Mark O'Brien O'Reilly > Francis Taylor Building > London, England > Barrister Profile
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FRANCIS TAYLOR BUILDING, INNER TEMPLE
LONDON
EC4Y 7BY
England
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Mark O'Brien O'Reilly
Position
Mark was called to the Bar in 2021. He has a strong and busy practice across all of Chambers’ practice areas, including in planning and public law. Mark has a strong reputation as an advocate and, unusually for his year of call, has regularly appeared in the High Court, including as sole counsel (and will appear as sole counsel in the Court of Appeal in December). His advocacy experience, including cross-examining in the Old Bailey, means he is often instructed against more senior counsel, including KCs. He appears before a broad range of courts, tribunals and planning inquiries. He is also regularly instructed as junior counsel to other members of Chambers, including leading silks (such as Morag Ellis KC, Craig Howell Williams KC, Douglas Edwards KC, Greg Jones KC, James Periera KC, Jeremy Phillips KC and Meyric Lewis KC).
Mark is noted for his planning work, and is instructed in several forthcoming planning inquiries, including a solar farm development in the Green Belt. He is also noted for his strong experience of injunctions, including section 187B injunctions, and is regularly called upon, often urgently, to advise upon and obtain High Court injunctions. He has a broad range of clients ranging from developers and landowners to local residents. He has extensive experience of acting for, and advising, central government and local government. Recent cases include R (Dawes) v Secretary of State for Transport [2023] EWHC 2352 (Admin), Buckinghamshire Council v Twynham [2023] 7 WLUK 126, Fenland District Council v CBPRP Ltd [2022] EWHC 3132 (KB) and R (Suliman) v Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council [2022] J.P.L. 1281.
During his pupillage, Mark was awarded the Reid Scholarship by Gray’s Inn, a Senior Scholarship for Pupillage, which is the Inn’s most prestigious scholarship and awarded to a pupil barrister of exceptional merit. He is a First Class Honours graduate of University College Dublin and the University of Cambridge. Mark was called to the Bar of Ireland in July 2023.
Mark welcomes instructions across all of Chambers’ practice areas, with a particular interest in planning, public and compulsory purchase/compensation as well as licensing and environmental law.
Career
- Awarded the Reid Scholarship by Gray’s Inn, a Senior Scholarship for Pupillage which is the Inn’s most prestigious scholarship and awarded to a pupil barrister of exceptional merit
- Elected by the Governing Body of Queen’s College, Cambridge to a Foundation Scholarship
- Awarded a full scholarship plus maintenance (the Snowdon Cambridge Scholarship 2020) by the Cambridge Trust to undertake an LLM (Master of Law) at the University of Cambridge
- The Baroness Hale of Richmond BPTC Scholarship 2019, awarded by The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, is the Inn’s newest and most prestigious scholarship. It is awarded to candidates of exceptional merit
- The BPTC Advocacy Scholarship 2019 is awarded by BPP University Law School to those who demonstrate an outstanding aptitude for advocacy
- The Career Commitment Scholarship 2019 is awarded by BPP University Law School to those who are considered to be the most promising future legal professionals
- The Jomati Foundation Bursary 2019, awarded by the Jomati Foundation, assists students of high academic ability with the costs of qualifying as a barrister
- The Hebe Plunkett Award 2019, awarded by The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn
- Irish Law Student of the Year 2019 awarded at the Irish National Law Awards in recognition of academic, professional and personal achievements
- The Gold Medal for Mooting 2017 which is awarded by the University College Dublin Law Society to the student most successful in mooting in the previous academic year
- Certificate in Work Related Learning (Commercial Law in the City of London) 2017 awarded by the University College Dublin Career Development Centre
Memberships
- Constitutional & Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA)
- UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA)
- London Irish Lawyers Association
- The Planning and Environmental Bar Association (PEBA)
- The Ireland Funds (Great Britain)
Education
- BCL Law with History 2019, University College Dublin, First Class Honours
- Bar Professional Training Course, September 2019 – August 2020, BPP University Law School, Outstanding
- LLM (Master of Law), University of Cambridge, October 2020 – June 2021, First Class Honours. Papers included International Environmental Law and Information Law