Western Circuit
St John’s Chambers is the ‘go-to set in the South West for chancery work’ with barristers at various levels of seniority covering the full spectrum of private wealth and probate work. Christopher Jones’ broad practice covers contested will claims, disputes over the administration of trust funds, and proprietary estoppel claims involving large farms, among other areas. Alex Troup KC appeared in the landmark Court of Appeal case Winter v Winter, concerning a proprietary estoppel claim brought by two sons against their late father’s estate - the sons asserted that they had relied on to their detriment a promise of a one-third share in the Somerset strawberry farm that they had worked on for much of their lives; ultimately the court held that detriment may be established without proof of financial loss or lost career opportunities and that the sons had a right to their promised shares. Joss Knight recently successfully acted for the claimant in a high-profile probate claim Oliver v Oliver, in which the High Court considered how diminished executive functioning can affect testamentary capacity, among other issues. At the junior end, Kayleigh Bloomfield is building a strong contentious probate practice.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Work Department
Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Court of Protection, Commercial, Wills & Trusts, Real Estate, Mediator, Professional Negligence
Career
Call: 2004
Christopher is a chancery and commercial specialist with particular emphasis on trust litigation and advice, contentious and non-contentious probate applications, real property litigation (particularly in relation to easements, restrictive covenants and contracts for the sale of land) and commercial and agricultural landlord and tenant disputes. He also regularly advises on professional negligence claims, particularly in relation to claims against solicitors, accountants and tax consultants in relation to negligent conveyancing and tax advice as well as being a trained mediator.
Christopher is consistently recommended as a leading junior in Chambers UK and Legal 500.
Christopher is also a qualified mediator.
Memberships
- Chancery Bar Association
- The Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners (STEP)
- Association of Contentious Trust And Probate Specialists (ACTAPS)
- Agricultural Law Association
- Property Bar Association
Education
- University of Bristol, LLB (Hons)
- University of the West of England, Bar Vocational Course
- Beddingfield Scholar at Gray’s Inn
Content supplied by St John’s Chambers
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Clerks Paul Bennett and Paul Nuttall respond promptly and helpfully and provide accurate timescales for completion of work.'
- 'Paul Bennett delivers exceptional service. He is responsive and you can trust that he will always gets back to you in a timely manner. Paul is an extension of the legal team and keeps everything moving forward.'
- 'The clerks are always personable and are there to help as much as they can. Simon Lyons is particularly efficient and a pleasure to speak to on the phone.'
- 'The clerks offer an excellent service. They are easy to make contact with and deal swiftly with any difficulties.'
- 'Rob Bocock is a safe pair of hands who is always happy to help and provides an excellent service.'
- 'St Johns has excellent strength in depth in chancery work, contentious probate and trusts in particular, and offers great value - London expertise at regional rates.'
- 'St John's is still the go-to chambers in the South West for chancery work. They have someone for everything, and you know they will be good.'
- 'St Johns is a very strong set in the South West which punches above its weight. It is on a par with any London set.'
- 'St Johns is a go-to for contentious probate and probate work with a number of barristers with great skill and knowledge in this area - availability is almost always very good. They offer many training opportunities working with firms and organisations to put together various conference, talks etc.'