David Chivers KC
Erskine Chambers ‘David is a master of his brief, and he quickly wins the trust of judges by virtue of his thoughtful and persuasive advocacy.’
Erskine Chambers stands out as 'the leading company law set', with 'deep knowledge of this area of law' and 'the best range of counsel in the market, with excellent strength in depth'. Shareholder disputes are a core area of strength for the team, which is regularly sought after to advise on a wide range of complex contentious and non-contentious company law work. David Chivers KC is a highly regarded practitioner in the space, with an excellent track record in handling restructuring and insolvency work in the corporate field as well as offshore matters. Edward Davies KC and Jack Rivett appeared in ClientEarth v Shell, involving a derivative claim brought against the directors of Shell for alleged breaches of directors' duties in relation to Shell's climate change risk management strategy.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Very good. I have dealt with Alex Calder and Samantha Rouse. They are both very helpful and knowledgeable.'
- 'The clerks at Erskine are excellent and more responsive and user friendly than most other sets that I work with. Michael Shillingford is my favourite clerk to work with.'
- 'Seamus Nixon has been first-class in managing diaries and understanding the pressures of an instructing solicitor.'
- 'Michael Shillingford is excellent and responsive. Jake Taylor is good.'
- 'Clerks are consistently excellent: rapid, thorough, knowledgeable, professional, polished, easy to deal with.'
- 'Erskine Chambers has unparalleled strength and depth of experience in this area.'
- 'The confidence that they inspire in company law matters is huge. Their ability to draw on very wide and deep experience is impressive: if they haven't seen something, it almost certainly hasn't been done.'
- 'A strong chambers when it comes to corporate, company law and restructuring matters, and I am very comfortable relying on all of their barristers and team.'
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.
Martin Moore KC
Erskine Chambers ‘Martin is immensely clever and very incisive. He gets to the heart of the matter and delivers commercial advice.’
Peter Arden KC
Erskine Chambers ‘Peter is very experienced and has a great manner. He knows the law inside and out and provides very clear and accurate advice.’
Edward Davies KC
Erskine Chambers ‘His advocacy is robust and effective, and his cross-examination is first-class, putting the client on the front foot throughout.’
Andrew Thompson KC
Erskine Chambers ‘A doyen of the company law Bar. His advocacy is as smooth as silk.’
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Andrew Thornton KC
Erskine Chambers ‘A commercial and level-headed silk. Andrew is able to secure safe passage of the trickiest transactions through the courts.'
Michael Todd KC
Erskine Chambers ‘Michael is compelling in court, unflappable and clear. A silk with great gravitas.’
James Potts KC
Erskine Chambers ‘James is a great team player who will always give a thoughtful, reasoned explanation of his views.’
David Mabb KC
Erskine Chambers2023 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.
Ben Shaw KC
Erskine Chambers ‘Ben is the barrister you want in the trenches with you – user-friendly, approachable, bright, responsive, pragmatic and a real team player.’
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.
Ben Griffiths
Erskine Chambers
Jack Rivett
Erskine Chambers ‘Jack is a very talented lawyer who is very driven and gets to the points quickly.’
Matthew Parfitt
Erskine Chambers ‘Matthew is fiercely intelligent, calm, decisive, and a commanding advocate who is unafraid to take difficult points.’
Samuel Parsons
Erskine Chambers ‘Samuel is intelligent, with a keen eye for identifying the main issues in a case.’
Chantelle Staynings
Erskine Chambers
Anna Scharnetzky
Erskine Chambers 'Anna’s technical analysis of complex areas of law is first-rate and her contributions are invaluable.'
Rising stars
Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.
Conor McLaughlin
Erskine Chambers ‘Conor is an absolute star: very bright, conscientious, organised and tenacious.’