Construction

Crown Office Chambers

A ‘go-to construction set’, Crown Office Chambers handles a wide range of construction disputes, particularly concerning domestic commercial and luxury real estate developments. Andrew Rigney KC is acting as lead counsel on a defects and damages claim regarding the roof of Sky’s global headquarters. In Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd v Rise Ltd and 2 others, Isabel Hitching KC is representing Rise Ltd in a major damages and design defects dispute. Members of the set were also instructed in representing Augusta 2008 LLP in a major fire safety defect case before the TCC, with Michele De Gregorio leading Sahana Jayakumar in obtaining permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. Crispin Winser KC is representing Veolia Energy & Utility Services UK plc in a multi-party TCC dispute relating alleged fire safety defects in a health care sector PFI project. In July 2024, James Wilkinson took over as senior clerk from Andy Flanagan, who remains with the set as a business development consultant. Michael Curtis KC has retired.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'Excellent. Andy Flannagan is a superstar.'
'All super efficient and very helpful. Always do their best to accommodate and have a commercial approach.'
'The clerks are superior to most. They're responsive and orgnanised.'
'Crown Office Chambers are increasingly seen as one of the key 'go to' construction sets.'
'Very impressive, a class act.'
'A really solid set for construction work, particularly professional negligence claims.'
'Very strong strength in depth in chambers.'
'It is very rare for the set to be unable to provide assistance in respect of construction and insurance matters.'

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.

Andrew Rigney KC

Crown Office Chambers

‘Andrew is one of the very best in his field. His breadth of experience across the energy and construction and engineering sectors is incredibly impressive. His strategic approach and thinking is always at the very highest level; all done in a collegiate style.’

Ben Quiney KC

Crown Office Chambers

‘Ben has really excellent drafting skills excellent with clients and excellent advocacy skills.’

Crispin Winser KC

Crown Office Chambers

‘Crispin is an incredibly talented advocate who is persuasive, calm, and comprehensive, and who delivers oral submissions in a thorough and thoughtful way. His written and oral advocacy is very clear while at the same time picking up on all of the key details, presenting arguments cleverly to put the point across.’

Isabel Hitching KC

Crown Office Chambers

‘Isabel is a thoughtful and highly strategic KC. Two steps ahead of anyone else - she is an excellent advocate.’

2024 Silks

Anna Laney KC

Crown Office Chambers

‘A well-deserved promotion to KC. A joy to work with – hugely commercial and able to engage well with construction clients.’

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.

Michele De Gregorio

Crown Office Chambers

Charles Pimlott

Crown Office Chambers

'Charles is excellent to work with. He is super responsive and always makes himself available. His drafting is first rate, and his advice on merits and strategy is always spot on.'

Robert Stokell

Crown Office Chambers

‘Robert has great attention to detail and a calm and reasoned approach.'

Caroline McColgan

Crown Office Chambers

'Caroline is excellent: a very good construction lawyer, very bright, extremely hard-working, dedicated and terrific with clients. She is also a very good cross-examiner, and a delight to work with.'

Carlo Taczalski

Crown Office Chambers

‘Carlo is very commercial, but not scared to get into the detail and provide robust advice on the merits too. He is a top class barrister.'

Dermot Woolgar

Crown Office Chambers

'Dermot is very thorough on paper and sets out his advice in a very client friendly manner. He is accessible and approachable which is key, while also being robust in his views. Dermot has a broad practice which is often hugely beneficial in complex cases.'

Richard Sage

Crown Office Chambers

‘Richard is not afraid to get his hands dirty: his calm demeanour and comprehensive understanding of construction is admirable. His performance in hearings is impressive, and his drafting skills are robust. His grasp and application of arbitration procedures is invaluable, and his breadth of knowledge and experience is exceptional.’

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.