Doughty Street Chambers

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

• 'Matthew Butchard and Chloe Cousins are incredibly professional, available and helpful.'
• 'The clerking team led by Matthew Butchard is efficient, pro-active and always ready to help. The work with their profession clients to ensure the needs of their lay client are met.'
• 'Head criminal clerk Matt Butchard is very experienced. He is a 'proper clerk'; a real gem.'
• 'A premier criminal defence set with quality across the board. A really intelligent, top-quality group.'
• 'They are in the top three criminal sets, with strength at all levels of seniority.'
• 'Doughty Street is the the best criminal set in the UK. Their barristers do some of the best quality work and their recruitment standards are extremely high, which ensures quality.'
• 'Doughty Street are a formidable set, with a range of counsel offering someone for any case a firm may have.'
• 'Doughty Street is one of the best criminal sets. They have a great selection of good KCs and juniors. They are very professional and provide an excellent clerking service. They also offer great in chambers events and legal updates. Equally good for legally aided and private work.'

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.

1

Tim Moloney KC

Doughty Street Chambers

'Tim is a fantastically gifted advocate. He is grounded and effective. His style is understated, empathetic, compassionate and compelling. In any courtroom, Tim is the special one, exuding wisdom and effortlessness. Juries love him.'

1

James Wood KC

Doughty Street Chambers

 ‘James is a phenomenal advocate who is completely fearless of judges. He will fight for the client irrespective of the views of others. He is a first choice for any difficult and complex case. He is great to work with and gets back to you immediately. He is unstuffy and collaborative. He is highly respected and is intellectually superior to most of his peers.’

2

David Bentley KC

Doughty Street Chambers

 

2

David Hislop KC

Doughty Street Chambers

'David's strengths are his advocacy, tenacious cross-examination, and tactical decision making in handling tricky witnesses. Juries love him. He has an ability to get a grasp on a case quickly and assimilate large quantities of paperwork. David is respected by all.'

2

Edward Fitzgerald KC

Doughty Street Chambers

'Edward is, without a doubt, one of the finest barristers of our time. He is always completely focussed on the case before him and draws on his encyclopaedic knowledge of the law to get the very best outcome. But more than that he brings great humanity to the cases he works on, mastering the facts and using the law to achieve justice.'

3

Kirsty Brimelow KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Kirsty has excellent, detailed knowledge of the criminal law as well as years of experience running complex cases. She is warm and approachable and never too busy to assist her colleagues. She is also plainly an excellent negotiator.'

3

Sarah Elliott KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Sarah is the best trial advocate around. She is totally on top of evidence and the issues in the case as well as fearless in the face of tough judges and aggressive prosecutors. Juries enjoy her grilling of those who come to the witness box with an agenda and with something to protect.'

3

Melanie Simpson KC

Doughty Street Chambers

'Melanie has a first-class legal brain and is a hugely persuasive advocate. She is adored by judges, clients, and juries. She has it all.'

3

Emma Goodall KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Emma is highly intelligent with a forensic eye for detail. Her diligent case preparation is the amongst the best around. Her knowledge of the law and ability to apply that knowledge to her client's advantage in the service of their case is genuinely impressive. She is a persuasive advocate who always has the respect of the court due to her obvious grasp of the issues in the case and her conspicuous competence.'

3

Katy Thorne KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Katy is everything you would want in a modern silk. She is bright, engaging and has a real human touch. She is brilliant at bringing people together and juries love her.’

4

Steven Powles KC

Doughty Street Chambers

'Steven is very very clever and a delight to work with. He is kind and compassionate.'

4

Andrew Hall KC

Doughty Street Chambers

4

Sarah Vine KC

Doughty Street Chambers

 ‘Sarah is the most emotionally literate criminal advocate around with an ability to persuade juries that is unsurpassed.’

4

Liam Walker KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Liam is one of a kind. He is utterly tenacious and with the ability to think six steps ahead of the game. Any client lucky enough to be represented by him will have an incredibly committed advocate, with unparalleled attention to detail, razor-sharp cross-examination, and fabulously well-crafted submissions.’

4

Richard Thomas KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Richard is peerless. He is a glorious advocate who masters complex law in appellate crime effortlessly.’

2023 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.

Garry Green KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Garry is an amazing all rounder. He is a brilliant tactician and clever lawyer. His written submissions and advocacy are spot on. His ability to connect to his lay client and to take their instructions under pressure is brilliant.'

Benjamin Newton KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Ben is a go-to silk. He cares so much about his clients and is the cleverest barrister around. His client care skills are impeccable, his oral and written advocacy are the best in the game and he has a rare ability to translate complex issues into real language. Ben is a first-class barrister, a tactical genius and a true gentleman.'

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.

Farrhat Arshad KC

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Farrhat has excellent tactical judgement, fights tenaciously for her clients and shows complete commitment to her cases. Her knowledge of procedure and law is exceptional. She is a hugely accomplished all-round advocate and richly deserved to take silk this year.'

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.

1

Piers Marquis

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Piers is a very gifted and tenacious barrister. He has a great manner with juries as well as both professional and lay clients. His preparation is comprehensive and his tactical awareness is very acute. He is fearless in defending his clients and is not afraid of fighting their corner. This coupled with his ability to persuade juries is why he is very much in demand. He fizzes with crusading spirit.'

1

Kate O’Raghallaigh

Doughty Street Chambers

 ‘Kate is one of the very best juniors about - she is exceptionally intelligent, a fierce defender of her clients' interests and a pleasure to work with as well. She can be relied on to identify and fight every point that can be taken, fearlessly. She is someone you want in your side.'

2

David Rhodes

Doughty Street Chambers

 ‘David combines intelligence, strategic nous, a forensic approach to case preparation, commitment and compassion. His written work is exceptional and his advocacy commands the attention of the courtroom. He is particularly adept at representing defendants with complex needs and in dealing with expert witness. He is held in exceptionally high regard by all who work with him.’

3

Peta-Louise Bagott

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Peta is very intelligent. She is an intuitive thinker who empathises well with clients, is an incisive cross-examiner, and good speech-maker.'

4

Daniella Waddoup

Doughty Street Chambers

'Daniella is intimidatingly intelligent. She can digest complicated legal arguments and respond with even better ones at lightening speed. Somehow, she's also humble, collaborative and empathetic. She speaks to clients with the same calm, consideration confidence with which she addresses judges.'

4

Philippa Eastwood

Doughty Street Chambers

'Philippa is an extremely hard-working barrister who is able to deal with any type of client. Her attention to detail is phenomenal which means she is able to isolate the gaps in the prosecution case and challenge them on these points with such tenacity. Her legal submissions are also well drafted and well advocated upon. This makes her an advocate who is respected by the judiciary, her peers, her instructing solicitors as well as clients.'

4

Annabel Timan

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Annabel’s tenacity, her feel for the witness in cross-examination and her minute knowledge of the details of the case are all great strengths for her.’

4

Rabah Kherbane

Doughty Street Chambers

‘Rabah is one of the rising stars of the junior Bar. He is bright, articulate and very hard-working, as well as thorough and insightful. Rabah is sought after in cases of the utmost gravity, which is exceptional when one considers his call. He is also easy to work with and excellent on his feet.’