MERGER PLANS ANNOUNCED

Chancery House Chambers is pleased to announce that it will be completing a merger with St Philips Chambers later in 2013. The merger coincides with St Philips opening in London. As such the current members of Chancery House will be able to provide clients with a national presence, covering work across the whole of the country and internationally. The merger follows on from the successful Alliance which was formed with St Philips in 2012.

This development underlines Chancery House’s commitment to expand upon the first-class service it is renowned for, reinforcing its objective to make its exceptional team of barristers the first choice for clients.

Gregory Pipe, Chancery House's Head of Chambers, said:
“The alliance has been very well received, not just by clients in the region but throughout the country. We look forward to our merger with St Philips to add yet another dimension to the range of services we can offer clients.”

Commenting on the move, St Philips Head of Chambers, Kevin Hegarty QC, said:
“I am committed to ensuring that St Philips barristers are at the forefront of modern legal practice. Our client base already spans the UK and overseas and adding London and Leeds to our Birmingham HQ will further enhance the opportunities open to existing and new tenants to practise on a national and international scale.”

St Philips will open its premises in the heart of London in the first half of 2013, with Leeds in the Autumn.

Court of Appeal success in BMW v Hart

William Buck has successfully appeared on behalf of the Appellant, BMW Financial Services, in a case concerning the accrual of limitation periods. The Court of Appeal was concerned with when time starts to run for a claim made pursuant to a liquidated damages provision within a contract. Whilst the contract in issue was a hire purchase agreement, the principles raised in the case have application in a wide range of contracts.

Congratulations to Anthony Edwards

Many congratulations to Anthony Edwards who has been invited by FIDIC to join the President's List of Approved Adjudicators. FIDIC is an International Construction and Engineering Contract used by amongst others the World Bank in over 200 countries. Anthony joins a team of only 30 adjudicators to resolve disputes worldwide. Anthony already serves on other panels including IChemE, CIArb and LCIA. Visit Anthony's web page FIDICadjudicator.co.uk

Chris Owen.

Chris, who is CEO of St Philips, has recently been appointed as Chairman of the Birmingham Law Society Board of Directors. Many congratulations to him which sees him become the first non-lawyer to be appointed as a Chairman of any Law Society in the UK.

John Randall QC.

Many congratulations to John who has won the prestigious “Barrister of the Year Award 2012” at this year’s Birmingham Law Society Legal Awards. He is Head of St Philips Commercial Group and a leading Chancery Commercial Silk. He is a member of the Alliance and his profile is in our members section.

St. Philips & Chancery House form alliance.

Chancery House Chambers are please to announce a formal alliance with Birmingham based St. Philips Barristers Chambers, with effect from March 6th.

More deails are provided in this Times legal section advert.

St. Philips Barristers Chambers website: www.st-philips.com

Sean Kelly joins Chambers.

Sean was called in 1990 and has a commercial practice with particular emphasis on professional negligence claims relating to solicitors and accountants, partnership and LLP law (in particular relating to solicitors’ and medical practices) and company law.

Sarah Harrison joins Chancery House.

Chancery House welcomes Sarah Harrison to Chambers. Sarah [1989] specialises in probate, trusts and the taxation of trusts. Her work encompasses contentious and non contentious matters including extensive experiences of probate litigation and drafting trust documentation.

In particular Sarah deals with the duties of trustees and personal representatives, contentious probate disputes, Will construction, family provision claims, the administration of estates, Court of Protection cases and associated capital taxation issues. She also deals with professional negligence claims related to these areas.

Sarah is recommended in Legal 500.

Important case on Part 36 Offers.
William Buck has successfully won an important dispute on when an offer is a valid Part 36 offer. In Thewlis v Group Ama Insurance Company Limited [2012] EWHC 3 (TCC) it was argued by the offeree that even though the offer was extensively labelled as being ‘Pursuant to Part 36’, it was not a valid Part 36 offer because it did not state that it was intended to have the consequences of Part 36. This argument was accepted by HHJ Behrens, who also held that on a proper construction of the offer letter, the offer was not in strict compliance with the requirements of Part 36. The decision is important as it demonstrates that all the requirements of Part 36 must be strictly adhered to, regardless of how technical they are, otherwise an apparent Part 36 offer will not be valid as such.

Success in the Court of Appeal.
Representing the respondents, William Buck has successfully appeared in front of the Court of Appeal in Kaur v Kaur [29th November 2011]. In their judgment their lordships upheld an argument that the conduct of the Appellant was an abuse of process in seeking to bring fresh claims against the respondents in respect of an alleged £2m trust of property.

Anna Stubley completes pupillage.
We are delighted to announce that Anna Stubley has joined chambers after successfully completing her pupillage. Anna has gained considerable experience in pupillage, from hearings in the County Court to matters in the Court of Appeal. Anna's practice focuses upon areas of commercial chancery, including contested probate disputes, property law, insolvency and company law.

Tax Specialist joins Chambers.
Edward Hewitt [2007] has accepted a position at Chancery House to offer specialist tax advice in respect of all areas of private client work, both contentious and non contentious.

Stuart Roberts joins Chancery House.
Chancery House welcomes Stuart Roberts to Chambers. Stuart was called to the Bar in 1994 and joins us with a strong practice covering the areas of commercial litigation, probate, wills and trusts disputes and employment law.

Article published.
"How Effective is LCIA's Bite on Arbitration in India?" by Chambers member Anthony Edwards.