4 New Square Chambers remains at the forefront of the professional negligence market. The set continues to be involved with Grenfell Tower litigation, with David Turner KC, Clare Dixon KC, Isabel Barter and Conor Ewing acting for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in claims against contractors, architects and others. Ben Hubble KC, Justin Fenwick KC and Ben Smiley are involved in Abraaj v KPMG, a claim against the auditors of the high-profile Dubai-based emerging markets private equity house which collapsed in 2018. Hubble KC is also acting for the defendants in Afan Valley Ltd & Ors v Lupton Fawcett & Metis, alongside Michael Bowmer, Daniel Saoul KC and Pippa Manby; the case concerns a number of property investment schemes which entered into liquidation. Patrick Lawrence KC and Helen Evans KC are instructed on behalf of the defendant in Discovery Land v Axis, a case which raised questions on the extent of the coverage of solicitors’ insurers on the grounds of dishonesty on the parts of the insured solicitor. Scott Allen was instructed in Bratt v Jones, another case which went to the Court of Appeal concerning the test for valuers’ negligence.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

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.

Ben Elkington KC

'Ben is an excellent advocate to have in your corner. Always charming and armed with a razor sharp intellect, he is a force to be reckoned with.' \n \n

Justin Fenwick KC

David Halpern KC

Neil Hext KC

'Neil has an exceptional ability to cut to the heart of complex legal issues. His advocacy is top-notch.'

Ben Patten KC

‘Ben provides strong legal analysis and assesses the key strengths and weaknesses in the case at an early stage.’

Graham Chapman KC

‘Clever and brave advocate who knows how to deliver difficult points effectively and with impact.’

Clare Dixon KC

‘Her tenacity and robust advocacy style make her a forceful presence in the courtroom. She approaches each case with an eye for detail and deep knowledge of the law on professional negligence.’

Helen Evans KC

‘Helen’s strengths are numerous – she is incredibly bright but also pragmatic, which is a very potent combination. Helen is easy to work with.’

Richard Liddell KC

‘Richard is a civil and very experienced barrister who has an authoritative advocacy style and is a very adept cross-examiner.’

Daniel Saoul KC

Paul Mitchell KC

‘A true spectacle to watch in court; when speaking, he has the ear of not only the judge but also the opposition and basically everyone in the room. His drafting is incredibly on point, as is his knowledge of the authorities.' \n \n \n \n

Alison Padfield KC

‘Alison is one of the very best out there for coverage advice on professional negligence policies. She has an unrivalled mastery of the law and provides detailed, well reasoned and thorough advice.’ \n \n

Amanda Savage KC

‘Amanda is incisive, clever and personable. She gets to the nub of a case very quickly.’

George Spalton KC

2024 Silks

Shail Patel KC

‘Shail is very bright. He is good on the wider tactics and strategy for dealing with a claim – both on doing the groundwork for success at trial, or teeing things up for sensible settlement.’

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.

Hugh Evans

‘He combines intellect and his years of experience in a very affable way. He's a pleasure to work with and clients really enjoy working with him too.’

Miles Harris

‘Miles is extremely capable; he drafts very well, has excellent attention to detail, is very commercial and great with clients. He is robust and works well as part of a team.'

Charles Phipps

‘Charles is the industry go-to for any complex issues arising from confidentiality or privilege disputes. He is very proactive, approaches matters with commercial sense and is an intellectual titan.’

Carl Troman

Scott Allen

‘Scott responds quickly, delivers exceptional service is very user-friendly and has a pragmatic approach.'

Isabel Barter

‘Super bright, client friendly and very good on her feet.’

Michael Bowmer

‘Michael is thorough and very detailed, happy to answer any questions put to him. The go-to for defendant solicitor negligence work, he has a clear sense of authority and calmness about him.’

Timothy Chelmick

Lucy Colter

‘Lucy works incredibly hard for her clients, she is completely on top of the facts, the law and the procedural issues. She always makes herself available and is extremely user-friendly and good fun to work with. ’

Ben Smiley

‘He is a future silk, technically excellent.’ \n \n

Tom Asquith

Nicholas Broomfield

‘Excellent on his feet, great with clients, always one step ahead.’

Chris Greenwood

‘Very thorough and thoughtful. Has a real love of the law which comes through both in terms of his preparation and his advocacy.’

Anthony Jones

‘Anthony is a brilliant team player who inspires confidence in all who work with him. His written work is some of the best and he is a polished and accomplished advocate.’

Pippa Manby

‘She is hardworking, diligent and easy to deal with. She is recommended for professional negligence matters.’

Thomas Ogden

Tom Shepherd

‘Tom has a helpful insolvency and company background that makes him a leading expert on any professional negligence claim that involves a corporate transaction. Tom has gravitas and gives robust but pragmatic advice.’

Benjamin Wood

‘Ben is great to work with and an invaluable part of the team. He is a great strategist; he never loses sight of the client's objectives and how best to achieve them.’

Theo Barclay

‘Theo is very user-friendly and is a pro-active barrister who is prepared to work hard to ensure the client gets a high standard of legal advice.’

Benjamin Fowler

‘He is well organised and a calm, a lateral thinker and the ultimate safe pair of hands. His advocacy style is calm, focused and effective.’

Paul Fisher

‘Paul is very commercial, turns documents round quickly, and is a gentleman on his feet; polite yet ruthless.’

Stephen Innes

‘A fountain of knowledge when it comes to anything related to professional negligence.’ \n \n \n \n

Andrew Nicol

Paul Parker

Mark Cullen

Hannah Daly

‘Hannah always quickly gets on top of the details and adopts a forensic approach to her instructions. Her cross-examination style is excellent and very effective.’

Seohyung Kim

‘She is very available and easy to work with. She is quick to turn things around under pressure and an invaluable member of the team.’

Jack Steer

‘Jack has a brilliant ability to quickly assess a tricky situation and give a clear firm opinion. Clients love his no-nonsense approach and that he does not shy away from giving a firm view, rather than sitting on the fence.’

William Harman

Douglas James

'Douglas is detailed and hardworking. His advice is well thought through, precise and commercially minded.'

Diarmuid Laffan

‘His drafting is exceptional. He is very bright, very responsive and generally great to work with.’

John Williams

‘John’s attention to detail and approachability consistently impresses. His ability to refine substantial or complicated issues into more manageable points and issues for the benefit of clients, is a real strength to his practice.’

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.

Conor Ewing

'Conor is an extremely bright and able junior. He has a grasp of the detail in a complex professional negligence case.'

Samuel Cuthbert

'He is responsive, clever, hard working and above all a real joy to work with.'

Will Cook

'Will is the whole package; very clever, user friendly, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of accounting standards.'

Anson Cheung

'Anson is very quick to understand all the detail and grasp the issues. She is thoughtful and very thorough.'