1 Crown Office Row

A leading civil and public law set (with a large annexe in Brighton) providing advisory, advocacy and mediation services with a pre-eminent reputation for its clinical negligence and healthcare practices, its expertise in public law and human rights, professional disciplinary work and tax law.

The set: Established over 70 years ago, 1COR's reputation for quality is reflected in the fact that it counts among its members and former members the former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf, five Lord/Lady Justices of Appeal and three former chairmen of the Bar. Chambers runs the highly acclaimed UK Human Rights Blog, Quarterly Medical Law Review (QMLR) and podcast, Law Pod UK.

Types of work undertaken: Members are recognised as leading practitioners in a range of areas including: clinical negligence; professional discipline; personal injury; public and administrative law; public inquiries; healthcare; environmental law; professional negligence; tax; immigration and asylum; employment and equality; costs; coroners and inquests; sports; and cyber. Many members accept instructions under the Bar Council’s Direct Access arrangements (www.1cordirectaccess.com). Chambers has a mediation service, with accredited mediators and arbitrators, including a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

1 Crown Office Row is widely recognised as the leading set for clinical negligence. Members act for both claimants and defendants, representing individuals, groups and numerous health authorities, NHS Trusts, GP’s and consultants nationwide. Landmark cases include: Khan v Meadows, Darnley v Croydon Health Services, CN & GN v Poole BC, Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board, Nyang v G4S and Dr Thomas, and Meiklejohn v St George’s NHS Trust, as well as the group actions such as the Infected Blood Inquiry, Barclays Bank litigation, Paterson litigation, or arising out of benzodiazepine administration, femodene use, organ retention and MMR.

Chambers also handles personal injury litigation for claimants and defendants and has a particularly strong niche practice in handling historic child abuse claims. Cases include representing victims of the Beirut Port Explosion, Jimmy Savile, the Grafton House and Elm House abuse cases, and IICSA cases.

Healthcare work has included: the Birthrights Inquiry, right to transgender treatment for children; treatment abroad on the NHS; whether guidance on the withdrawal of artificial nutrition is compatible with human rights; and the rights of parents to be notified of their daughters seeking of an abortion. A large number of its members were heavily involved in the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust Public Inquiry.

Chambers has a strong practice in coronial inquests, often arising from its expertise in healthcare and public law. Members have also appeared in high profile inquests such as the Reading Terror Attack Inquest, Stephen Port Inquests, Belly Mujinga Inquest, Streatham Attack Inquests, Natasha Ednan-Laperouse Inquest, Perepilichny Inquest and the  recent Birmingham Pub Bombings, London Bridge Inquests, Westminster Bridge Inquests and Manchester Arena Bombing Inquests. Recently members have been instructed in high profile inquests related to Covid-19.

The human rights practice is founded on their medical and public law expertise. Recently this has included challenges to the legality of lockdown and coronavirus restrictions. Significant cases include R v Jogee, as well as the healthcare cases mentioned above. Chambers has a long experience of public inquiries, including the Jermaine Baker Inquiry, Brook House Inquiry, Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Infected Blood Inquiry, Al-Sweady Inquiry, the Leveson Inquiry, the Detainee Inquiry and the inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa in Iraq, and the Victoria Climbie and Alder Hey Inquiries.

The environmental practice includes: Duarte Agostinho & 5 Others v Portugal & 32 Others (landmark ECtHR climate change case), saving Askham Bog, Japanese Knotweed, M4 Road Relief case, the test case on the applicability of new pollution regulations; measures to mitigate the problem of dolphin by-catch in fishing nets; flooding; claims for water and methane escape from mines; waste and land fill issues; asbestos and groundwater pollution; aircraft noise; dust pollution; interference with TV reception and judicial review of abatement notices.

Chambers is regularly involved in disciplinary work involving all types of professionals and internal inquiries into the competence and conduct of clinicians, solicitors, architects, surveyors and accountants. Cases include Dr. Michalak v GMC & Ors,  Dr Wakefield and subsequent appeals (MMR scare  representing three parties, including the GMC); the Dr Waney Squier case (shaken baby) and Webster v Liddington (the Isolagen litigation).

The tax team act for both taxpayers and HMRC. Cases include Build-a-Bear UK Holdings Ltd v HMRC, Mainpay Ltd v HMRC, Royal Opera House v HMRC, injunction reviews of the ‘Alcohol Wholesalers registration scheme’, recently in the Supreme Court in OWD and another v HMRC, Court of Appeal case concerning ’Talacre’ carve out (Case C-251/05), the Supreme Court judgment on third party consideration in Airtours Holidays Transport Limited v HMRC and Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Ltd v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2017] UKSC 26 as well as Loyalty Management (UK) Ltd, BAA Ltd, Newnham College and Mayflower Theatre.

In costs and funding matters, members have appeared in a number of leading cases including: Thimmaya v Lancashire NHS Foundation Trust, CN & GN v Poole BC, Church v Great Western Hospitals, Cashman v Mid Essex Hospitals, and Hall v Everton FC.

Please visit the careers section on our website for more details on our two Pupillages (recruited via the Pupillage Gateway),  traditional Mini-Pupillages and Assessed Mini-Pupillages aimed at widening access to the Bar. Find out how we promote inclusion at the Bar and reducing our environmental impact as a chambers on our website.