Chambers UK Bar 2023 – “a go-to chancery set”
Serle Court is delighted to announce that chambers has been ranked in 11 practice areas in this year's Chambers UK Bar directory.
Five of those departments are band 1 rankings:
- Chancery: Commercial (Band 1) "the barristers are at the top of their game, incredibly approachable"
- Charities (Band 2) "Serle Court has an established reputation in the charities market"
- Commercial Dispute Resolution (Band 2) "Serle Court is a set noted for its work on extremely high-value commercial disputes"
- Company (Band 3) "Serle Court has a solid reputation for company law work"
- Chancery: Traditional (Band 1) "They are a first-class set, particularly in offshore trust and commercial chancery work"
- Fraud: Civil (Band 1) "Serle Court are routinely instructed in high-profile fraud cases on both a domestic and international scale"
- Offshore (Band 1) "Serle Court is highly renowned for its extensive expertise in offshore trust matters"
- Partnership (Band 1) "Serle Court is a pre-eminent set with a deep bench of barristers who act for law firms, financial services companies and other professional services clients in connection with a variety of partnership issues."
- Professional Negligence (Band 4) "Serle Court is a well-respected set which is noted for its representation of accountants, valuers and solicitors in professional negligence claims."
- Real Estate Litigation (Band 4) "The breadth and depth of expertise is very strong."
- Restructuring/Insolvency (Band 3) "Serle Court is a highly regarded set for insolvency and restructuring matters, and is well positioned to handle cases arising in offshore jurisdictions such as the Channel Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Caribbean."
Our barristers have received 135 individual recommendations across 22 practice areas. 47 members of chambers have received individual rankings in at least one practice area.
We would like to congratulate John Machell KC (Partnership), Dakis Hagen KC (Family: Matrimonial Trust/Tax Experts) and William Henderson (Chancery: Traditional & Charities) who have been recognised as 'Star Individuals'.
We also congratulate Oliver Jones and Stephanie Thompson who have been recognised as 'Up and Coming' in Chancery: Commercial and Chancery: Traditional respectively.
Serle Court's clerking team also receives outstanding feedback in relation to their continued client service:
"The clerks are first-rate. They are always very responsive and helpful."
"The clerks are very good, highly responsive and people who go out of their way to ensure excellent service."
To view the full list of rankings, and Serle Court's Chambers UK Bar 2023 profile, please click here.
Related Barristers
Elizabeth Jones KC
Call: 1984
Silk: 2000
Dominic Dowley KC
Call: 1983
Silk: 2002
Philip Jones KC
Call: 1985
Silk: 2006
Lance Ashworth KC
Call: 1987
Silk: 2006
Christopher Stoner KC
Call: 1991
Silk: 2010
Michael Edenborough KC
Call: 1992
Silk: 2010
John Machell KC has a broad commercial chancery practice, with particular experience in large-scale litigation involving trusts, fiduciary/director duties, and fraud, particularly with an international dimension.
John is regarded as one of the leading partnership and LLP silks and has experience of a wide range of both contentious and non-contentious matters across the whole range of business sectors. A large part of his work involves issues arising from the use of partnerships and LLPs in hedge fund and private equity structures; in international commercial group structures; and as part of wealth planning strategies.
A substantial part of John’s practice is offshore, and he has appeared in the courts of Grand Cayman, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda on several occasions in recent years.
John Machell KC
Call: 1993
Silk: 2012
Hugh Norbury KC
Call: 1995
Silk: 2012
David Blayney KC
Call: 1992
Silk: 2013
Jonathan Adkin KC
Call: 1997
Silk: 2013
As part of a broad Chancery-Commercial practice, Daniel Lightman KC engages with challenging and novel issues of law and civil procedure, in particular concerning shareholder disputes (having appeared in a number of landmark unfair prejudice petitions and derivative claims), company law (including in matrimonial proceedings), insolvency, civil fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and professional negligence.
Shortlisted for Company/Insolvency Silk of the Year in the Chambers & Partners UK Bar Awards in both 2026 and 2024 and shortlisted for Chancery Silk of the Year in the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2026, Daniel is recommended in Band 1 for Silks for Company by both Chambers UK, 2027 and the Legal 500, 2027 – and in Band 1 for Chancery Commercial by Chambers. Chambers UK, 2027 describes him as “A go-to silk for high value, complex disputes who leads the pack on shareholder disputes. He has great judgement and always furnishes reliable advice” and praises him for “constantly identifying innovative solutions to complex problems” and building “outstanding relationships with the wider legal team.”
Daniel has an extensive international practice, including current or recent shareholder litigation in the courts of Abu Dhabi, Bermuda, Cayman, Guernsey and Qatar, and a multi-shareholder arbitration in Hong Kong.
Daniel Lightman KC
Call: 1995
Silk: 2016
Dakis Hagen KC
Call: 2002
Silk: 2017
Constance McDonnell KC
Call: 2000
Silk: 2019
Justin Higgo KC
Call: 1995
Silk: 2020
Giles Richardson KC
Call: 1997
Silk: 2022
Dan McCourt Fritz KC
Call: 2007
Silk: 2023
Matthew Morrison KC has a broad commercial chancery practice, with particular expertise in civil fraud, company and partnership disputes, and insolvency litigation.
Described by Chambers UK 2027 as an “outstanding barrister” who is “technically brilliant, fantastic with clients and someone whose cross-examination is exceptional”, Matthew regularly appears in the High Court and Court of Appeal and has acted in proceedings before the Grand Court and Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (BVI), the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, the Isle of Man High Court of Justice and the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts. He also has significant experience assisting advocates before the Royal Courts of Jersey and Guernsey. He is generally admitted to the BVI Bar and is currently admitted ad hoc on a number of matters in the Cayman Islands.
Matthew is an established legal author. He has written widely read PLC practice notes on minority shareholder remedies and edits chapters on directors’ duties and disqualification, and insolvency, in Gore-Browne, Butterworths Corporate Law Service, Tolley’s Company Law Service and Tolley’s Company Law Handbook; and on unfair prejudice, misfeasance and disqualification in the Law of Limited Liability Partnerships (Whittaker and Machell (6th ed.), 2026).
Matthew Morrison KC
Call: 2004
Silk: 2025
James Weale KC has a very busy commercial chancery practice with a focus on domestic and international commercial and trusts disputes.
He is recognised as a leading practitioner in those fields by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, Chambers Global, Chambers High Net Worth, and Who’s Who Legal, where they describe him as a “brilliant lawyer” and a “Superstar”. He was Chambers & Partners’ Chancery Junior of the Year in 2023.
He regularly appears (both as sole and junior counsel) in the English High Court and has appeared several times in the Court of Appeal. He also has considerable experience in overseas jurisdictions (including as sole counsel), including Bermuda, the DIFC, the BVI, Cayman, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and Panama.
James Weale KC
Call: 2007
Silk: 2026
Andrew Francis
Call: 1977
Andrew Bruce
Call: 1992
David Drake
Call: 1994
Jennifer Haywood
Call: 2001
Jonathan Fowles
Call: 2004
James Mather
Call: 2006
Gareth Tilley
Call: 2007
Paul Adams
Call: 2008
Jennifer Meech
Call: 2008
Adil Mohamedbhai
Call: 2010
Emma Hargreaves
Call: 2012
Oliver Jones is a senior junior with a broad commercial and chancery practice, and particular expertise in private wealth and civil fraud disputes. He is recognised by the directories as a leading junior in these areas.
In addition to his busy practice in England, he regularly works in major offshore jurisdictions, including the Channel Islands, BVI and Bermuda. Ollie was called to the BVI bar in 2019.
In addition to noting his “incredible intellect” and “engaging and persuasive” advocacy, the directories note Ollie’s ability to “roll up his sleeves”, “get on top of huge volumes of work and detail quickly” and build a “great rapport with clients”. In addition to acting unled, Ollie also enjoys working as part of larger teams on large-scale litigation, in which he “consistently delivers impressive results”. Ollie takes pride in his reputation for being “user-friendly” and “great to work with”.
Before coming to the Bar, Ollie spent several years as a management consultant in the financial services, energy, and public sectors. He brings this commercial experience and perspective to bear in his cases.
Oliver Jones
Call: 2014
