Spire Barristers

England - Regional Bar • North Eastern Circuit

Family: children and domestic abuse

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Spire Barristers is praised for having numerous practitioners ‘who specialise across children’s care proceedings, deprivation of liberty cases, and Court of Protection’ work, ’bringing exceptional service in difficult cases where young people with disabilities transition into adulthood‘. Taryn Lee KC is an ’exceptional silk‘ who boasts an incredibly broad-ranging practice encompassing a wide array of family law issues; her expertise includes parental alienation, adoption law, and surrogacy-related disputes, as well as same sex parenting, fabricated and induced illnesses, and the disclosure of HIV status. Jacqueline Thomas KC is another ’go-to‘ silk of note at the set with particular expertise in serious cases surrounding the death of a child, sexual assault, or injuries inflicted on a child; she is also well-equipped to handle family law proceedings that overlap with Court of Protection work. Among the set’s strong bench of juniors, head of the public law group Brett Davies has ’extensive experience of children law‘, while Reagan Persaud is lauded as ’searingly intelligent, hard-working and dedicated to providing an exceptional service to clients‘ - she handles cases with LGBT elements, as well as ones featuring individuals with learning difficulties.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Spire's clerks are very approachable and their communication is brilliant. Jenn Bridgeman is always at the end of the phone when needed.'
'The service from the clerks room is amazing; highly organised clerks who are always happy to help and are especially helpful finding counsel at short notice for urgent matters going above and beyond to ensure they provide a great service. Donna Gaughan is amazing.'

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.

Taryn Lee KC

‘Taryn is an experienced and exceptional silk; one of the key qualities of a silk is their ability to master paperwork at short notice and also place their junior at ease, and Taryn is excellent in both of these areas. Taryn has an in depth knowledge of the law and medicine that she is able to expertly weave into her cross-examination.'

Jacqueline Thomas KC

‘Jacqueline is a go-to silk; she is knowledgeable, calm and fierce when she needs to be, she is meticulous in her preparation and her cross-examination skills are exceptional. Jacqueline has brilliant client care skills and is able to build an excellent rapport with clients and has the respect of the court, and her grasp of the law is extensive and detailed and she is a published author too.'

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.

Brett Davies

'Brett has extensive experience of children law, and is always very well prepared. He has an excellent understanding of the workings of the local authority and is effective in holding the statutory bodies to account.'

Marie Harbin

‘Marie is an extremely hard working, meticulous and diligent barrister. It is always a pleasure to work with her and the clients are invariably reassured by her extremely professional, approachable and knowledgeable nature.'

Reagan Persaud

‘Reagan is often the first choice for instruction in difficult or unusual matters. Reagan is searingly intelligent, hard-working and dedicated to providing an exceptional service to clients, her advocacy is excellent, calm and confident, and she is robust and pulls no punches in her advice.’

James Goodwin

'James has extensive knowledge of all aspects of family law, he is very good with challenging and vulnerable clients, and he has an excellent command of the court and is very well regarded by opponents and the judiciary. James's input and cross-examination abilities frequently change the outcome of cases, he works tirelessly in putting his clients case and can robustly address any judicial interventions, and his written advocacy is also of a very high quality and he can craft persuasive written arguments.'

Ashley Lord

‘Ashley is an impressive advocate, maintaining an authoritative and courteous manner throughout emotionally charged legal discussions and complex advocacy. He is technically sharp and provides effective advice to effect problem solving between parties, and he is very pleasant to have as an opponent, even in the most acrimonious of battles.'

Connie Purdy

‘Connie is first and foremost, prepared for everything; if a point arises before a hearing, expect a written skeleton argument filed without waiting for the court's invitation: she seizes the initiative to get her client's foot in the door first. Connie is very bright, easy-going and a strong team player, and is good at dealing with people no matter their background.'

Elizabeth Shaw

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.

Francesca Massarella

'Francesca is personable and knowledgeable, she is able to adapt easily to the individual client's needs and brings a sense of calm and reassurance when needed most, and her advocacy is well prepared and she often looks at ease before the court, whilst remaining respectful and not appearing over confident. During cross-examination it is clear she has prepared well and knows the case, which gives clients the reassurance they need when having met her for the first time.'

Eleanor Suthern

‘Eleanor is a fantastic advocate, her communication skills are very good and she is always willing to assist between hearings when needed. Eleanor is empathetic but firm with the more difficult clients, including those with language barriers, mental health difficulties, or both, and her preparation for hearings is always second-to-none meaning she knows her case inside out.’

Gemma Carr

'Gemma always fights her corner, and shows a great degree of tenacity in her work. A confident and approachable advocate.'

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