St John’s Chambers remains the ‘go-to set in Bristol’ for property litigation and is recognised as being ’able to compete with most London sets’ in this field. Brittany Pearce’s varied experience spans boundary disputes and adverse possession claims as well as claims concerning restrictive covenants and easements. Charles Auld recently acted for the respondent in McDonagh v Reeve, a High Court case concerning an application to demolish an existing house in Sandbanks and to build a larger replacement house on the land, which was subject to a restrictive covenant that ‘no additional buildings whatsoever shall be erected’ on it. Ultimately, the judge held that no ’additional’ buildings would be constructed and therefore the building project was not prevented by the restrictive covenant. Joss Knight has notable experience when it comes to disputed easement claims; he recently represented the respondent in Privett v Runic Holdings Ltd, in which the claimant sought to establish a right of way over land based on missing historic conveyances, while the respondent maintained that the right has never been exercised and in any case had been abandoned.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Paul Bennett and Rob Bocock are both excellent. They are responsive and they understand the instructing solicitor's requirements.'
  • 'Paul Bennett, Paul Nuttall, Simon Lyons, Rob Bocock and Elizabeth Champion are all excellent. They are easily accessible and go out of their way to help on a daily basis.'
  • 'Paul Bennett is a standout clerk but the others also provide an exceptional service. They are accommodating, helpful, clear on fees, quick to assist and also open to discussing BD initiatives.'
  • 'The clerks at St John's are great. Paul Nuttall and Simon Lyons are fantastic and are always happy to help. Their response times are extraordinary and they always go the extra mile to ensure that any query is addressed to the fullest in a timely manner.'
  • 'St John's Chambers in Bristol is a go-to set for property-related cases. Chambers offers a good selection of talented barristers who provide an excellent but reasonably-priced service.'
  • 'A great well-versed set that is able to compete with most London sets. Their property litigation offering ranges from junior juniors to experienced juniors and KCs. Their clerking is great and there is always a member of chambers who has experience in the matter at hand.'

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.

2
Joss Knight
 ‘Joss is logical, cool and calm under pressure. He is good with clients and great in a mediation.’
2
Charles Shwenn

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.