The Bar - Regional Bar • Midland Circuit
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Crime (general and fraud)

St Philips Chambers

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St Philips Chambers maintains ‘a fine reputation as one of the top sets for criminal law on the Midlands Circuit’. Richard Atkins KC, ’a great advocate with an easy courtroom manner’, defends and prosecutes in murder, manslaughter, fraud, and drugs cases, among others. In 2023 Rebecca Wade KC defended a mother charged with gross negligence manslaughter after her baby daughter drowned in the bath having been left unsupervised, with both parents under the influence of drugs at the time. Jonathan Barker has notable experience in high-profile cases – he recently represented social media influencer Mahek Bukhari, who, along with seven others, was charged with the double murder of her mother’s lover and his friend after their car was forced off the road into a tree. Ben Close, with a practice primarily consisting of ‘paper-heavy and multi-defendant cases’, has recent experience handling money laundering matters involving considerable cryptocurrency purchases. Jennifer Josephs’ varied expertise covers murder, sexual offences, and drugs cases.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Andrew Rourke is helpful, courteous and extremely efficient. He is backed up with equally efficient juniors.'
  • 'James Withers and Somaya Sheikh are excellent. They are always polite and approachable and frequently go the extra mile to assist in making counsel available no matter what the court, type of instruction or short notice of the request.'
  • 'St Philips is one of two leading chambers in the West Midlands and more broadly on the Midlands Circuit. Their acquisition of Andrew Rourke to the clerking team has supplemented an already strong team led by Joe Wilson as CEO of the chambers.'
  • 'The clerks are, across the board, excellent. They understand the needs of instructing solicitors and work conscientiously to ensure that counsel are available.'
  • 'The best set in Birmingham and one of the strongest in the country.'
  • 'St Philips Chambers has a breadth and depth of counsel across the spectrum. They are competent, friendly and above all, never let you down.'
  • 'St Philips Chambers has always been a set with a fine reputation and an excellent pool of counsel. It has recently attracted additional counsel, broadening that pool.'

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.
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Richard Atkins KC
St Philips Chambers
‘Richard is a highly effective prosecutor. He has the ability to manage the challenges of serious multi-handed cases and to present cases of complexity with clarity. He commands the respect of the court, cross-examines robustly and thoroughly, and holds sway with the jury.'
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.
Rebecca Wade KC
St Philips Chambers
‘Rebecca is excellent in all aspects. She is always meticulously prepared with a bespoke case strategy that best serves her client's interests. Her advocacy style is incisive and engaging, combined with an eye for technical and forensic detail. Her client care is also excellent.'

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.
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William Douglas-Jones
St Philips Chambers
 ‘William's key strength is his meticulous approach to case preparation. He is comfortable liaising with all parties and is a keen negotiator. He has an eye for detail and is a superb advocate. He is a stand-out barrister on the circuit.'
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Ben Williams
St Philips Chambers
'Ben is a superb barrister. He has a very approachable manner, both with instructing solicitors and lay clients. He approaches all cases with a thoroughness and attention to detail. In court, his representations are persuasive and concise, whereas with juries he is personable and provides great clarity to seemingly complex issues.'
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Jennifer Josephs
St Philips Chambers
‘Jennifer is a talented advocate with a persuasive manner. She is intellectually able, diligent, and astute in terms of the strategy and tactics of a case. She is highly respected by the judiciary and by her colleagues at the Bar.’
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Jonathan Barker
St Philips Chambers
‘Jonathan has a technical mind which allows him to assimilate material very quickly. He focuses on the issues and the intricacies of each case in order to represent his clients to the very best of his ability, which is indeed outstanding. He is extremely good with lay clients and their families and in legal arguments he can think on his feet and address all issues eloquently and with meaning.’
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Ben Close
St Philips Chambers
‘Ben has a sound, analytical approach to work. His strength is in analysing a complex case and getting on top of the details; he is a junior for particularly difficult and demanding cases. His advocacy is also sound. Ben is a silk of the future.’
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Rajinder Gill
St Philips Chambers
'Rajinder has all the assets needed to be a highly-skilled barrister. His quiet, self-effacing manner belies his extremely sharp, perceptive mind. His attention to detail is second to none and his bedside manner with clients is to be much admired. A definite must on anyone's short list.'
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Andrew Jackson
St Philips Chambers
‘Andrew is very good at charming a jury. He is calm under pressure, extremely experienced, and develops excellent working relationships with other professionals. He is a safe pair of hands and always tries hard for the client and provides a consistently high standard of service.'
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Tom Walkling
St Philips Chambers
‘Tom has always shown an excellent ability to analyse and assimilate the evidence in order to identify the issues in the case. He is able to identify very quickly those matters which are of importance and which require further scrutiny. He is an intuitive trial advocate, with the ability to deal with issues as they arise throughout trials calmly and appropriately.'
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.
Catherine Ravenscroft
St Philips Chambers
‘Catherine is able and confident with even the most trying of cases. She is always well prepared and has a thorough grasp of the facts and issues. She is an impressive advocate with skills well beyond her call. She relates well to defendants. Catherine has a bright future ahead of her.’
Matthew Cullen
St Philips Chambers
‘Matthew is an exceptionally well-prepared advocate. He is thorough and extremely competent. His advocacy is well structured, well presented and well received. He is a young man who has the potential for greatness.’ 

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