‘Standout set’ Serle Court is consistently involved in the market’s most significant disputes, including heavyweight commercial cases before both the Commercial Court and the Business and Property Courts. In Kea v Watson, Elizabeth Jones KC, leading a team of six juniors against three separate teams for the defendants, is representing New Zealand businessman and philanthropist Sir Owen Glenn in various proceedings concerning BVI joint venture company, Spartan Capital. In The Public Institution for Social Security v Al-Rajaan, Philip Marshall KC, leading Simon Hattan, represents one of the defendants in a $800m-plus fraud claim, arising out of alleged bribery involving Kuwait’s state pension fund’s investments, while Hugh Norbury KC is acting for the claimant. Senior junior and business disputes specialist, Jennifer Meech, joined chambers in October 2022 from Enterprise Chambers, and in April 2023, head clerk Steve Whitaker retired after 48 years at chambers, with management of the clerking team passed to senior clerks Nick Hockney and Dan Wheeler, who are ‘real assets for the set’.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Daniel Wheeler and Nick Hockney are real assets for the set.'
'Nick Hockney, Daniel Wheeler and Emma Quin are particularly good.'
'Nick Hockney is an experienced clerk who develops an excellent rapport with solicitors, and Daniel Wheeler is bright and responsive.'
'Charlie Payne is a rising star as a clerk.'
'Serle Court is a standout set.'
'A first port of call for any offshore matters.'
'Serle Court has excellent strength in depth, and the clerks consistently go above and beyond to ensure they can identify available counsel.'
'The clerking room is approachable, responsive and flexible. Clients couldn't rate them more.'
'The clerks are excellent and provide very good service. They make themselves available and ensure they deliver wherever possible. Also very commercial in their approach.'
'The clerks' room is outstanding.'

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.

Philip Marshall

‘Philip is a hugely impressive advocate. He combines a deep command of the law with an innate sense of the tactics needed to achieve the client's objectives. His advocacy makes the difference between winning and losing the case.’

Elizabeth Jones

‘Fabulous attention to detail, combined with outstanding strategic and legal advice - one of the very best. Total authority in court.’

Philip Jones

Jonathan Adkin

‘A star in every respect. Brilliant on his feet, with wonderful lateral thinking and an engaging nature that makes every case together an absolute joy, whatever the challenges.’

Hugh Norbury

‘Consistently excellent judgement and the ability to see the real issues in the case and develop effective strategies. He is an effective team leader and gets the best out of his juniors. His advocacy is calm and persuasive, he is not afraid to go into battle on difficult issues, and he reads judges well.’

Daniel Lightman

‘Daniel is a master of litigation strategy. His attention to detail and strategic nous are excellent, and clients inevitably benefit from an early stage of the litigation as a result. He is well-known as a superb black-letter lawyer and that reputation is more than justified.’

Lance Ashworth

David Blayney

‘David is fiercely intelligent and has a natural ability to convey complex ideas straightforwardly and persuasively. Perhaps unusually for someone so intelligent, David also takes a practical and pragmatic approach to litigation.’

Rupert Reed

‘Rupert is extremely bright, hardworking and a team player. A true specialist in the Middle East, and a fluent speaker of Arabic. There are few like him.’

Zoe O'Sullivan

‘Zoe is a leading commercial litigation silk. She is passionate about her cases and communicates 100% conviction within the most difficult arguments. A tenacious and highly effective cross-examiner.’

John Machell

‘John is excellent on every level. He is kind and easy to work with, but tough when he needs to be. He is very efficient, an excellent advocate, and great with difficult clients.’

Dominic Dowley

Justin Higgo

'Justin is an excellent strategist, a strident and effective advocate, and incredibly easy to work with.'

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

Matthew Morrison

‘Matthew is an excellent written advocate with great litigation sense. He is well liked by clients and a great team member. A star of the future.’

David Drake

‘David is probably one of the smartest people at the Bar. Clients go to him with the most difficult issues that require super brain power.’

Paul Adams

‘Very bright, brilliant attention to detail, very accessible, and always happy to help - a real team player.’

Marc Delehanty

Adil Mohamedbhai

‘Adil is one of the best juniors at the Commercial and Chancery Bar, and plainly destined for great things. He is highly intelligent, has excellent legal knowledge and experience, and wonderful litigation instincts. He also works ferociously hard.'

James Weale

‘James's advocacy is astute, carefully prepared, and always hits the mark. He is highly persuasive and effective at achieving the desired end result for the client. He is also extremely responsive and provides sound input on a strategic level. Certainly a KC in the making.’

Thomas Elias

‘Thomas has a strikingly good eye for detail and his advocacy is perfectly judged - never overplaying a point but always pressing the point home until it lands. Thomas radiates calm, and many a crisis passes unnoticed thanks to his grip on the situation. He is the perfect foil for a silk, who prefers to concentrate on the big picture, but is strategically very capable himself.’

Jennifer Meech

‘Jennifer is an excellent all-round barrister. Calm and very easy to deal with, her advice is always spot-on and she is great on her feet in court.'

Emma Hargreaves

‘Exceptionally intelligent, even in the context of the commercial Bar. Her emotional intelligence, and her ability to understand people and motivations is a rare attribute in a barrister with her legal acumen.'