St Philips Chambers

Family

ack Best joined St Philips as a Family Pupil in October 2021, successfully completing pupillage and being offered tenancy in October 2022.

Jack’s practice has quickly developed into a focus on all areas of financial remedy proceedings and Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 applications. Jack is instructed on First Direction Appointments, Financial Dispute Resolutions, multi-day final hearings, interim applications and Intervener claims.

Jack is also instructed for drafting particulars of claim and all other necessary documents for a claim under TOLATA and is instructed at pre-trial reviews and final hearings.

Jack has developed his practice in impressive short order and is now being instructed on cases with total assets over £1million, including company structures, shareholding arrangements and pensions of high value. Jack is often against opposing Senior Counsel and yet still delivers excellent results for his clients, by either agreeing a favourable settlement or through cross-examination at a final hearing.

Jack was supervised by senior financial remedy Counsel Juliet Allen during his pupillage.

Jack accepts instructions on private children matters and has acted for both applicant’s and respondent’s in multi-day finding of fact hearings and final hearings.

Jack Best attended the University of Worcester where he obtained a 1st class Bachelor of Laws degree. In his final year, he focused on insolvency, trusts and matrimonial finance as well as writing a paper on the difficulties of enforcing contact orders.

In-between his degree and starting bar school Jack was an Usher for the District Judges at Worcester Combined Court. As the front desk Usher, he interacted with Barristers, Solicitors, and lay clients daily whilst ushering for three full-time Judges (DJ Parry (now unfortunately passed away), DJ Khan and DJ Gibson) as well as any visiting Deputies.

Before starting at St Philips, Jack worked for a criminal barrister preparing one of the UK’s biggest trials of 2021 involving the murder of a 6-year-old boy. Working with Bernard Richmond QC, he undertook prison visits, trial preparation and evaluated expert medical evidence. The case was reported daily in the national press and commented upon by Boris Johnson and others in Parliament.  During this time, Jack also prepared another murder trial in Birmingham which was the largest ever CCTV gathering operation in WMP history. For this trial, he worked alongside Jo Sidhu QC, chair of the criminal bar.

Jack is the chair of the community group in the village where he resides, organising charitable and social events for the community. Last year, he gathered over 200 bin liners full of clothes for the Afghan refugee crisis.