
Top Ranked Set
Park Square BarristersThe 2021 edition of Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 UK Bar 2021 has been announced and Park Square Barristers has a very strong presence across all practice areas and are delighted to have increased our number of individual entries in The Legal 500 to 51 Barristers ranked across 7 practice areas and in Chambers and Partners to 21 across 8 practice areas
The Legal 500
PSQB has been recommended as a TOP-TIER SET in 3 practice areas and has been recommended in 2 others.
Regulatory Team
We are delighted to have been recognised as the only Tier 1 chambers for Business and Regulatory Crime (including Health & Safety) on the North Eastern Circuit with Leading Silk Richard Wright Q.C. and Leading Juniors; Craig Hassall, Tom Gent, Simon Clegg, Howard Shaw and Robert Stevenson all recognised as Tier 1 experts in their fields.
Our Inquest & Inquiries team have also received recognition as the only Tier 1 set on circuit in this category with no fewer than five Tier 1 Leading Juniors. Lorraine Harris, Tom Gent, Janine Wolstenholme, Kirsten Mercer and Kate Wilson are all recognised as Tier 1 and Simon Connolly has been recognised as a “Rising Star”.
Criminal Team
PSQB has also retained its Tier 1 status in Crime. 19 individual counsel are ranked.
‘A fantastic set with great reach and depth‘, Park Square Barristers is ‘a large set with considerable strength in depth across age and experience ranges‘
Richard Wright QC, Peter Moulson QC, Abdul Iqbal QCand Kama Melly QC are ranked as Leading Silks.
15 barristers are ranked as Leading Junior with Mark McKone, Catherine Silverton, Robert Stevenson and Taryn Turner listed in tier 1.
Other barristers ranked in Crime are Gill Batts, Kate Batty, David Gordon, Kitty Colley, Andrew Dallas, Craig Hassall, Glenn Parsons, Matthew Harding, Julian Jones, Shufqat Khan and Soheil Khan.
Family Team
PSQB’s Family Team is recommended : “Park Square Barristers is home to experienced family practitioners in the North Eastern circuit. The team is involved in many complex cases such as non-accidental injuries, sexual abuse, radicalisation, and often involves an international element.”
Head of Family Team Charlotte Worsley is listed in tier 1 along with David Orbaum.
Jane Curnin, Martin Todd, James Hargan, Natalia Perrett and Huw Lippiatt are also listed for Child Law matters.
Mark Henley is ranked for Divorce and Financial Remedy cases.
Civil Team
In Civil, Legal 500 note “ Park Square Barristers has a nationally renowned personal injury, disease, and clinical negligence team, representing both claimants and defendants nationwide. Andrew Lewis QC‘s practice involves high-value catastrophic injury claims, particularly brain and spinal cord injury cases. Lewis QC was involved in the first case in which an order approving periodical payments of future heads of expenses and losses had been made in the Isle of Man. The value of the claim was £25m. Andrew Lewis QC and Richard Paige are ranked in tier 1 for Clinical negligence.
Simon Anderson is a leading name in disease litigation and psychiatric injury claims on the North East Circuit. Judy Dawson is regularly instructed by defendants in high-value claims and she is well-versed in the technicalities that arise in relation to such issues and complex disclosure arguments. Richard Paige has practiced for over 20 years in all areas of personal injury and acts for defendant insurers in defending spurious claims. The arrivals of Andrew Wilson, Ruwena Khan, and Mark Henley from the now-closed Zenith Chambers have further strengthened the team”
Fiona Ross is “approachable and thorough, with a great depth of knowledge” and Peter Wilson is a “wonderful advocate, very organised of thought”
In Chancery, David Rose “ is a senior junior ‘but of a silk quality‘, according to instructing solicitors. He is experienced in probate and inheritance matters, including those with an international dimension”
Overall PSQB is noted “In addition to being ‘a chambers of choice for criminal law, in both the Crown and Magistrates Court’, Park Square Barristers is also ‘a very strong set in public and private law children work with an enviable team of excellent members’. Richard Sadler is the senior managing clerk, who is supported by senior family clerk Claudine Cooper (‘a joy to work with – she is a gem of a clerk who goes the extra mile’), senior criminal clerk Andrew Thornton, senior regulatory and public clerk Madeleine Gray, and the ‘very helpful’ senior civil clerk Francine Kirk. Offices in: Leeds.
Full details of the PSQB rankings can be found on The Legal 500 website, please click here to view.
Chambers of Partners
Crime
Led by Head of Chambers, Richard Wright QC band 1 silk –”He is brilliant in cross-examinations and makes everything clearly understood. He’s also very persuasive and has a great manner in court.” “A very powerful silk. He takes control and is a masterful advocate.”
Deputy Head of Chambers Kama Melly QC –”She will fight her client’s corner and does not back down at all.”
Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury
Andrew Lewis QC is ranked in band 1 for –”An excellent and very experienced silk. He is very calm, reassuring, thorough and always extremely well prepared.” “He is a polished advocate and a delightful opponent.” “A gifted advocate who has the ability to communicate well with families and put them at ease.” “He is highly skilled, extremely approachable, and excellent both in court and in negotiations.”
Environment
Simon Clegg -“He is excellent.” “He is instructed on a regular basis by the Environment Agency, who highly respect him.”
Members have been noted in Inquests & Public Inquiries for the first time:
Kirsten Mercer -“She was so impressive – she was tactical and astute in her analysis.” “She is cool and calm with clients and very reassuring.”
Janine Wolstenholme -“Janine is very personable, and her ability to condense complex legal points into simple terms for all concerned shows how acute her knowledge and skills are. Her strengths include her attention to detail and client care skills.”
Motor Insurance Fraud
Judy Dawson is ranked band 1 –”She provides excellent, compelling defences that set out complex issues in a very digestible way. She thinks clearly and decisively on the key issues and strategy, and turns around papers in rapid time.” “Judy’s reputation is just stellar. She is really excellent and all over the details.”
Peter Wilson – band 1 – “He’s absolutely thorough – you know that any instructions will be gone through with a fine-tooth comb and every eventuality and legal argument will be covered.” “He’s extremely personable and very good with lay clients. He goes through things, calms nerves and ensures they are prepared for questioning.”
Matthew Smith –”He is a very good advocate, and clients will be in good hands with him.” “His advocacy and experience in fraud matters are excellent and he has achieved some great results. He is tenacious in court and knows how to get to the heart of the case in a concise, clear and compelling way.”
Richard Paige -“He takes a very thorough and methodical approach. He’s been doing this work for quite a while and is highly regarded in the area.” “A really tough opponent who is cunning and very capable.”
Family: Children
James Hargan –”He’s very measured, calm and delivers killer blows in the nicest way. He’s extremely forensic.” “He’s well prepared, considered, and his court manner is extremely calm and smooth.”
Martin Todd -“He is genuinely interested in the case and the outcome. His client care is really excellent. He is very experienced and a good advocate, and is good at high-conflict cases.”
Charlotte Worsley – “She’s well prepared, always thinks carefully about her case and has good client care.” “She’s exceptional. She has an excellent reputation, whether she is acting for the parent or local authority or child, and she does excellent evaluation of the evidence and the advocacy is spot on. She’s just on point.”
Park Square Barristers retains it’s band 1 ranking for Crime and band 2 for Motor Insurance Fraud.
To see the full rankings please click here