"outstandingly clever, brilliant tacticians"
Our work in relation to charities ranges from non-contentious advice and drafting as to the creation and structuring of charities, through applications to the Charity Commission or the court by charity trustees for advice or directions to hostile litigation in all cases both in England and abroad.
Serle Court has been home to the two barristers most recently appointed Junior Counsel to the Treasury in Charity Matters: William Henderson (now retired) and Jonathan Fowles, advising and (where necessary in litigation) representing the Attorney General as constitutional defender of charity and the charitable interest.
Members of Chambers have also acted for or advised the Charity Commission, ministerial government departments, charity trustees, interim managers, and other interested parties. Few of the leading charity cases over the last 15 years do not feature one or more members of Serle Court.
Recent cases in which members have been involved include Merton LBC v Nuffield Health (Supreme Court), Lehtimaki v Cooper (Supreme Court), Daji v Mohammed (Court of Appeal), Attorney General v Zedra Fiduciary Services (Court of Appeal), Butler-Sloss v Charity Commission (High Court), and Re Keeping Kids Co (High Court).
The issues members of Chambers have dealt with range from the high profile question of whether independent schools provide sufficient public benefit to justify their charitable status to questions of whether unusual provisions in wills or trusts create charitable gifts or are void and from issues as to the validity of elections of a charity’s committee to questions of whether a charity has complied with the special statutory requirements for the sale of land. Following appropriate advice many of the potential disputes involving wills are disposed of without the need for court proceedings, and many of the cases with which members of Chambers are involved are not only confidential but sensitive.
Jonathan Fowles and Gregor Hogan are co-editors of the leading textbook, Tudor on Charities, 11th Ed. (2022, Sweet & Maxwell).
Welcome to SerleShare
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Second judgment handed down in High Court Case Keepers and Governors of the Free Grammar School of John Lyon v Attorney General [2025] EWHC 849
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"a definite go-to chambers for contentious trust work"
