‘The best set by far for public procurement’, Monckton Chambers' members cover the full gamut of procurement work, from non-contentious advice during the tendering process to representing clients in highly complex disputes. Alan Bates is acting as sole counsel for the defendant in Fortem Solutions Ltd v Paragon Asra Housing Ltd, a dispute concerning the urgency exception in the Public Contracts Regulations to award the replacement contract to another supplier without competition. In Siemens Mobility Ltd v HS2, Fiona Banks and Alfred Artley acted for the claimant in the long-running challenge to the rolling stock procurement for the new rail service; with the High Court dismissing the 17 claims in November 2023. Ewan West KC will represent the claimant in Mitie Care and Custody Ltd v Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service, with the trial set for early 2025 confronting the award of a high profile and long-term contract for prison management services at HMP Altcourse.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'David Hockney and John Keegan instil a superb ethos. Professional, responsive commercial and friendly.'
- 'Steven Duffet provides an excellent service and assists with urgent matters.'
- 'The clerks room is always very helpful. Gemma Goodwin is reliable and responsive.'
- 'Very strong and helpful clerks across the team.'
- 'Monckton is the leading chambers in procurement law as it has significant strength in depth both in terms of leaders and juniors.'
- 'The set runs very deep on contentious procurement barristers.'
- 'Monckton are a very strong set for public procurement cases, with particular strength in the number of KCs and senior juniors.'
- 'Public Procurement leaders and the best set by far in this area.'
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.
Valentina Sloane KC
Monckton Chambers ‘Valentina is excellent. Assured and confident, down in the detail and super organised. Instils confidence in her position from having a total grasp of the issues, evidence and wider risk issues. Exceptional advocate who holds the court's attention and is excellent in unpicking evasive witnesses.’
Rob Williams KC
Monckton Chambers
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.
Brendan McGurk KC
Monckton Chambers ‘Absolutely fantastic. Brendan’s technical knowledge is vast. He has a great ability to absorb considerable amounts of information, often very technical either legal or mechanics and to have that ready at his finger tips. His preparation for trial is some of the very best and most detailed.’
Ewan West KC
Monckton Chambers ‘Recognised leader in the field of public procurement with encyclopedic knowledge of the law in this area. Provides excellent level of service on procurement challenges often within very tight timescales.’
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.
Jonathan Lewis
Monckton Chambers ‘Impressive legal analysis backed up by sound practical and commercial advice. He is also good with clients.’
Azeem Suterwalla
Monckton Chambers ‘Azeem is an excellent barrister. His written work is exceptional, and he is a brilliant advocate. He has an eye for detail, and he is very good with clients.‘
Fiona Banks
Monckton Chambers ‘Fiona is easy to work with, hardworking, quick to grasp the issues, and has good drafting skills.’
Anneliese Blackwood
Monckton Chambers
Alan Bates
Monckton Chambers ‘Alan is great to work with and a real team player. He is patient with his explanations and really assists with the development of the client’s knowledge. His drafting is tight and he assimilates the facts quickly. ’
Alfred Artley
Monckton Chambers ‘Alfred is very bright and one of the leading juniors in this field. He provides advice clearly in conference and his drafting is excellent.’
Jen Coyne
Monckton Chambers ‘Jen is very well organised and a pleasure to deal with. Her written and oral advocacy is clear and measured – and she is a calm and charming in her feet.’