Head of Chambers: Fiona Barton QC
Senior Clerk: Mark Waller
THE CHAMBERS 5 Essex Court is a specialist civil set and is acknowledged to be one of the leading chambers practising in the field of police law. Members of chambers appear in the great majority of significant cases and public inquires concerning police forces. In addition, chambers has a highly successful Public Law Team, a thriving Employment Team, a well-established Personal Injury Team and a strong Licensing Team. Individual members have successful practices in a variety of other areas including immigration, equine law, insolvency, commercial disputes, contractual disputes, professional negligence, and landlord and tenant. Chambers’ unique expertise and depth of experience, combined with its commitment to excellence, ensures that it is able to handle any case within its fields. Members of chambers provide advocacy and advice of the highest standard in an efficient, effective, helpful and sensitive manner. These attributes, combined with a friendly, accessible and open approach to clerking, allow chambers to offer its clients a comprehensive service in an utterly reliable, highly effective, and straightforward manner.
WORK UNDERTAKEN
Police Law: Chambers is instructed by virtually every police force in the country and has an unrivalled record in police law. Chambers has the highest number of counsel specialising in police law of any set in the country. It has more members identified by the reputable legal practice directories as leaders in the fields of police law than any other set. Members of chambers have appeared in significantly more reported cases concerning police than members on any other set of chambers.
Public Law: Chambers acts for government departments, government agencies, police authorities and other public bodies. It has extensive experience in public inquiries, judicial review, the Human Rights Act, the Data Protection Act, and the Freedom Of Information Act. Members of chambers appear in a wide spectrum of cases concerning equality, discrimination, civil liberties, disciplinary tribunals and immigration. Eight members of Chambers are appointed Junior Council to the Crown (Common Law); three are on ‘A’ Panel, two are on ‘B’ Panel and three are on ‘C’ Panel.
Employment: Members of chambers are at the forefront of employment jurisprudence, appearing in related jurisdictions from the Employment Tribunal to the Court of Appeal. The team comprises dedicated specialist practitioners, each with extensive personal experience of industry and commerce, who offer advice and advocacy on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious work. Members of chambers have strength and depth in all areas of employment law relating to commercial organisations and a collective understanding to deal with the most complex issues. In addition to police forces, clients include global energy suppliers, international construction companies and investment banks, as well as employees at all levels.
Personal Injury: Members of chambers appear for both claimants and defendants, and instructions are received from insurers, local authorities and the police, as well as from privately paying clients. A substantial amount of work is also carried out under conditional fee agreements. Due to the strength in depth of the team at all levels of experience, chambers are able to cover the whole range of personal injury cases, from the most serious and complex multi-track claims to the simplest small track claims. Chambers has extensive experience of advising on and appearing in personal injury claims arising out of accidents at work, product liability, defective premises, highway claims, holiday claims, and road traffic accidents.
Licensing: In response to the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003, chambers has brought together its licensing practitioners to establish a dedicated Licensing Team able to provide expertise in licensing work. Instructions have expanded to include liquor, entertainment, gaming and taxi licensing.