Midland Circuit
St Philips Chambers is ‘one of the leading sets in the Midlands’ for commercial litigation work with a ’broad depth of expertise’. John Brennan is a senior junior with considerable experience in high-value commercial disputes. Robert Mundy KC’s wide-ranging practice covers contractual, company, insolvency, and commercial fraud disputes; he took silk in March 2025. Ali Tabari stands out for his experience handling disputes involving allegations of fraud. Marc Brown is ‘technically astute and leaves no stone unturned in court’. Kirsty White’s varied practice regularly sees her appear in the High Court and County Court as well as from time to time in the Court of Appeal. She recently acted for the defendant in Hussain v Ford Motor Company Limited, defending the company against a claim for damages arising from a defective vehicle. John Randall KC retired from practice in April 2025.
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Profile
Work Department
Business & Property
Position
Ali Tabari is widely recognised as a leading commercial junior, consistently ranked in the legal directories for many years and described variously as “a highly skilled and persuasive advocate”, “exceptional on his feet”, “a very impressive trial advocate”, “very incisive”, “a pleasure to work with”, “very approachable, responsive and friendly”, “absolutely fantastic”, and with an “excellent manner with clients and the judiciary”.
He has a busy and thriving commercial practice focussing on heavy commercial litigation involving fraud, insolvency, company and finance aspects. His experience in those fields also leads to instructions in professional liability matters.
He regularly appears in lengthy and complex trials in the High Court, and has been instructed in the Court of Appeal several times. Recent experience has seen him led in a 3-week fraud trial worth £100m+ and sole junior (against four Silks) in a month-long conspiracy and breach of duty trial worth £30m+ in the Rolls Building.
First and foremost, Ali is a confident courtroom advocate who is diligent, proactive and approachable. He welcomes early involvement so as to help formulate a strategy in line with the client’s commercial objectives, and his advice is robust, pragmatic and realistic. Ali’s responsive and collaborative style is well-suited to urgent applications for injunctive relief, as well as applications for pre-action and interim relief, all of which are regular features of his fraud and insolvency practice areas.
Moreover, Ali is an accredited civil/commercial mediator through ADR Group, and uses those skills when instructed as the advocate in mediations; he has acted in over 50 mediations as either mediator or advocate. His sensible and considered approach has also led to instructions as an independent investigator for private companies requiring findings of fact and determinations of internal disputes.
Ali is qualified to take instructions through the Direct Public Access scheme. He writes regularly for well-established practitioner resources and regularly delivers seminars.
Career
Called 2006, Inner Temple.
Languages
Fluent in Farsi, with a good working knowledge of German and French.
Memberships
Midlands Chancery and Commercial Bar Association (MCCBA)
Education
Dunelm (LLB (Hons)); Nottingham Law School (BVC, very competent).
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The clerks are a great assets to the set. Justin Luckman in particular brings decades of expertise to his role, which he clearly uses to support the barristers within the set, and to nurture and develop talented barristers and clerks alike.'
- 'The clerks are responsive and helpful. Ross Hands in particular is always keen to go above and beyond.'
- 'The clerks provide an excellent service. Justin Luckman is brilliant and Jake Smithers is always very helpful too.'
- 'The clerks are efficient and approachable.'
- 'St Phillips is a very rounded and accomplished set. Over the years they have nurtured and retained talent, and continue to increase their breadth of expertise through organic growth. The clerking team is also superb and always ready to help.'
- 'St Philips is one of the leading sets in the Midlands.'
- 'They are a strong set with a broad depth of expertise. They regularly host training events that benefit the profession.'
- 'St Philips is the pre-eminent commercial set in Birmingham. They are good at introducing clients to more junior members and are keen to and good at providing training, including to junior local solicitors.'