David Ewart KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘A sharp mind that is able to distill the most complex matters into bite-size chunks. Always comforting to have his advice.’
Pump Court Tax Chambers has ‘masses of strength and depth’, and is a favoured choice for both HMRC and taxpayer clients in numerous significant mandates. Areas of expertise for the group include unallowable purpose, transfer pricing, and partnership mixed membership rules. Kevin Prosser KC is ’at the top of his game’, and recently represented the taxpayer before the Court of Appeal in Inmarsat PLC v HMRC, in a matter relating to the entitlement to capital allowances on the cost of launching satellites. David Milne KC has aptitude in international tax matters. David Ewart KC recently acted for HMRC before the Supreme Court in the Franked Investment Income GLO test case, relating to the taxation of dividends paid into the UK by foreign subsidiaries of British companies, leading Elizabeth Wilson KC and Barbara Belgrano. Rupert Baldry KC led Thomas Chacko before the Court of Appeal in Bluecrest Capital Management Cayman Ltd v HMRC, a significant case relating to the tax treatment of LLPs and limited partnerships. Zizhen Yang has experience at courts of all levels, in addition to a robust advisory practice.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'John Poyser remains the best clerk in London tax.'
- 'I must acknowledge Bruno Antoniotti and John Poyser. Fantastic, pragmatic clerking.'
- 'John Poyser is excellent. He is incredibly responsive and always a pleasure to deal with.'
- 'Excellent chambers with masses of strength and depth.'
- 'The standard of the clerking at Pump Court Tax Chambers is excellent.'
- 'Chambers has a very broad skill set and the clerks are always happy to offer sensible recommendations about choice of counsel.'
- 'Very strong tax set and has good young blood coming through.'
- 'Great set. Clerks are friendly and helpful. Barristers are technically excellent and are a pleasure to work 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.
David Milne KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers
Kevin Prosser KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Kevin is at the top of his game and puts a huge amount of thought and effort into his advice. He is one of the best advocates at the tax Bar; he is exceptionally well-prepared, thinks quickly on his feet, cross-examines very well and all with a sense of humour.’
Rupert Baldry KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers 'He is open-minded and creative.'
David Yates KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers – ‘Exceptional technical ability and awareness of dispute trends and HMRC activity - David is incredibly personable and excellent with clients and his advocacy is second to none. His ability to present arguments at all levels of our court system is superb.’
James Rivett KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Very strong technically, good with clients, puts them at ease.’
Richard Vallat KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers3
Elizabeth Wilson KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Hard working and reliable.’
3
Giles Goodfellow KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘He has a fine legal mind and delivers top quality advocacy in a refreshingly unaggressive manner. He is very much liked by judges before whom he appears and commands the respect of the court at all times.’
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.
Michael Thomas KC
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Very good at exploring both the commercial and tax aspects of the transaction. Good with clients.’
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.
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 Poots
Pump Court Tax Chambers
Jeremy Woolf
Pump Court Tax Chambers 'An in depth knowledge of the law of tax, great client care and easy to work with.'
Zizhen Yang
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Zizhen is simply excellent. She is meticulously well-prepared. Her written advocacy is persuasive. Her oral submissions are clear and to the point.’
2
Thomas Chacko
Pump Court Tax Chambers
Barbara Belgrano
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Barbara is an absolute pleasure to work with. She is highly diligent, responsive and practical. Her legal knowledge and reasoning abilities are exceptional. Clear, powerful advocacy.’
Ben Elliott
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Ben is passionate about getting the right result for his clients and this is evidenced by his forensic approach to his cases and shines through in both his oral and written advocacy.’
James Henderson
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘James has an excellent manner with clients. He translates complex tax legislation into comprehensible and commercially sensible advice. This ability transfers excellently to the tribunals and courts.’
Quinlan Windle
Pump Court Tax Chambers 'Quinlan is thorough, has a keen eye for detail and is all over the evidence. His advocacy is clear, concise and has impressed both instructing solicitors and the client.'
Ronan Magee
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Exceptional maturity and attention to detail - he really gets to grips with the case so you can totally trust him - all while maintaining very good humour and positivity.’
Laura Ruxandu
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Laura's attention to detail is astonishing. She is always extremely well-prepared, shows command of the issues and impresses clients. She is someone you want on your team.’
Charles Bradley
Pump Court Tax Chambers ‘Charles is calm, focussed and clear, both in preparation and presentation. When presenting, he is concise and makes the points at issue and his client's position clear without diversion or waffle.’