Stephanie Barwise KC
‘Stephanie is strong, does not suffer fools and gives clear, incisive and convincing advice. She is good in all aspects, whether on her feet or in conference.’
‘Well known for its specialisation in the area of construction law’, Atkin Chambers remains engaged in significant construction disputes, covering issues from fire safety claims to delays and defects in international megaprojects. On the domestic front, Fiona Parkin KC appeared in the Supreme Court in the highly consequential case URS Corporation Ltd Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd, which clarified professional negligence questions under the Building Safety Act. Katie Powell led Max Twivy in the landmark cladding dispute, Shepherd Construction v Kingspan and Others, deciding the extent of professional liability for defective cladding. Chantal-Aimée Doerries KC is acting in a major PFI dispute concerning defect fire safety systems in a hospital, while Mark Chennells KC is instructed in Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association, examining the interpretation of termination provisions. Dominique Rawley KC is instructed in a high profile plumbing and electrical defects dispute in relation to One Hyde Park. Internationally, Manus McMullan KC, Christopher Lewis KC, and Peter Land continue to act for the Panama Canal Authority in multi-billion pound arbitrations, one of many examples of the set's bread and butter work in heavyweight international construction arbitrations.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Atkin Chambers clearly have strength in depth and an impressive array of top quality barristers in their set when it comes to construction. David Barnes, CEO and Director of Clerking is excellent at identifying a barrister who is an ideal fit.'
- 'Atkin are in a league of their own. The clerks are super responsive, particularly Rob Bryant. They always find the right person for the job.'
- 'Rob Bryant and Freddie Buckle are particularly excellent, making sure that they understand, not only the substantive issues involved in any instruction, but the context.'
- 'Clerks are helpful and responsive, and keen to build relationships. Rick Bulatis is particularly helpful, along with Andy Burrows and Justin Wilson.'
- 'Atkins Chambers is my go-to arbitration set for construction disputes. Good collection of the construction silks and very responsive and client oriented clerks.'
- 'Atkin has expertise in construction related matters at all levels of seniority. The set's specialisation makes members comfortable in a wide range of disputes arising from construction, infrastructure and energy projects in many jurisdictions.'
Lawyers
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.
Stuart Catchpole KC
Chantal-Aimée Doerries KC
Simon Lofthouse KC
‘Simon gets on top of the detail and reads every document. Very well-prepared for cross-examination, which is always meticulously and methodically planned.’
Manus McMullan KC
‘Manus is very reliable when assessing chances of success and always an invaluable member of any legal team in construction arbitration cases. Manus’ strengths include his remarkable ability to prioritize major issues in complex disputes, lead legal team and simplify sophisticated matters before arbitral tribunals.’
David Streatfeild-James KC
‘Drafting, conferences, court hearings, looking after clients, liaison with junior solicitors, working with junior counsel – everything, one cannot think of areas where one would not consider David to be at the very top of the proverbial tree.’
Andrew White KC
‘Meticulous, attention to detail, excellent advocate.’
Riaz Hussain KC
Fiona Parkin KC
‘Fiona is great to work with and a tireless barrister – she communicates well and works well with a team. Very much prepared to be creative and challenging where required.’
Dominique Rawley KC
‘Incredibly bright and methodical; works hard to support the commercial aims of the client and to support instructing solicitors.’
Steven Walker KC
Rupert Choat KC
‘Rupert is able to provide very clear advice and see through any nonsense quite quickly. His advocacy skills are impressive, dealing with the opposing sides arguments. He is able to distil the opposing sides arguments quickly and convey his case with ease and to the point.’
Jonathan Acton Davis KC
Stephen Dennison KC
‘Stephen is a brilliant advocate and extremely diligent. He is able to cut across complex issues quickly, focusing on the core issues in dispute.’
Nicholas Dennys KC
‘Nicholas is wonderfully calm and has always made himself available to assist wherever possible. He is an extremely articulate and intelligent advocate and is a pleasure to deal with.’
Andrew Goddard KC
‘Andrew is one of the most experienced KC in construction disputes. His advocacy is direct and straight to the point, he can explain complicated legal and technical issues in an easily understandable manner.’
James Howells KC
‘James is a phenomenal silk - incredible attention to detail, masterful ability to cut to the crux of the issue, pragmatic and critically, an absolute pleasure to work with for instructing solicitors and clients alike.’
Martin Bowdery KC
‘Superb eye for detail, great with clients, superb on his feet.’
Mark Chennells KC
'Very sharp, and able to see a clear path thorough the most complex of questions. Always aware of potential weaknesses, but also always seems to be able to come up with ways round them, which are not just clever points, but are practical answers and work.’
2024 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.
Camille Slow KC
‘Camille has the perfect blend of being able to provide detailed legal analysis while appreciating the wider commercial picture for the client. That kind of analysis puts the client in an informed position from an early stage to make strategic decisions.’
Jennifer Jones KC
‘As well as her excellent legal and strategic advice and drafting, she brings energy, enthusiasm and a \"can-do\" approach to litigation-weary clients, all of which help drive the case forward in a positive direction.’
2025 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.
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.
Lucie Briggs
‘Lucie has a calm collected methodical advocacy style that makes all in the room feel at ease, drawing out the points that need to be made in style. She gives clear detailed advice and keeps the prospects of a case under review at all times.’
Patrick Clarke
Robert Clay
‘Robert consistently produces excellent written draft materials setting clear paths through potentially confusing amounts of detail. He is among the very best at doing this.’
Omar Eljadi
‘Omar is extremely knowledgeable about the law and completely on top of the technical detail. He drafts beautifully.’
Shourav Lahiri
‘Shourav main strength is his knowledge in engineering and construction technology together with ability to understand the strength of the client's team. He works as an integral part of the client team and instructing counsel and the tribunal as well.’
Katie Powell
‘Katie has been able to dissect highly technical construction reports and data, and turn her legal mind to creating client-friendly and practical advice in the most complicated of cases.’
Mathias Cheung
‘Mathias is extremely intelligent, drafts beautifully, is strategic and focused in his advice; and his advocacy is convincing and powerful. He is an absolute go-to on construction disputes and brilliant to work with.’
Arthur Graham-Dixon
‘Arthur is well-prepared, hard-working, and delivers incisive written submissions. Arthur shows good judgement and instincts, and is able to get across the material in quick time.’
Rónán Hanna
‘Rónán has cultivated great strategies whilst cutting through, with swiftness and clarify, complex issues and factual muddles. He is a fantastic collaborative worker, who is a key member of the team and who is well respected and trusted by lay clients.’
Samar Abbas Kazmi
‘Samar is highly intelligent and has excellent judgement. He is in the detail but is also able to sit back and see the big picture to develop overall strategy.’
Zulfikar Khayum
‘Zulfikar is an extremely competent and measured advocate. His attention to detail is excellent and he spends a lot of time understanding and digging into the minutiae of a case.’
Marc Lixenberg
‘Marc is an excellent advocate. He really grasps what he thinks is the key issue and wrestles with it at length in front of the tribunal in a way that is confident, effective and persuasive.’
Lauren Adams
Mischa Balen
‘Mischa’s advocacy is perfectly balanced between pushing the right points and reading when a judge had got the point to know when to move on seamlessly. Mischa has an excellent ability to combine strategy in proceedings and the commercial needs of a client – he sees the bigger picture and engineers a strategy in proceedings to secure the best result.’
Simon Crawshaw
'Simon's technical knowledge is impressive. He is able to quickly digest large amount of information and distil this into simple and clear submissions and/or pleadings.’
Felicity Dynes
‘Felicity is exceptionally bright. She picks things up really quickly and translates complicated construction documents and issues into understandable summaries/heads of claim and submissions.’
Caroline Greenfield
‘Caroline is very bright, her drafting is excellent and she always has practical solutions to problems.’
Dalton Hale
‘Dalton analyses papers very thoroughly, rapidly focuses on the big picture but deploying the fine detail where needed. Excellent drafting and advocacy skills. Commercially astute.’
Laura Hussey
‘Laura is excellent at determining the key issues in dispute in very quick order even where the underlying facts are complex and vast. Her legal analysis is highly detail orientated and inspires trust and confidence that no stone has been left unturned when advising clients.’
David Johnson
‘David is excellent technically and extremely supportive, he is always on time with delivering work and he is a first choice of barrister of his level. David’s has the advocacy skill of putting complex points across simply and clearly which is key in any litigation.’
Nicholas Maciolek
‘Nicholas' analytical powers are unsurpassed. His ability to assess complex documentation and in relatively short time and formulate cogent arguments and strategy in response, is highly impressive.’
Edmund Neuberger
‘Edmund is one of the best junior construction barristers solicitors have instructed. He is knowledgeable and meticulous. His advocacy is smooth and thorough.’
Christopher Reid
‘Christopher is user friendly and direct. Offers a view and doesn't sit on the fence which is always valuable.’
Ryan Turner
‘Ryan has amazing attention to detail and displays a breadth of excellent technical knowledge. He is proactive and very commercial in the advice he gives which makes him very user friendly.’
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.
Max Twivy
‘Max is very thorough in his advice and an expert in the construction matters. He is also excellent at communicating advice on complex issues to clients in an easy to understand way.’
Caspar Ramsay
‘Caspar has an excellent ability to pick out the important and relevant factors from documents and discussions and turn them into top quality advice and submissions. He sees the bigger picture and is acutely aware of not only the legal issues but the commercial challenges that clients face.’
Ella Rutter
‘Ella’s advocacy and cross examination skills are very good and are keys to successful outcomes. She is also quick on her feet advising.’