
Serle Court has been acknowledged as a Top Tier Set in the following practice areas:
Serle Court has 22 Leading Silks, and 23 Leading Juniors who are recommended across various practice areas in the 2021 directory.
Individual Recommendations
There are 146 individual recommendations this year with 49 out of 70 members of chambers receiving recommendations.
Elizabeth Jones QC, Beverly-Ann Rogers, and James Behrens have all been recognised as Mediators in the ‘Hall of Fame’.
Oliver Jones has received recognition in Civil Fraud as a ‘Rising Star’ and we congratulate him and all of our members who have received fantastic recommendations.
We are particularly grateful to our clients who have spent the time providing feedback on our services, and have highlighted that 'from the top to the bottom they're high-quality barristers and I've not come across one I wouldn't instruct'.
Please see a summary of our recommendations below.
Full coverage in the 2021 Legal 500 guide can be found here.
Leading set rankings
Art and Cultural Property (Tier 1)
Civil Fraud (Tier 1)
Mediators (Tier 1)
Offshore (Tier 1)
Private Client: Trusts and Probate (Tier 1)
Charities (Tier 2)
Commercial Litigation (Tier 2)
Insolvency (Tier 2)
Competition (Tier 2)
Financial Services Regulation (Tier 2)
Intellectual Property (Tier 2)
Tax: Corporate and VAT/Indirect Tax (Tier 2)
Banking and Finance (Tier 3)
International Arbitration: Counsel (Tier 3)
Public International Law (Tier 3)
Family (Tier 4)
Professional Negligence (Tier 4)
Property Litigation (Tier 4)
Company and Partnership
Set Overview
A ‘one-stop shop’, Chancery set Serle Court offers ‘a good spectrum of expertise’ from commercial litigation, to civil fraud, and contentious trusts, shareholder, and insolvency matters, with most of its barristers having expertise across often overlapping fields, as well as having the ‘perfect mix of on and offshore experience’. ‘Juniors are often better value for money than at some of the leading commercial/banking set,’ said one solicitor. In the last year, Constance McDonnell took silk and Zoe O’Sullivan QC arrived from One Essex Court, while Ruth den Besten departed for Essex Court Chambers. Head clerk Steve Whitaker (‘a real gent; responsive, straight-talking, and able to think outside the box’) leads the ‘impressive’ and ‘user-friendly clerks’ room. Co-senior clerks Dan Wheeler (‘commercial and a pleasure to deal with’) and Nick Hockney (‘makes the effort to know the market properly and is very well informed’) are well regarded, as is Paul Ballard (‘great to work with, always helpful, and very responsive’). John Petrie is chambers chief executive.
Call: 1984
Silk: 2000
Call: 1983
Silk: 2002
Call: 1985
Silk: 2006
Call: 1987
Silk: 2006
Call: 1991
Silk: 2010
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.
Call: 1993
Silk: 2012
Call: 1995
Silk: 2012
Call: 1992
Silk: 2013
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.
Call: 1995
Silk: 2016
Call: 2002
Silk: 2017
Call: 2000
Silk: 2019
Call: 1995
Silk: 2020
Call: 1997
Silk: 2022
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).
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.
Call: 2007
Silk: 2026
Call: 1977
Call: 1978
Call: 1979
Call: 1992
Call: 1994
Call: 2001
Call: 2004
Call: 2006
Call: 2008
Call: 2010
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.
Call: 2014