Brick Court Chambers continues to impress with its members' involvement in an array of high-profile cases, offering ‘huge strength in depth for fraud work’. Members of the set continue to be involved in "tuna bonds" scandal litigation concerning the fraudulent and corrupt procurement of sovereign guarantees worth $2bn, with Richard Blakeley KC, newly appointed silk as of March 2024, representing the Republic of Mozambique in proceedings against Credit Suisse, VTB and Privinvest Group companies; Ben Woolgar and Frederick Wilmot-Smith acting for the Privinvest defendants; and Stephen Midwinter KC, Laura Newton, and Tom Wood instructed by banks that provided syndicated lending to Mozambique. Tim Lord KC, leading a team including Thomas Plewman KC, represents Ziyavudin Magomedov and his companies in relation to high-value disputes around the world arising out of an alleged conspiracy to carry out a corporate raid of assets belonging to the former tycoon, who is currently serving a prison sentence in Russia.. Fred Hobson KC and Richard Blakeley KC took silk in March 2024.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Paul Dennison is always available and great at finding solutions.'
- 'Tony Burgess and Paul Dennison lead a high-quality team with approachability, warmth, real skill and a deep knowledge of their chambers and its caseload.
- 'The clerks are excellent, in particular Ellie Sanders and Luke Carvalho.'
- 'The clerks are second to none. Tony Burgess and Paul Denisson are stars, and the clerks room is friendly and efficient.'
- 'Brick Court is always exceptional in every way, from its most senior KC to its most junior junior.'
- 'Excellent chambers that is amongst the best.'
- 'Brick Court is a chambers with huge strength in depth for fraud work and great expertise.'
- 'Members of the set are absolutely brilliant - commercially savvy and generally incredibly bright.'
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.
Vernon Flynn KC
Brick Court Chambers 'He always has the ear of the judge. He speaks with charm and eloquence and is nimble on his feet. His powers of persuasion are extraordinary.'
Simon Salzedo KC
Brick Court Chambers 'Simon is a grand master on his feet. He is technically brilliant, extremely easy to work with and hugely responsive.'
Simon Birt KC
Brick Court Chambers 'His advocacy inspires confidence - he is thoughtful, measured, precise, persuasive and completely robust and resolute.'
Daniel Jowell KC
Brick Court Chambers 'An elegant oral advocate, who has a good sense of what the court is looking for and the ability to deliver it.'
Stephen Midwinter KC
Brick Court Chambers 'A ferocious cross-examiner and a go-to silk for complex civil fraud cases.'
Alec Haydon KC
Brick Court Chambers 'Alec has great clarity of mind and always provides sound advice.'
Harry Matovu KC
Brick Court Chambers 'A silk with intellectual rigour who can get the court eating out of his hands.'
Fionn Pilbrow KC
Brick Court Chambers 'His advocacy is engaging and clear, and he is particularly user-friendly, both with clients and solicitors.'
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.
Richard Eschwege KC
Brick Court Chambers 'He is a tenacious and tough advocate, who is willing to take the fight to opponents.'
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.
Richard Blakeley KC
Brick Court Chambers 'Richard is incredibly bright and focused, as well as tough and resilient. He is also calm and confident under pressure.'
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.
Laura Newton
Brick Court Chambers 'Laura is extremely intelligent, elegant on paper and a polished advocate. Absolutely superb.'
Edward Harrison
Brick Court Chambers 'Edward is calm under pressure, utterly unflappable and brings razor-sharp clarity to the most challenging of fraud cases. He is a silk in waiting.'
Joanne Box
Brick Court Chambers 'She is a star civil fraud barrister. Very intelligent, methodical and has very sound judgement.'
Edward Ho
Brick Court Chambers 'Exceptionally easy to work with, not fazed by anything and extremely quick to identify key issues.'
Geoffrey Kuehne
Brick Court Chambers 'A real workhorse, who is brilliant at mastering the most complex sets of facts and presenting them to a court in a concise and compelling way.'
Ben Woolgar
Brick Court Chambers ‘He has the ability to get to the essence of a case and to find points which the judges will find of interest.’
Kyle Lawson
Brick Court Chambers 'Kyle's ability to combine a first-class intellect with an affable and easy-going manner makes him a joy to work with.'
Sophie Shaw
Brick Court Chambers 'She's an excellent junior - very strong technically and very hard working, with a good eye for detail.'
Georgina Petrova
Brick Court Chambers 'She is incredibly quick at absorbing complex facts and getting to the heart of the dispute.'
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.
Jessie Ingle
Brick Court Chambers 'Jessie has a very analytical eye. She is responsive, calm and clear in her advice.'
Frederick Wilmot-Smith
Brick Court Chambers 'His intellect is just fierce. He is charming with clients and solicitors, and a real team player.'
Tom Wood
Brick Court Chambers 'He has a great nose for fraud litigation. A junior with great strategic insight.'