In the 2025 Legal 500 rankings, Albion Chambers and its members received 42 rankings, 9 more than last year. Of these rankings, 17 were Tier 1.
As a set, we ranked in the highest tier for Business and Regulatory Crime (Including Health and Safety), Family: Divorce and Financial Remedy, and Inquests and Inquiries. We were also highly ranked in Crime (General and Fraud) and Family: Children and Domestic Violence.
Among the testimonials of Chambers and our Clerking Team, it was said:
‘Albion Chambers is an excellent set. All barristers are of a high standard from KC to pupils.’
‘Albion Chambers is a great set offering a range of exceptional counsel.’
‘Albion Chambers is ‘a leading set in Bristol, with an excellent collection of family barristers’ capable of handling a range of financial remedy matters.’
‘Albion Chambers is ‘an excellent set of family barristers and the go-to set in Bristol’ for advice on complex childcare cases.’
‘Albion Chambers is the go-to set. It is an excellent team of criminal practitioners that deal with the full range of criminal and regulatory matters with an excellent selection of reliable and approachable silks.’
‘Albion Chambers is the pinnacle for criminal and regulatory matters. There is enormous strength in depth, with some real heavy hitters and quality advocates.’
‘Albion Chambers has an excellent team of inquest practitioners who can deal with the full range of matters.’
‘Albion Chambers is a go-to set. Its counsel are technically experts in what they do and personable with clients.’
‘Albion Chambers is an excellent set of family barristers and one of the go-to Chambers in Bristol.’
‘Albion Chambers is a good set, best in the South West.’
‘Albion Chambers is a go-to and fantastic set. The clerks are easy to communicate with, and the availability of counsel is great.’
‘The clerks are responsive, professional and helpful.’
‘Michael Harding and Julie Hathway are excellent and helpful clerks.
‘The clerks at Albion are brilliant, particularly Michael Harding and Julie Hathway, keen to help and will juggle diaries to assist solicitors in need.’
‘Nick Jeanes is always willing to help and will endeavour to find appropriate counsel, often at short notice.’
‘The clerks at Albion Chambers are professional and have a wealth of experience. Charlotte Fryer is always on hand to assist with queries and provide a prompt and effective response.’
‘The family clerks are responsive and go above and beyond. Michael Harding knows the issues inside out and never loses his cool. Grace Northeast is able beyond her years and can calmly manage tricky issues.’
‘Julie Hathway is helpful and quick to respond.’
Many of our members received individual comments:
Divorce and Financial Remedy
Richard English – ‘Richard is technically excellent and explains the process and possible outcomes clearly. His grasp of the law is exemplary.’ ‘A methodical, well-prepared, experienced advocate’
Nicholas Sproull – ‘Nicholas is a powerful advocate who is authoritative, persuasive and measured. He has an excellent ability to deal with the most complex of cases.’
Daniel Leafe – ‘Daniel has an excellent eye for detail and is exceptionally strategic and well-prepared.’
Gemma Borkowski – ‘Gemma is a very experienced and competent counsel. Her advocacy is tenacious.’ ‘A very thorough advocate who always knows her case inside out’
Caroline Middleton – ‘Caroline is an eloquent, persuasive barrister. She builds relationships of trust with clients and solicitors with ease. She works hard for her clients and will go the extra mile to ensure her case is fully prepared and understands her client’s needs.’
Alexander West – ‘Alex is calm and measured in his advice and communications, being robust in a quiet, unassuming way.’
Family and Children Law
Fiona Farquhar – ‘Fiona is a very strong and assertive advocate. She is always very empathetic to the client’s needs and pragmatic. She will go over and above to assist.’ ‘Tenacious advocate who commands the court room’
Sarah Pope – ‘Sarah is a tenacious advocate who makes clients feel she is fighting their corner. She is extremely well prepared both in her paperwork and advocacy.’
Alice Darian – ‘Alice is a very good advocate with an impressive eye for detail.’ ‘Expert litigator’
Joanna Lucas – ‘Joanna is an exceptionally good advocate, thorough and meticulous in her preparation. She is a very safe pair of hands for a wide range of clients.’ ‘Strong and focused advocate’
Jonathan Wilkinson – Ranked
Caroline Middleton – ‘Caroline is very emphatic whilst being pragmatic with clients where necessary. She is a strong advocate, passionately putting forward a client’s case.’
William Heckscher – ‘William is very knowledgeable. He has very calming manners with clients and is a strong advocate.’
Yasmine El-Nazer – ‘Yasmine is excellent at keeping her instructing solicitors up-to-date in cases. She has the right approach with vulnerable clients, being empathetic but giving them firm advice. She is thorough when dealing with issues in the courtroom.’
Gemma Borkowski – ‘Gemma has extraordinary attention to detail and is very meticulous. She is a fierce advocate, her legal knowledge is second to none, and her cross-examination skills are spectacular.’
Hayley Griffiths – ‘Hayley is a first-class advocate. Her cross-examination is highly skilled. She is calm, approachable and very measured.’
Simranjit Kamal – ‘Simranjit is a very strong advocate for her client’s case.’
Crime (General and Fraud)
Adam Vaitilingam KC – ‘Adam is meticulous, and his wide-ranging knowledge and expertise across practice areas are invaluable. He is easy-going and a first-class advocate.’ ‘A first-choice silk for murders who prepares cases thoroughly and identifies the key issues at the outset’
Kate Brunner KC – Ranked
Sarah Regan – ‘Sarah is an exceptional advocate. Her cases are always meticulously prepared with great attention to detail. She is a formidable opponent but always approaches her cases in a spirit of fairness.’ ‘A class act’
Edward Hetherington – ‘Edward is a skilled, persuasive, down to earth and courageous advocate.’ ‘Outstanding and goes above and beyond responsively and comprehensively’
Charley Pattison – ‘Charley is a tenacious advocate whose fearless approach is respected by judges and opponents and admired by juries.’
Rupert Russell – ‘Rupert is an intelligent and thoughtful barrister. He has extremely good judgement, provides sound advice and is very good on his feet.’
Emma Martin – Ranked
Business and Regulatory Crime (Including Health and Safety)
Kate Brunner KC – Ranked
David Sapiecha – ‘David is a go-to advocate who provides extremely pragmatic advice, particularly on out-of-court disposals and appeals by way of case-stated. His advocacy style is relaxed, always courteous and respectful.’
Alan Fuller – ‘Alan’s depth of knowledge and expertise in regulatory crime is excellent. He is reliable, responsive and approachable.’ ‘Outstanding in his field, always capable of seeing the bigger picture while not losing sight of the client’s objective’
Alexander West – ‘Alex is an exceptional advocate. He is clear and concise in court and has the ear of judges because he is so measured. His paperwork is good, and he gives sound and robust advice.‘
Inquests and Inquiries
Kate Brunner KC – ‘Kate is thorough, considered and always well-prepared.’ ‘A formidable advocate with a commanding presence’ and has an extensive practice that covers all kinds of investigations – she chaired the Manx government’s review into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
David Sapiecha – ‘David is a class act. He is collected and controlled and approaches all matters with a sense of humour which instils a sense of confidence when faced with even the most daunting case.’
Alexander West – ‘Alex is meticulously well-prepared, a brilliant tactician and impressive on his feet. He always seems to know the right approach to getting the best outcome.’ ‘Succinct and persuasive advocacy’
The full list of rankings and quotes of chambers and our members can be found on the Legal500 website here.
