Inquests And Inquiries

Leading Silks

Kate Blackwell KC – Lincoln House Chambers ‘Kate has an incredible combination of leadership, team-work, strategy and advocacy skills which puts her at the top of the league in acting for chairs and core participants on public inquiries. Clients like and respect her and she is a pleasure to work with as part of a team.

Louis Browne KC – Exchange Chambers ‘Louis is an extremely astute and intellectual individual. His skill of separating the wheat from the chaff is exceptional and he is able to simplify the most complex evidence into fine-tuned series of issues which is explained to the client efficiently.’

Sophie Cartwright KC – Deans Court Chambers 'Sophie is a very accomplished advocate. She has an assured, calm and confident approach to put a witness at ease and then catapult precise details at them.'

Anna Morris KC – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Anna is a delight to work with, she is approachable, hands on and engaged. She is supportive of her team and particularly the junior barristers that she is leading. She is calm and knowledgeable.’

Pete Weatherby KC – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Pete is one of the leading barristers representing bereaved families at inquests and inquiries. His strategic mind and attention to detail are second to none.'

Sam Karim KC – Kings Chambers

Michael Rawlinson KC – Kings Chambers ‘His opponents respect and like him, and he works as well leading a team as he does dealing with clients from all sorts of backgrounds. He is very personable and keeps his cool and sense of humour in tough situations.'

Leading Juniors

Elizabeth Dudley-Jones – Deans Court Chambers ‘Strong advocate, great with witnesses, robust and fair.'

Leila Ghahhary – Lincoln House Chambers ‘A formidable advocate whose brilliance and sophistication sets her apart. Leila is an elegant, engaging advocate who has a commanding presence in court.'

Tim Holloway – Hundred Court Chambers 'Tim is the very definition of thorough. He relishes the detail in a case and leaves no stone unturned. He has an almost frightening attention to detail.'

Laura Nash – Serjeants’ Inn Chambers

David Pojur – Lincoln House Chambers ‘He is an exceptional advocate who consistently provides clear and practical advice to his clients. David is always prepared and quickly gets to the crux of the brief, allowing ample time to devise an effective strategy.’

David Sandiford – Exchange Chambers

Kate Stone – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Kate is excellent with lay clients, provides pragmatic advice and is not afraid of arguing a difficult or novel point. Kate is also always responsive and great to work with.'

Sara Sutherland – Exchange Chambers ‘Sara is an extremely capable and fiercely passionate advocate. Her knowledge of the coronial process is second to none.’

Austin Welch – Lincoln House Chambers ‘Austin is a very experienced and capable barrister, who has all the specialist knowledge required. He is an excellent and persuasive advocate. He also is personable and puts the client and instructing solicitor at ease.’

Rupert Davies – 18 St John Street Chambers 'He is always very well prepared and easy to work with. He is able to get to the heart of an issue quickly and focus his submissions on the key points. He is a very fair advocate who is able to concede points that have no merit whilst still ensuring his clients interests are protected.'

John Hobson – Doughty Street Chambers 'John is exceptional with clients. He understands their goals and objectives and works tirelessly to achieve those for them. He is patient with clients and ensures he advisesthem and guides them through the difficult inquest process.'

Richard Borrett – Kings Chambers 'Richard is clearly very experienced and knowledgeable he and has a great presence in court.'

Patrick Cassidy – Kenworthy’s Chambers

Virginia Hayton – Deans Court Chambers 'Virginia is great to work with. She is excellent with clients and demonstrates a real depth of knowledge in the healthcare sector. As an advocate, she is clear, concise and extremely effective before courts and tribunals.'

Peter Smith – Deans Court Chambers ‘Attention to detail is second to none, as is his knowledge of the rules and procedures. Distils and simplifies often complex issues and gives clients and those instructing confidence.’

Christian Weaver – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Christian has a natural attention to detail. He sees issues that other team members may not identify, he is confident with clients and knows the law, and he is a star in the making.'

Gail Farrington - Wilberforce Barristers 'Gail has a natural ability to question witnesses effectively without being adversarial in any way. She is able to illicit the information she requires in an empathic way and make witnesses feel at ease.'

Ciara Bartlam – Garden Court North Chambers 'She is very tenacious and willing to put up a fight for her clients. She is also incredibly kind and compassionate with vulnerable clients and has a way of communicating that is human, compassionate, clear, and concise.’

Sarah Barlow – Exchange Chambers

Tom Gent – Deans Court Chambers ‘He is meticulous, frighteningly clever, yet able to illicit the trust of a client within moments of meeting them. His advocacy is nothing short of brilliant, his legal arguments are spectacular and he is a pleasure to watch.’

Joseph Hart – Deans Court Chambers 'He is intuitive about cases and adapts to client needs with an instinctive knowledge of what needs to be done to get the best outcome.'

Rising Stars

Rebecca Titus-Cobb - St John's Buildings 'She is detailed in her preparation which then comes across in her advocacy and she is able to extract key evidence from witnesses. She has a personable manner and is able to put clients at ease.'

Arya Tabrizi – Kings Chambers ‘Arya is excellent on his feet, and in particular for his level of call, which is testament to his attention to detail and his confident and persuasive advocacy style which exceeds his years of experience.’

Lily Lewis - Garden Court North Chambers 'Clear, concise, clever. Made of steel. A very calm advocate, and excellent at drawing together complex and difficult material. She is utterly brilliant and will go far.'

Hamish McCallum – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Hamish is excellent counsel. He is able to act on his feet, accept and act upon last minute, unexpected instructions from clients. Hamish is brilliant at explaining complex matters in lay person’s terms.’

Arya Tabrizi – Kings Chambers 'His attention to detail and his confident and persuasive advocacy style which exceeds his years of experience.'

Oliver Carr – Deans Court Chambers ‘He secures consistent outcomes through painstaking preparation and focused advocacy both in writing and orally. Oliver is pro-active in pointing to the relevant core areas of investigations in some very challenging circumstances.’

Mira Hammad – Garden Court North Chambers

Lily Lewis – Garden Court North Chambers ‘Clear, concise, clever. Made of steel. A very calm advocate, and excellent at drawing together complex and difficult material. I have worked extensively with her this year, leading her. She is utterly brilliant and will go far.’

Hamish McCallum - Garden Court Chambers ‘Hamish is an excellent counsel. He is able to act on his feet, and accept and act upon last minute, unexpected instructions from clients. Hamish is brilliant at explaining complex matters in lay person’s terms.’

Rebecca Titus-Cobb – St John’s Buildings ‘She is detailed in her preparation which then comes across in her advocacy and she is able to extract key evidence from witnesses. She has a personable manner and is able to put clients at ease.’

Inquests and inquiries in Regional Bar

Tier 1 sets

Deans Court Chambers

With an ‘excellent range of counsel of all seniority’, Deans Court Chambers continues to lead on prominent inquests and inquiries on the Northern Circuit. ‘A very accomplished advocate’, Sophie Cartwright KC has played a notable role in the Manchester Arena inquiry and continues to lead on a range of judicial reviews and inquests. With strength and depth of experience at the junior level, the set can employ the abilities of Elizabeth Dudley-Jones, who is regularly instructed by local authorities and other public bodies to lead on of very high-profile inquests, with recent work including the inquest touching the death of Brianna Ghey, and Peter Smith, who has a practice that is primarily focuses on inquests into complex deaths in care matters. Also leading on inquests and inquires in the set are Oliver Carr, who leads on behalf of bereaved families and has been praised for his ‘painstaking preparation and focused advocacy’, as well as Tom Gent and Virginia Hayton, who have recently been instructed on a number of inquests concerning deaths in care, a number of which relate to the possible engagement of ECHR Article 2.

Referenzen

‚Pete Conwell always goes above and beyond.‘

‚Excellent and very personable. Pete Kelly is a star.‘

‚Ben Bennett-Williams is a star, responds immediately and helps resolve queries quickly and efficiently. ‚

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Exchange Chambers

The members of Exchange Chambers integrate experiences across a range of varying legal fields, from clinical negligence to professional disciplinary law, to lead on high-profile inquests and inquiries on behalf of bereaved families and public bodies alike. Louis Browne KC has been instructed on a number of prominent matters relating to deaths in care, most notably representing three of the bereaved parents in the Thirlwall Inquiry into baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital. David Sandiford is an inquest law specialist who has particular recent experience in inquiries into murders on behalf of the Probation Service, and he also recently led on a complex, four-week long inquiry into the death of a neurodiverse prisoner in custody. Sara Sutherland focuses her practice on deaths in hospitals, and also sits as an assistant coroner with experience in ECHR Article 2 inquests.

Referenzen

‚The service provided by the clerks‘ room is of an exceptional quality. Neil Wright has the ability to problem-solve any complex issue in a swift manner. Sarah Rotherham and Rachel Williams are both professional and effective in everything that they do.‘

‚Their quality of barristers is superb and unmatched.‘

‚The clerks are always very accommodating and helpful.‘

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Garden Court North Chambers

Garden Court North Chambers has ‘an exceptional set of barristers specialising in inquest law’, and the set’s leading individuals have led on a number of the largest public inquiries and inquests in recent years. ‘Excellent with clients and a real heavyweight in inquiry work’, Pete Weatherby KC continues to represent the bereaved in the Covid-19 and Undercover Policing inquiries, working alongside the ‘humane, empathetic, and compassionate’ Anna Morris KC, whose broad practice also include leading on civil claims concerning the deaths of mental health patients in care. At the junior level, Kate Stone is an inquiry specialist who is particularly renowned for her expertise in inquests into deaths that engage right to life under ECHR Article 2, the ‘fearless, sharp and incisive’ Ciara Bartlam leads on behalf on charities and bereaved families, and Christian Weaver has led on inquests into deaths following traffic collisions alongside assisting other members of the set on major public inquiries. An ‘exceptional legal and strategic mind‘, Lily Lewis has an increasingly well-regarded inquests practice including a number of Middleton inquests, and was recently instructed on a two-week jury inquest concerning the death of a mental health patient in care.

Referenzen

‚Garden Court North are an exceptional set of barristers specialising in inquest law. It is clear that they are all trained to use a trauma informed approach to bereaved families, which makes a huge difference to their journey through the inquest process.‘

‚Counsel at Garden Court North often have a multidisciplinary practice and relevant background experience, enabling them to advise and support clients on wide-reaching change-making, including on a political and parliamentary scale. They are extremely committed to their clients and are fearless in the pursuit of justice, both on individual cases.‘

‚Very strong set of chambers in their expertise. They are all guided well and supported by their seniors.‘

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Tier 2 sets

Kings Chambers

Kings Chambers‘ inquests and inquiries group lead on behalf individuals and public bodies, including local authorities and government departments. Richard Borrett‘s recent work covers instruction from government departments in the Covid-19 Inquiry, a complex six-week long jury inquest into the death of a patient detained under the Mental Health Act, and a number of inquests into suspicious deaths in care homes. Rising star Arya Tabrizi has a growing public law practice, and has represented bereaved families in inquests into deaths in custody, social care, and in hospital, including a number that have engaged ECHR Article 2.

Referenzen

‚Steve Loxton as senior clerk is one of the best in the business.‘

‚Steve Loxton is usually very efficient and quick at getting back to you.‘

‚Good strong set of chambers.‘

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Lincoln House Chambers

Lincoln House Chambers are ‘well respected both in the northwest and nationally in the field of public inquiries and inquests’. The group is spearheaded by Kate Blackwell KC, renowned for her ‘great ability to lead a team’, who has led on some of longest and most prominent national public inquiries. With an ‘encyclopedic knowledge of the law around inquests’, David Pojur is relied on in the High Court and by coroners on complex and lengthy inquests and judicial reviews. Leila Ghahhary is commonly instructed as counsel in independent public inquiries, a number of which have contentious political elements, and Austin Welch has particular expertise in inquests following deaths in traffic collisions. Inquests specialist Brenda Campbell KC joined the set in October 2024; she continues to be a door tenant of Garden Court Chambers in London.

Referenzen

‚Ty Price is probably the best clerk in Manchester for his passion for the job he does. He delivers for his barristers and the solicitors who instruct them. He takes everything in his stride and nothing is ever too much hassle for him.‘

‚The clerks here go above and beyond and will assist not only in terms of finding barristers but in liaising with the courts and dealing with any listing problems. All are excellent but special mention for David Wright, Andy McGuiness and Ty Price.

‚Ty Price consistently demonstrates professionalism and efficiency. He has excellent communication skills which ensure clear and effective interactions with clients, barristers, and solicitors.

Ranking nach PraxisbereichRegional Bar