The Bar - London Bar

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Administrative law and human rights

Blackstone Chambers

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Blackstone Chambers has ‘a superlative administrative law and human rights practice’, noted for its ‘incredible strength in depth’; the team attracts praise as being ‘exceptionally knowledgeable in relation to public and administrative law issues’. The set has an excellent reputation for its expertise in providing advice on public law issues within a commercial context. In a prominent case highlight, Tom Hickman KC, Jason Pobjoy and Gayatri Sarathy were part of a team in chambers who represented the claimants before the Divisonal Court in R (HM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, a challenge to the legality of the government’s secret and blanket policy to seize, search and retain data from the mobile phones of persons arriving the UK by small boats; the court ruled that the policy breached Article 8 ECHR and data protection laws. In another high-profile case, Lord Pannick KC and Monica Carss-Frisk KC appeared before the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in Q & Tse v Commissioner of Registration, a case concerning the jurisdiction’s policy on the issuance of ID cards to transgender individuals who had not undergone qualifying gender reassignment surgery – the case also involved issues of the jurisdiction’s rules of temporary admission of English barristers. Paul Luckhurst is ‘an excellent litigator with a fierce intellect’ who is sought after for his strength in human rights law. The senior end of the group was bolstered by the elevation of Tom Richards KC to silk in March 2023. Sir James Eadie KC, in his role as treasury devil, is the government’s first-choice outside barrister.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Adam Fuschillo and Danny Compton are both outstanding clerks.'
  • 'Adam Fuschillo is helpful and very approachable.'
  • 'Very responsive and innovative team led by Gary Oliver.'
  • 'The clerks are responsive, accommodating and courteous.'
  • 'Blackstone is the leading public law set in London.'
  • 'A top-tier chambers.'
  • 'An outstanding set.'
  • 'Very well regarded in the public law sphere.'
  • 'Renowned for its public/administrative law expertise.'
  • 'The clerks are brilliant.'

Silks

Leading Silks

KCs at the very top of their field, with a long-established record of market-defining cases, and widespread endorsement from clients and peers. All silks appointed in the last two rounds are listed further below.

2022 Silks

2023 Silks

Juniors

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.

Tom Coates3

Tom Coates

Blackstone Chambers

 'Tom is incredibly bright. He remains calm, even in highly pressurised situations, and consistently delivers high quality advice at pace.'

Celia Rooney4

Celia Rooney

Blackstone Chambers

  'She is exceptionally good, both in writing and advocacy. Her knowledge of the law is outstanding, her judgement and tactics are that of someone with many years more seniority, and her advocacy is succinct and forceful.'

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.

Tom Coates3

Tom Coates

Blackstone Chambers

 'Tom is incredibly bright. He remains calm, even in highly pressurised situations, and consistently delivers high quality advice at pace.'

Celia Rooney4

Celia Rooney

Blackstone Chambers

  'She is exceptionally good, both in writing and advocacy. Her knowledge of the law is outstanding, her judgement and tactics are that of someone with many years more seniority, and her advocacy is succinct and forceful.'

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