‘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

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.

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.’

Stuart Catchpole KC

Chantal-Aimée Doerries KC

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

Karim Ghaly KC

‘Clients liken Karim to a chess player – always several steps ahead of everyone else in the room. Extraordinary strategist, tenacious and pugnacious on his feet, and fantastic work-rate.’

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.’

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.’

Catherine Piercy KC

‘Able to quickly get to grips with the key issues of the case and distil the key points in dispute for clients and solicitors alike. Excellent drafting skills and tactically very sharp.’

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.’

Christopher Lewis KC

Serena Cheng KC

‘Serena is a dream to work with. She picks up on the core objectives and strategy for the matter instantly and applies her supreme drafting skills and knowledge of the law and facts to achieve that strategy.'

2025 Silks

Andrew Fenn KC

‘Andrew is exceptionally hardworking and dedicated. His written advocacy is outstanding. He is highly intelligent and thoughtful in his approach.’

2024 Silks

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.’

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.

Nicholas Collings

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.’

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.’

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.’

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.’

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.’ \n \n

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.’

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.’

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.’

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.

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.’ \n \n

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.’

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.’