Top London set 39 Essex Chambers has welcomed six new members who specialise in public law and related fields, including author and commentator on civil liberties Sam Fowles.
The new arrivals range in call from 2008 to 2017 and strengthen the set’s junior ranks following a series of silk appointments in successive years, culminating in Peter Mant KC’s appointment earlier this year.
Fowles, a Guardian columnist and author of Overruled: Confronting Our Vanishing Democracy in 8 Cases, is the most recently called of the six and joins from Cornerstone Barristers; Philip Dayle and Rebecca Livesey arrive from No.5 Chambers; Saara Idelbi has moved across from 5 Essex Chambers; Matthew Wyard arrives from 3 Paper Buildings; and Alex Cisneros hails from Outer Temple Chambers.
The set’s co-head of chambers, Charlie Cory-Wright, said: “We are proud to welcome such talented practitioners to chambers. Their collective experience, reputation and commitment to excellence reflect the values we hold as a set.”
Fowles is a public law specialist whose practice includes constitutional law, judicial review, human rights, planning and environment, information law, inquests, public inquiries and public international law.
The writer and commentator is also an academic at King’s College London and director of the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research.
Idelbi is the most senior of the six and is recognised for her work in administrative law, human rights, Court of Protection and community care law, as well as inquests and inquiries.
Philip Dayle, who is also called in Jamaica, where he worked for eight years, practises in the fields of commercial law, inquests and inquiries, and international, regulatory and public law.
He has, among other roles, worked at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington DC and at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva. He trained and qualified at Tooks Chambers before moving to No.5 Chambers in 2013.
Fellow former No.5 Chambers tenant Rebecca Livesey specialises in business and property, clinical negligence, inquests and personal injury work, and practises on the South East and Midlands Circuits.
Matthew Wyard specialises in matters concerning mental capacity and public law. A barrister with particular expertise in the education, health and social care sectors, mental health-care disputes and medical regulation, he spent five years at 3 Paper Buildings, having been called to the Bar in March 2014 with Cardiff law firm Sinclairslaw. He sits as a presiding member of the Valuation Tribunal.
Alex Cisneros, meanwhile, specialises in public law and private client work, with a particular focus on mental capacity. His practice spans Court of Protection health and welfare proceedings, property and affairs disputes, and related public law challenges.
He is a former member of the Bar Council’s Young Barristers’ Committee. Before becoming a barrister, he worked as a researcher for former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Scotland KC.
Lindsay Scott, 39 Essex’s CEO, said: “The addition of six outstanding barristers – each with a proven track record in high-profile and complex matters – further strengthens our ability to offer the best expertise available across the full spectrum of public and civil law.
“We are delighted to welcome everyone to chambers and look forward to further supporting their already flourishing practices.”
Last month, the set welcomed three new tenants on the conclusion of pupillage and in May, it added Singaporean and BVI advocate Andrew Ng to its ranks.
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