Fiona Barton KC
Fiona fights for her clients with great vigour.’
‘Quite simply the leaders in the field’, 5 Essex Court fields a number of inquests and inquiries specialists, bolstered by the set’s experience in police law. Jason Beer KC is particularly sought after for high-level inquiry work, having been highly visible spearheading the counsel to the inquiry team in the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, as well as his roles for the NHS in both the Covid-19 inquiry, and the Thirlwall Inquiry into the deaths of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, for which former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby is serving a whole life tariff for murder. Fiona Barton KC continues to carry out complex inquest matters, notably acting for the Commissioner of the City of London Police in the inquest into the shooting of Hassan Yahya by police; Yahya was found to have been lawfully killed, having threatened members of the public with two knives. Emma Price is lead junior counsel for Phase 4 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, examining the action taken against subpostmasters by the Post Office. Alison Hewitt is a go-to junior, often acting for police forces, prisons, and care homes, while Aaron Moss has particular expertise in national security and data processing.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Mark Waller (senior clerk) has been a pleasure to deal with - he has ensured at all times that we know counsel availability and has sourced the right level of counsel assistance for us given the unpredictable Inquiry timetable, which often changes at short notice. '
- '5 Essex Court are well known for their strengths in inquests / inquiries work and I'd have no hesitation in instructing their barristers.'
- 'We come back to 5 Essex time and time again as they consistently offer the best service, go out of their way to fit us in, and are quite simply the leaders in the field.'
- 'The clerks are all great - always trying to assist in an approachable manner. '
- '5 Essex Court is a leading set of chambers known across the Bar for its excellence in police law, government inquests, and inquiries. '
- 'The Clerks are readily available and always helpful.'
- 'This is the number one set for public inquiry work and it has been a pleasure to learn from the best.'
- 'Capable individuals with exceptional clerking and marketing.'
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.
Jason Beer KC
Samantha Leek KC
‘Samantha's forensic attention to detail is superb, and her experience in the public inquiry sector is immense.'
Anne Studd KC
'Hugely intelligent and calm under pressure.'
2025 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.
Bilal Rawat KC
He is smooth on his feet and his wide experience makes him an effective advocate.’
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.
Francesca Whitelaw KC
Francesca is an astute tactician and calm and persuasive in court.'
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.
Alison Hewitt
‘Alison is a respected leader in this field. She has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law and is a clam and authoritative presence on her feet.'
Emma Price
‘Emma is widely admired as an extremely hard worker who gets on top of a mass of materials in heavy cases. She really goes the extra mile.'
Georgina Wolfe
Georgina is without question a superstar. She combines huge intelligence, amazing attention to detail, strategic insight and wonderful client care.'
Jonathan Dixey
'Calm and commands the respect of the court.'
Cicely Hayward
‘Cicely combines tact and charm with a steeliness and excellent forensic judgment.'
Aaron Moss
‘Aaron is supremely efficient and hardworking. He is incredibly thorough in his analysis, his preparation is faultless, and you know he leaves no stone unturned.'
Claire Palmer
Claire is a robust and respected advocate. She effectively challenges the status quo and achieves positions which are favourable for her clients.'
Barnabas Branston
Robert Cohen
Beatrice Collier
'As an advocate, Beatrice is fair and affable, yet robust where needed, and never displaying anything less than a razor-sharp intellect.'
Saara Idelbi
Saara is a calm, unflappable advocate. She has a well-judged manner in the most sensitive of cases and is always meticulously prepared.’
Peter Taheri
‘Peter is an excellent advocate. He has a calming manner and with it an ability to explain complex legal issues to any audience.'
Mark Thomas
Mark has a talent for calmly presenting intricate legal arguments in a manner that resonates with judges and juries.'
Alex Ustych
Amy Clarke
‘Amy is a very good advocate and particularly astute in managing tactics and coroners.'
Robert Harland
'Very thorough and dedicated barrister who will always fight your client’s corner.'
Catriona Hodge
Extremely bright, highly organised, immensely diligent, very easy to work with.’
Jonathan Landau
‘Jonathan is pragmatic, personable and very much on top of the detail - he is a highly effective advocate.'
Alice Meredith
Andrew Waters
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.