Richard Stead
Richard is a superb advocate, and a highly effective cross-examiner.'
St John’s Chambers has ‘a strong personal injury offering’, with a solid track record in advising on high-value catastrophic injury claims, fatal accidents, industrial disease cases and accidents at work, to name a few areas of instruction. Practice head Andrew McLaughlin has been kept busy acting for defendants in high-value brain injury claims arising from workplace and road traffic accidents. Richard Stead specialises in Animals Act claims, and is also active in cases involving fatal accidents and brain injuries. Matthew White is regularly involved in cases involving highway claims, occupational illness litigation and accidents at work. Rachel Segal is ‘very technically minded’ with a solid track record in advising on catastrophic injury claims, and James Marwick is adept at handling claims arising from spinal injuries and industrial disease. Christopher Sharp KC retired from practice in March 2025.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Fantastic clerks. Adam Marston and Hugh Maguire are a joy to work with.'
- 'Hugh Maguire and Adam Marston are fantastic - very friendly and approachable and very organised.'
- 'Adam Marston is always on hand to deal with any queries and is very helpful, friendly and efficient.'
- 'The personal injury clerks are fantastic - very responsive and helpful.'
- 'The personal injury department at St John's always have high-quality counsel available.'
- 'An excellent set.'
Lawyers
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.
Andrew McLaughlin
‘Andrew is exceptionally bright, hugely approachable,and works tremendously hard. He is a superb advocate, very strong and adept at case management hearings and at trial.‘
Matthew White
He has an ease in making the complex understandable and a forensic command of the most complex of issues. He has a logical approach to a case, and his attention to detail is impeccable.'
Ben Handy
‘Ben's advice is always well considered and thought through in order to meet the needs of the client. He is very approachable, and a very good communicator.'
James Marwick
‘He is a good tactician, very smart, but also is approachable and warm with clients. He makes clients feel at ease.'
Rachel Segal
‘Rachel is very methodical. She has a robust court demeanour, and has the ability to make witnesses feel at ease in court. A great advocate.'
Jimmy Barber
‘Jimmy is methodical, precise and leaves no stone unturned. His advice is thoughtful, pragmatic and effective; he sets out clear strategies and practical approaches.'
James Hughes
‘James is an excellent advocate, quick on his feet with a superb eye for and recall of detail. He has confidence balanced with an effortless ability to put all clients at ease.'
Darren Lewis
‘Darren is excellent on his feet, robust and always up for the fight. He has a fantastic user-friendly manner with clients and is tenacious in his advocacy.'
Jonathan Lindfield
technical expertise is very sound and he always has a good grasp of the facts. He provides pragmatic legal counsel, carefully balancing sound legal strategy with the best interests of his clients.'