Garden Court Chambers expands with 57 new tenants

The expansion began in the spring of this year, through both an advertised recruitment, and through a number of established practitioners approaching us.The pace and scale of recruitment increased following the sad news last month that Tooks Chambers had been forced into dissolution. Given the similar background, ethos and approach of the two sets, Garden Court has been a natural choice for many barristers previously practising at Tooks.

The expansion means that we now have 187 barristers practising at Garden Court, and that we remain the largest barristers' chambers in London. Chambers will continue to operate from our existing building on Lincoln's Inn Fields in central London.

Speaking on the expansion, Joint Head of Chambers Henry Blaxland QC said:

"Garden Court Chambers has been significantly strengthened across all of our practice areas by this expansion. The government's remorseless attack on public funding means that we face stiff challenges in the months and years to come, but we are now well placed to build on our past success."

Colin Cook, Senior Clerk to Chambers, said:

"This development is all about us building upon and improving our existing service in terms of the advice and advocacy we can offer clients. Through innovative use of our resources - desk space, IT, and of course our staff - we are able to stay alive and flourish in what is a shrinking market."

The full list of barristers who have joined us this year is as follows:

• Patrick Roche - Called 1977 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Stephen Kamlish QC - Called 1979 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Elizabeth Woodcraft - Called 1980 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Jenny Boswell - Called 1982 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Martin Huseyin - Called 1988 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Peter Wilcock QC - Called 1988 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Christopher Williams - Called 1988 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Piers Mostyn - Called 1989 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Alistair Polson - Called 1989 (Previously practised at 1 Pump Court)
• Rebecca Chapman - Called 1990 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Carol Hawley - Called 1990 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Clare Wade - Called 1990 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Nicola Braganza - Called 1992 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Allison Munroe - Called 1992 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Sandra Fisher - Called 1993 (Previously practised at Renaissance Chambers)
• Amina Ahmed - Called 1995 (Previously practised at Renaissance Chambers)
• Grace Brown - Called 1995 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Glen Hodgetts - Called 1995 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Amanda Weston - Called 1995 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Di Middleton - Called 1997 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Jacqueline Vallejo - Called 1997 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Nick Wrack - Called 1997 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Paul Troop - Called 1998 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Rebekah Wilson - Called 1998 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Beth O'Reilly - Called 1999 (Previously practised at 25 Bedford Row)
• Minka Braun - Called 2000 (Previously practised at 25 Bedford Row)
• Sam Parham - Called 2000 (Previously practised at 1 Pump Court)
• Christian Wasunna - Called 2000 (Previously practised at 2 Dr Johnson's Buildings)
• Felicity Williams - Called 2000 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Paramjit Ahluwalia - Called 2002 (Previously practised at Farringdon)
• Stella Harris - Called 2002 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Victoria Meads - Called 2002 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Sam Robinson - Called 2002 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Colin Yeo - Called 2002 (Previously practised at Renaissance Chambers)
• Abigail Smith - Called 2003 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Anthony Harrison - Called 2004 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Davina Krishnan - Called 2004 (Previously practised at St Albans Chambers)
• William Tautz - Called 2004 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Joanne Cecil - Called 2005 (Previously practised at 1 Pump Court)
• Leonie Hirst - Called 2006 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Stephen Lue - Called 2006 (Previously practised at Goldsmith Chambers)
• Greg Ó Ceallaigh - Called 2006 (Previously practised at 1 Pump Court)
• Srikantharajah Nereshraaj - Called 2007 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Giles Newell - Called 2007 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Richard Reynolds - Called 2007 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• James Mehigan - Called 2008 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Jesse Nicholls - Called 2010 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Bijan Hoshi - Called 2011 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Catherine Oborne - Called 2011 (Previously practised at Tooks Chambers)
• Tom Stoate - Called 2011 (Completed pupillage at Garden Court Chambers in 2012)

In addition, all six of our pupil barristers have joined as permanent members of Chambers, following completion of their pupillages:

• Ali Bandegani
• Tessa Buchanan
• Paul Clark
• Taimour Lay
• Maria Moodie
• Ifeanyi Odogwu

For details about barristers' availability for work, please consult the clerks:

• For general enquiries about our services, please contact Colin Cook, Senior Clerk to Chambers colinc@gclaw.co.uk Tel 020 7993 7620
• For civil law and housing cases, please contact Phil Bampfylde philb@gclaw.co.uk Tel: 020 7993 7640
• For crime cases, please contact Keith Poynter keithp@gclaw.co.uk Tel: 020 7993 7625
• For family law cases, please contact Rob Abrahams roba@gclaw.co.uk Tel: 020 7993 7634
• For immigration cases, please contact Lisa O'Leary lisao@gclaw.co.uk Tel: 020 7993 7631

Garden Court always welcomes confidential enquiries from barristers who share our unique ethos and whose professional experience complements the strengths and overall development of our practice teams. Details about our special recruitment procedure can be found here.

For media enquiries, please contact Ben Walker, Marketing Officer on 020 7993 7671 or email benw@gclaw.co.uk, or Steffan Roberts, Director of Services & HR on 020 7993 7660 or email steffanr@gclaw.co.uk.