidence in a court setting.’
Gemma Scott
‘Gemma is a brilliant all rounder. She is a genuine expert in this specialist area, great with the clients and a great advocate.’
Daniel Tobin
‘Tenacious. Good on paper and on his feet.’
Michael Brace
Michael is a patient and skilled advocate at interlocutory applications, able to guide all parties through complex legal arguments.’
Hugh Hamill
‘Hugh is fantastic on detail and really immerses himself in the case.'
James Sullivan
‘Excellent prep for cons, detailed written notes, very clear thinking, user friendly, commercially aware.’
David White
‘Good attention to detail, has a calm demeanour and develops a good relationship with the client from an early stage. Shows empathy.’
Ivan Bowley
‘Meticulous preparation and one of the most knowledgeable barristers in the field of asbestos litigation.’
James Candlin
‘James is technically excellent. His medical knowledge is fantastic, which in a personal injury case is invaluable.’
Angela Frost
good results in very problematic claims.’
Joel Kendall
‘Joel has a very incisive approach providing clear, concise, robust advice. He is a tenacious but pragmatic litigator has a first rate technical understanding of the law and is highly regarded by both clients and instructing solicitors.’
Andrew McLaughlin
‘Andrew has a fantastic attention to detail coupled with a very commercial and straightforward manner in dealing with things, taking the appropriate points.’
Rachit Buch
‘Rachit has a phenomenal eye for detail, he is always brilliantly prepared, and genuinely has the knack of putting clients at their ease.’
David Green
‘David presents confidently whether with clients in conference or to a hall full of delegates. He is excellent on quantum issues most notably concerning statistics.’
Isaac Hogarth
‘Provides clear advice on complex indemnity disputes which allows clients the ability to make early decisions and therefore consider the full commercial options available to them.’
Catherine Peck
‘Catherine is personable, hard working, is excellent on her feet. She often suggests arguments that are not considered leading to good settlements.’
Charlotte Reynolds
‘Charlotte has an incredible attention to detail and is very thorough in her preparation. She is excellent in conference, particularly with guiding experts to the key issues.’
Nina Ross
‘Nina is very clever. She is clear and straightforward in her advice.'
Oliver Rudd
‘He possessed a keen eye for detail, listened and adapted arguments accordingly when he needed to, asserted his own position persuasively and by being collaborative in his approach achieved a successful settlement.’
Charley Turton
‘A really intelligent barrister who thinks things through carefully.'
Thea Wilson
‘Thea is able to absorb vast amounts of complex evidence and forensically pick out the key points. Thea is great to work with and client’s respect her judgement.’
Lois Aldred
‘She is excellent at managing complicated fundamental dishonesty issues.’
Thomas Banks
‘Tom is not afraid of novel or challenging legal arguments and is terrific advocate. Someone you can rely on.’
Arun Katyar
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James Pickering
‘Quietly understated due to his modesty James nonetheless possesses a towering intellect and is able to master the law in a wide range of areas from international law to English procedural law before deploying it with lethal effect.’
Edward Ramsay
‘He is a persistent and persuasive advocate, who is able move the most stubborn and reluctant of judges to be on his side.’
Anna Symington
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Spencer Turner
‘Spencer has a natural enthusiasm for the work which enables him to put the client at the heart of the case. Spencer provides excellent advice which is both logical and practical.’
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.
