Stephanie Harrison KC
Garden Court Chambers ‘Stephanie is one of a kind - exceptionally energetic and committed, a fantastic leader and a commanding advocate.'
Garden Court Chambers is praised as ‘the go-to set for quality advice and representation in immigration law’. The set fields expertise in the full range of claimant-side immigration work including asylum and international protection, human rights, trafficking, family and children and business immigration, including appearing in front of all courts such as the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. Multiple barristers have notable capabilities handling national security cases before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. Sonali Naik KC led Mark Symes, Eva Doerr, Isaac Ricca-Richardson, Adrian Berry and Ella Gunn in AAA and others v SSHD, the high-profile challenge to the previous government’s policy of transferring irregular arrivals to Rwanda, in which Ali Bandegani and Raza Halim were also involved in separate teams. Stephanie Harrison KC, Gordon Lee and Alex Schymyck were recently involved in the Brook House Inquiry looking into the mistreatment and abuse of detainees at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre. With extensive experience in cases relating to the Afghanistan Relocation and Assistance Programme, Nicola Braganza KC and Maria Moodie acted for a senior Supreme Court judge (prior to the Taliban’s takeover of the country) in Afghanistan in a judicial review of the refusal to grant settlement under the scheme, and Duran Seddon KC is also active in this space. Gemma Loughran, as was, is now an Upper Tribunal judge.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Harriet Massie and Lisa O'Leary are fantastic - personable, efficient and understanding of what solicitors require from chambers.'
- 'Clerks are excellent, very responsive and always available to assist. I would give particular recommendation to Harriet Massie, who has been invaluable at finding counsel to assist at short notice.'
- 'The clerks are brilliant - always available at a moment's notice to speak.'
- 'Garden Court is, and always has been, the go-to set for quality advice and representation in immigration law.'
- 'They are the best in immigration, asylum and human rights law.'
- 'Strong range and depth of experience on immigration matters.'
- 'Garden Court are excellent at detention work.'
- 'Garden Court are probably the leading human rights set, particularly in the field of immigration law.'
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.
Sonali Naik KC
Garden Court Chambers ‘Sonali is extremely experienced in complex strategic litigation. She is a persuasive advocate who can set out complex legal points clearly. She is unafraid to use the law inventively in order to get the best outcome for her clients.’
Laurie Fransman KC
Garden Court Chambers 'Laurie is without equal in this field. He brings to these cases a depth of experience, a level of legal knowledge, and strategic and tactical brilliance, which is almost impossible to find elsewhere. This blend of skills means that Laurie regularly secures remarkable results in these most complex and demanding cases, and is the reason why he remains so heavily in demand from the leading solicitors in these areas of law.'
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.
Edward Grieves KC
Garden Court Chambers ‘Ed is an excellent barrister. He is totally committed to his clients and a really inventive lawyer. He is a powerful advocate and has very good judgement.’
Irena Sabic KC
Garden Court Chambers 'Irena is an outstanding barrister. Her ability to apply her mind to different areas of public law is truly remarkable. She also brings a real warmth and humanity to her work and this is reflected in the commitment and hard work for her clients.'
Duran Seddon KC
Garden Court Chambers2024 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.
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.
Adrian Berry
Garden Court Chambers 'Adrian is a leading expert in British nationality law and always a pleasure to work with. He deploys his extensive legal knowledge with remarkable acumen and intelligence.'
Kathryn Cronin
Garden Court Chambers 'She is the star lawyer in relation to children covering both family and immigration law. Nobody knows this cross over of law like she does.'
Peter Jorro
Garden Court Chambers 'Peter is an excellent barrister both for advice and on his feet. He is an expert in immigration law and his advice is both legal and practical. His specialist knowledge of immigration law including the rules, case law and guidance comes across in his advocacy.'
Ali Bandegani
Garden Court Chambers ‘Ali is a focused and concise advocate and has an unparalleled ability to see the wood for the trees. He is the go-to barrister on complex refugee law issues.'
Rebecca Chapman
Garden Court Chambers ‘Hugely empathic, brilliant on Article 8 family life claims.'
David Jones
Garden Court Chambers ‘David's knowledge on immigration, asylum and human rights law is second to none. He is fantastic at what he does. His advocacy and his drafting is superb, a real force of nature.'
Ronan Toal
Garden Court Chambers
Raza Halim
Garden Court Chambers 'Raza is an excellent advocate who is more than capable of dealing excellently with factually, evidentially, and legally complex cases, including those with a wider public interest.'
Sadat Sayeed
Garden Court Chambers ' He combines a sharp intellect with an extensive knowledge of immigration and asylum law, including EU and human rights law. He is adept at handling the most difficult and high profile cases.'
Bojana Asanovic
Garden Court Chambers
Grace Brown
Garden Court Chambers 'Grace is amazing. She is extremely bright and able to deal with very complex, historical legislation and complex legal matters.'
Helen Foot
Garden Court Chambers ‘Helen is a first-rate barrrister. She is extremely intelligent, she drafts beautifully and she has a great combination of creativity and an encyclopedic knowledge of immigration law. She really goes the extra mile for her clients and she delivers excellent results.'
Patrick Lewis
Garden Court Chambers
Mark Symes
Garden Court Chambers ‘Mark is brilliant. He is extremely respected in the field and he is an authority on all things to do with immigration and asylum law. He is approachable, knowledgeable and charismatic.‘
Emma Fitzsimons
Garden Court Chambers ‘Emma is a very knowledgeable barrister who approaches all cases with dedication and meticulous preparation. She is very impressive in her ability to distil complex legal issues and produce high quality and thorough work.'
David Sellwood
Garden Court Chambers ‘David is incredibly knowledgeable in a wide range of immigration areas. He applies a considered, meticulous approach to all of his work. He is organised and through and his written work is always very persuasive.‘
Sangeetha Iengar
Garden Court Chambers ‘An absolute star, a fearless and tireless advocate and a first-class legal mind.’
Ubah Dirie
Garden Court Chambers 'Ubah is an extraordinarily persuasive advocate. Her advocacy is very clear and precise and she effectively guides judges through the issues in the case.'
Abigail Smith
Garden Court Chambers 'Very organised and extremely good with clients.'
Colin Yeo
Garden Court Chambers
Grace Capel
Garden Court Chambers ‘Grace is approachable and very responsive. She has a great grasp of the facts and details.'
Bijan Hoshi
Garden Court Chambers ‘Bijan is extremely responsive and easy to work with. He is able to think of innovative arguments which sets him apart from some of his peers, and he has an intellectual rigour which is a key strength. He has a very strong understanding of the needs of the individual client as well as government policy and public law arguments and his written advocacy is impressive.'
Gordon Lee
Garden Court Chambers
Alex Grigg
Garden Court Chambers ‘Very knowledgeable and experienced, a safe pair of hands.‘
Gráinne Mellon
Garden Court Chambers 'Grainne is very experienced and has a great calm approach to cases. She is very good on the law including on wider legal points such as the inter-play between immigration and discrimination law.'
Maria Moodie
Garden Court Chambers 'Maria is an incredible barrister with exceptional understanding of complex legal issues. She meticulously prepares extremely high-quality, detailed submissions in which the client is at the forefront of the case. The level of care and attention she gives is outstanding.'
Maha Sardar
Garden Court Chambers 'Maha is very thorough in her preparation, her submissions are detailed but clear and her advocacy is persuasive and effective.'
Taimour Lay
Garden Court Chambers 'As an experienced immigration law specialist, Taimour is particularly favoured by lay and professional clients for his approachability and his ability to effectively communicate or relay complex legal issues and procedures.'
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.
Isaac Ricca-Richardson
Garden Court Chambers ‘Very thorough and always able to advise on steps to be taken by instructing solicitors which may assist a case.'
Eva Doerr
Garden Court Chambers ‘Eva is extremely knowledgeable, and always thinks outside the box. She has a wealth of experience across a broad range of immigration and public law areas.'
Alex Schmyck
Garden Court Chambers 'Alex is a diligent, extremely intelligent and talented advocate, who is able to think on his feet. He is also extremely adaptable and able think creatively in finding solutions to difficult legal arguments.'