David Allison KC
South Square ‘He is a superb technician, his delivery is clear, and his approach thorough.’
South Square is 'a go-to set for most insolvency, company and commercial litigation matters'. The 'commercial and technically brilliant' team often acts in high-profile shareholder disputes, and the group's expertise in company law is bolstered by its strength in corporate restructuring and insolvency law. Tom Smith KC recently appeared before the Privy Council in a case concerning the issue of whether a shareholder has a right of action against a company for an improper issue of shares by the company. The 'super-smart and pragmatic' Felicity Toube KC is very highly regarded for her expertise in handling international proceedings, often appearing in the Cayman Islands. William Willson is a highly rated senior junior, with experience in advising on offshore company law matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The clerking team is and has always been highly responsive. Dylan Playfoot is completely plugged into the offshore market and is one of the leading clerking figures in London for the type of work we do. It really does add value for us.'
- 'All excellent. Dylan Playfoot and Marco Malatesta in particular - both are approachable and very responsive. Have a good sense of the matter and level of experience required. So good at bridging to the courts and understanding the list, availability.'
- 'The clerks are excellent and a pleasure to deal with. Dylan Playfoot, Luke Clark and Chris Filby in particular.'
- 'Great clerks room and reasonable on fees. Chris Filby is easy to work with and super responsive.'
- 'The service in the clerks' room is excellent. The clerks are very responsive and helpful. I found Lewis Madle to be truly excellent.'
- 'The clerks at South Square provide an excellent service.'
- 'South Square is a superb set, they really do have their finger on the pulse in terms of offshore work and in particular offshore insolvency work. They have an incredibly deep bench.'
- 'South Square are the go to set for company side work in restructuring and insolvency mandates.'
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.
Tom Smith KC
South Square ‘Tom has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law, and demonstrates excellent judgement as to what arguments will play well.’
Barry Isaacs KC
South Square ‘Barry shows excellent analytical skills, devastating attention to detail, and an outstanding work ethic.’
Mark Arnold KC
South Square ‘Mark is a go-to barrister for insolvency and company work. He conveys a calm authority in the courtroom.’
Daniel Bayfield KC
South Square ‘Daniel is a go-to KC for investment bank insolvencies and schemes of arrangement with anything unusual or difficult about them.’
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.
William Willson
South Square ‘Extremely commercial and very personable, William gets straight to the point and is an effective communicator.’