Known in the industry as the ‘leader in insurance and reinsurance disputes,’ with ’rich history and top quality barristers of all levels,’ 7 King’s Bench Walk remains a pre-eminent set for all aspects of insurance and reinsurance work, with barristers instructed on the year’s high profile and high value cases, as well as aiding in the development of the law. During 2023, aviation litigation became one of the core areas of the insurance practice, with Andrew Wales KC, Clara Benn acting for AIG, and other members such as Rebecca Sabben-Clare KC and Alistair Schaff KC acting as opposing counsel in Aercap Ireland v AIG Europe and Lloyds Insurance Company which is the lead case begun by lessors against the aviation insurance market concerning the Russian government’s effective seizure of aircraft from foreign lessors. On top of this, members including Michael Ryan, Peter MacDonald Eggers KC, Sandra Healy and Gavin Kealey KC have been involved in the Covid-19 business interruption series of test cases, with Josephine Higgs KC acting for policyholders on Prevention of Access clauses in Gatwick Investment Ltd & Ors v Liberty Mutual Insurance. Julia Gibbon and Douglas Grant are names to watch.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Gary Rose is an excellent clerk.'
- '7KBW is undoubtedly a leader in insurance and reinsurance disputes. It has a rich history and top quality barristers of all levels.'
- 'The clerks always go above and beyond to assist, often staying late and working long hours to assist solicitors teams. They are very responsive and diligent at managing matters and diaries.'
- 'They have a good strength and depth of counsel in insurance law specifically.'
- 'Excellent clerks' room. Personable and easy to deal with.'
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.
Alistair Schaff KC
7 King’s Bench Walk 'The go to person for insurance and reinsurance matters. Clever, a pleasure to work with, and a calm, authoritative advocacy style.'
Andrew Wales KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Andrew is an exceptional barrister. Not only is he one of the most intellectually able KCs of his generation, but he is also sensible, practical and commercial. His advocacy is understated but devastatingly effective.’
Peter MacDonald Eggers KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Unmatched knowledge and recall of his subject. A calm level head and a charming advocate who is trusted by the judge or tribunal.’
Gavin Kealey KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘By far the leading advocate at the insurance Bar in a league of his own. Ruthless in cross-examination. Creative and ingenious when it comes to analyzing and developing complex legal arguments. A pleasure to work with and gets results.’
Rebecca Sabben-Clare KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Rebecca is very gifted technically, she is also very hard working and has a very rounded view of the issues: sitting as an arbitrator assists in this. She has very good judgement and a very impressive client manner.’
Richard Waller KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Richard is an excellent advocate and a go-to KC. He is very sharp and provides high quality, reliable advice which takes into account the practical and commercial considerations of the matter.’
Jonathan Gaisman KC
7 King’s Bench Walk 'Jonathan is of course highly intellectual and his advocacy is clear and determined. He is a superb leader in a complex dispute and is advocacy is always well prepared and focused.'
Stephen Hofmeyr KC
7 King’s Bench Walk
Jawdat Khurshid KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘A very commercial and user-friendly silk, clients really like him. Exceptionally clever – clear, concise and persuasive both in written submissions and on his feet. All round impressive.’
Adam Fenton KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Easy to work with. Adam works hard, provides useful advices and is a first choice for several clients.’
James Brocklebank KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘James is particularly excellent when it comes to understanding technical arguments and advocating his case clearly and persuasively in a way that is easy to understand. His cross examination is also excellent – sharp, clear, and to the point. He gets to the crux of the matter.’
David Bailey KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘David is exceptionally easy and pleasant to with with. He instantly understandable the various issues at stake even the most complex ones and never fails to come up with ingenious strategies and solutions, always considering what would serve the client best. He really is an extraordinarily skilled barrister.’
Michael Holmes KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘A silk with encyclopedic insurance and reinsurance market knowledge who is a pleasure to work with.’
Richard Southern KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Richard is a very authoritative advocate. He is always well-prepared and has the ability to gain the judge’s confidence based on his restrained and meticulous oral submissions. Very good strategic judgement as well.’
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Stephen Kenny KC
7 King’s Bench Walk
Josephine Higgs KC
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Meticulous and very hard working. Works very well as part of the team, providing clear and helpful advice on strategy and merits.’
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.
Sushma Ananda
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘As well as being technically excellent, with the ability to deliver clear advice, Sushma is an effective advocate. She is always responsive and a delight to work with.'
Timothy Kenefick
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Calm and considered. A real team player and gracious with his time for more junior members of the team.'
Alexander MacDonald
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Alex is exceptional and a standout barrister. He is technically strong, there is no point that he can’t master. His written and oral advocacy is of a high standard.’
Sandra Healy
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Overall a very experienced barrister for insurance litigation, with good advocacy skills.’
Keir Howie
7 King’s Bench Walk 'Keir is stellar. He is clear and concise in providing his views and legally he is detailed, considered and clearly incredibly intelligent.'
Jocelin Gale
7 King’s Bench Walk 'Exceptional; he is undoubtedly one of the cleverest and most innovative juniors at the Commercial Bar and his skeletons are incomparable for the quality of their argument and insight.'
Tim Jenns
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Tim is able to reduce complex issues to simply stated propositions. He works hard and well and is a clear thinker.'
Simon Kerr
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Simon combines an impressive command of the detail with clear and robust advocacy. He is well prepared, indefatigable and and on top of the case - very helpful to have on side.'
Elizabeth Lindesay
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Liz is highly intelligent and has a tremendous eye for detail. Her work product is of an exceptionally high standard.'
Michael Ryan
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Michael is an excellent advocate. He punches above his weight comfortably holds his own in the company of KCs. Michael is very good to work with; he is very responsive, thorough and approachable and provides clear advice.’
Jessica Sutherland
7 King’s Bench Walk
Harry Wright
7 King’s Bench Walk
Benjamin Parker
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Ben is very user friendly and clients enjoy working with him. He provides practical advice on complex reinsurance matters and has a good grasp of the issues. His advocacy was very effective - he’s clearly an expert in this field and one of the top choices for future matters.’
Sarah Martin
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Sarah goes above and beyond to meet client’s needs. She is incredibly bright, analytical, detail oriented and her written work is excellent.’
Clara Benn
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Clara has exceptional legal knowledge and good judgement. She excels at written advocacy, and is growing in confidence in oral advocacy as well. She is measured, sensible and persuasive. It is not surprising that Insurers and solicitors love to instruct her.’
Anna Gotts
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Anna has an excellent technical knowledge of insurance, coupled with an impressive work ethic. Nothing is too much trouble, and no stone is left unturned. Her written advice is careful and her judgement is good. Insurers rightly turn to her for advice, with several firms sending her work which normally go to a junior silk. One to watch in the years to come.’
Daniel Corteville
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Daniel is an excellent junior barrister – his work is above that for his call. He gets stuck into the weeds of a case and delivers an excellent work product every time. He is attentive and a great team player. Definitely a star of the future.’
Emma Hilliard
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Great eye for detail, excellent technical knowledge of the business interruption cases, understands commercial needs of the client and gives pragmatic practical advice.’
Jason Robinson
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Jason is an excellent advocate. He is all over the detail of technical insurance points but never loses sight of the wood for the trees. As a result, he is a focused advocate and his paperwork is very user-friendly and pragmatic. He is an excellent all-rounder for difficult insurance questions.’
Richard Sarll
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Richard has a remarkable ability to articulate complex legal concepts in a clear and concise manner. His advice is well-structured, making it easy for solicitors and clients to understand. Furthermore, he demonstrates a deep understanding of the law. This knowledge forms the backbone of his effective advocacy.’
Henry Moore
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Henry has a phenomenal memory, which others strongly suspect to be eidectic. This provides Henry with a huge advantage over the other mere mortals at the Bar, as his ability to retain, process and distil information is second to none. Indispensable as junior counsel. Without a doubt a future silk.’
Stephen Du
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Very good indeed. Very responsive, a clear thinker and a good trial advocate. Very sound performer.’
Adam Turner
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘He is an extraordinary junior. Adam is thoughtful and clever; he is organized and entirely happy working on his own initiative.’
John Bignall
7 King’s Bench Walk
Rebecca Jacobs
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Rebecca is extremely responsive and patient. She is willing to go above and beyond to assist and turns high quality work around very efficiently.’
Sarah Cowey
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Sarah has great attention to detail which has come in useful in reviewing the vast number of underlying documents generated in relation to these disputes to find the key needle in haystack items. She is extremely bright and knowledgeable about the underlying subject matter, including the reinsurance law aspects, and has a clear and lucid style of writing which is persuasive in terms of advocacy.’
Frederick Alliott
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Fred is a strong junior and very easy to work with. His advocacy on interim applications has been clear and compelling.’
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.
Douglas Grant
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Doug has excellent attention to detail. He is very quick in understanding complex technical points.'
Julia Gibbon
7 King’s Bench Walk ‘Julia drafts beautifully. She has a very sharp mind, even by the standards of the commercial Bar. She works quickly and is unflappable. She is a go-to choice for a junior who is very highly regarded by everyone who works with her.’