Serle Court offers a ‘broad range of experience and deep experience’ and is particularly reputed for its commercial Chancery experience. For example, Rupert Reed KC successfully defended Princess Aljawharah Bint Ibrahim Abdulaziz Alibrahim in the Chancery Division against property claims in London made by the Asturion Foundation, which involved complex issues of Liechtenstein, Saudi, and Islamic laws. Hugh Norbury KC continues to represent the claimant in Public Institution for Social Security v Al Rajaan others, a case concerning alleged bribery of the former Director General of Kuwait’s public pension fund, a claim exceeding $1bn. In Privatbank v PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jonathan Harris KC is defending the auditor’s Ukrainian entity against allegations of responsibility breaches that resulted in the bank’s significant capital shortfall. Additionally, Sophie Holcombe is representing the beneficiaries of a Singapore trust in a dispute against Credit Suisse Trust, alleging fraudulent mismanagement of a high-value investment portfolio.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Amber Feltwell is always very helpful and responds very quickly to questions about fees and admin issues.'
  • 'The clerks are excellent, especially Emma Quin and Dan Wheeler.'
  • 'The clerks are impressive, in particular Emma Quin and Arron Snipe.'
  • 'Charlie Payne is excellent and very personable.'
  • 'Serle Court is known for its expertise in insolvency cases. The set indeed lives up to its name, The counsel team's attention to detail and ability to work with the solicitors' team are impressive.'
  • 'They are a top Chambers with real strength in depth.'
  • 'Serle Court are one of the very best commercial chancery sets. Their quality and strength in depth is unrivalled.'
  • 'A great set with a broad range of expertise and deep experiece.'

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.
Elizabeth Jones KC
1
Elizabeth Jones KC
Serle Court
‘Elizabeth's advocacy is outstanding - forensic and detailed, she wins the trust of the tribunal almost effortlessly. She is at the very top of her game and is a complete star.'
Philip Marshall KC
1
Philip Marshall KC
Serle Court
‘A skilful and forceful advocate who is ferociously bright and very dependable. One of the top chancery silks of his generation.'
Jonathan Adkin KC
1
Jonathan Adkin KC
Serle Court
‘Jonathan has an impressive ability to reduce complicated matters to their essence for the court. He is one of the most persuasive advocates at the Bar today.’
Hugh Norbury KC
3
Hugh Norbury KC
Serle Court
'Hugh is an exceptionally gifted advocate and an obvious choice for commercial cases. Extremely impressive.’
Lance Ashworth KC
4
Lance Ashworth KC
Serle Court
 'Lance is incredibly bright and has a ferocious work ethic. Excellent at cross-examination and judges respect him.'
David Blayney KC
4
David Blayney KC
Serle Court
‘David is decisive, persuasive and a strong team player. He comes up with practical and commercial solutions.’
Zoe O’Sullivan KC
4
Zoe O’Sullivan KC
Serle Court
‘Zoe enjoys getting stuck into the detail of the case and is able to grapple with a lot of technical detail. She gets to the nub of the legal and factual case very quickly and is clearly very experienced in the IT and telecoms sectors.'
Rupert Reed KC
4
Rupert Reed KC
Serle Court
‘Rupert is an extremely measured and forensic advocate who commands utter respect from judges as well as his opponents. A powerhouse in the field and the Bar.
John Machell KC
5
John Machell KC
Serle Court
 ‘John hits all the marks - he is an intellectual powerhouse, a persuasive advocate, and his advice is always commercial.'
Jonathan Harris KC
6
Jonathan Harris KC
Serle Court
 'Jonathan is an expert in cross-border jurisdiction issues, including on the enforcement of English court orders. His work is of very high quality and he is responsive and thoughtful to comments and questions.'
Justin Higgo KC
6
Justin Higgo KC
Serle Court
‘Justin is very willing to get involved in the details of the case, giving him the ability to give legal advice in the context of the facts of the case. He is reliable, always available, and unrivalled in the field of trust litigation, particularly where it involves issues of company law.’

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.
Simon Hattan
1
Simon Hattan
Serle Court
 'Simply one of the best: thorough, intelligent, able to see the bigger picture, and a real fighter.'
David Drake
2
David Drake
Serle Court
‘Superb grasp of detail, hard-working, and responsive. David is also a great team player, always looking to assist with any work that needs doing.'
Matthew Morrison
2
Matthew Morrison
Serle Court
‘Intelligent, personable, and has impressive legal knowledge. Capable of digesting facts quickly, thinking critically, and delivering commercial advice.'
Adil Mohamedbhai
2
Adil Mohamedbhai
Serle Court
‘He is outstanding in every respect. His work quality is exceptional, especially his written submissions.'
Paul Adams
3
Paul Adams
Serle Court
‘Paul has excellent attention to detail and the ability to absorb information. His advocacy style is underrated but accurate and on point.'
James Weale
3
James Weale
Serle Court
‘James is intellectually very strong. He has a pleasant style of advocacy and an enviable work ethic.'
Marc Delehanty
3
Marc Delehanty
Serle Court
 ‘Marc’s ability to distil complicated information into a user-friendly document is second to none. He is a natural advocate who makes persuasive submissions seemingly effortlessly.’
Thomas Elias
4
Thomas Elias
Serle Court
‘Thomas is astonishingly clever. He also has terrific judgement and commands enormous respect from the judiciary.'
Jennifer Meech
4
Jennifer Meech
Serle Court
  ‘Jennifer is great to work with and really gets on top of her cases. She is super bright and always undertakes excellent preparation for conferences and hearings; she is also extremely hardworking and diligent.’
Emma Hargreaves
5
Emma Hargreaves
Serle Court
‘Emma is impeccable. Her preparation, presentation and advocacy are faultless. You want her on your side.'
Sophie Holcombe
5
Sophie Holcombe
Serle Court
 'Sophie is one of the best juniors. Her response times are incredible, her advice is always well thought through and robust, and her tactical and practical guidance is invaluable.'
Zahler Bryan
5
Zahler Bryan
Serle Court
 'Zahler is very responsive, keeps the instructing solicitor informed, and her advice is thorough, of the highest quality, and user-friendly. She is very approachable and helpful.'
Wilson Leung
5
Wilson Leung
Serle Court
 ‘Wilson has an exceptional ability to listen carefully and distil the relevant from the irrelevant and apply the law to the relevant facts. He is also an excellent advocate, with a calm, approachable and unflappable manner in court.’
Lara Kuehl
5
Lara Kuehl
Serle Court
  ‘Lara is a robust advocate who is confident and persuasive. She is a delight to work with and always has a commercial, bigger-picture view in mind.’