St John's Buildings

St John’s Buildings‘ criminal practice group is home to Gemma Maxwell, who has notable expertise in cross-examining children and vulnerable adults, in addition to conducting section 28 hearings in cases concerning rape, serious violence, and sexual offences. Rebecca Penfold predominantly defends in serious sexual offence cases, and of recent note, she represented one of the defendants in a child sexual exploitation case. Mark Connor is frequently sought after to defend and prosecute in cases surrounding charges of murder, manslaughter and attempted murder, death by dangerous driving, and drug offences. Connor prosecuted in a case involving historic child abuse, including sexual offences and child cruelty.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

'The clerks are excellent, keep you updated and informed throughout, and they are always on hand. Andy Booth in particular is incredibly helpful and efficient.'
'Mark Robinson, Greg Brooker, and Avril Vaughan never fail to provide excellent service, being especially helpful and flexible, appearing to make the impossible happen at times.'
'Excellent clerking, particularly by Andy Booth and Joe Murphy.'
'Brilliant set with an excellent range of barristers. They are brilliant in ensuring continuity of counsel. They ensure that if your instructed barrister is not available they will move the hearing to ensure that the barrister is available.'

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.

Richard Thyne KC

St John’s Buildings

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.

Mark Connor

St John’s Buildings

‘Mark is hard working and on conferences it is apparent he is fully au fait with the file and engages well with the client. He handles himself well in court, both so far as the client is concerned and in his dealings with the judge, and he is politely forceful when putting his points across.'

Gemma Maxwell

St John’s Buildings

‘Gemma is without a shadow of doubt one of the best barristers on the northern circuit. Her legal knowledge is surpassed by none, she is incredibly well organised and formidable in court, and her advocacy skills are incredible as she is able to think strategically throughout the duration of the case to ensure the best possible outcome for clients.'

Rebecca Penfold

St John’s Buildings

‘Rebecca is an outstanding junior who is always prepared, works extremely hard, and is an incredibly clear thinker. She can deal with novel and challenging situations and judges have confidence in both her written advocacy and command of the law.'

Thomas Sherrington

Peter Gilmour

David John James

Ben Lawrence