Wilberforce Chambers has appointed deputy practice director Andrew Barnes to succeed practice director Nicholas Luckman after an 18-month transition period during which they will jointly hold the role.
The two will work in tandem from January, heading the chambers’ clerking and management teams until March 2027.
At that point, Luckman will move to a consultancy role, marking the end of an impressive tenure at the set, which is known for its clerking stability.
This title understands that Luckman, the sole practice director at the leading Chancery commercial set since 2014, spoke with the set’s management board in 2024, on the tenth anniversary of taking the role, to establish a three-year transition plan to appoint his successor.
Luckman currently manages Wilberforce at the strategic and operational levels, working closely with marketing director Hayley Duggan and alongside executive director John Treacy, who has overall responsibility for non-clerking operations.
Barnes, who joined Wilberforce as a clerk in 2011, was appointed deputy practice director in 2024 and manages the clerks’ room.
Luckman will become a consultant at the end of the transition period, a role he will hold until the following year. During his tenure, the set has swelled its ranks from 51 members, of whom 23 were Queen’s Counsel, to 88 barristers, of whom 35 are now King’s Counsel.
Since 2014, turnover at Wilberforce has increased by nearly 140%, and international work by over 200%, with the added size and growth in capability prompting the set's move in September to Hardwicke Building in Lincoln's Inn, where it has taken all five floors.
Significant arrivals over the past five years include those of Thomas Grant KC and John McGhee KC, who joined from Maitland Chambers, and Stuart Isaacs KC, who joined from White & Case. The set also welcomed former High Court judge Sir Paul Morgan as a tenant and has recruited nine junior barristers between five and fifteen years’ call to support organic growth.
Luckman had previously spent 32 years at rival set XXIV Old Buildings, where he was practice director for 27 years, having risen through the ranks to manage the set before moving to Wilberforce.
His tenure established modern marketing and business management practices and built XXIV a high profile in offshore and International work, which remains essential to them today.
Luckman joined Wilberforce as a replacement for Declan Redmond, following his move to lead Keating Chambers. Redmond, a 30-year veteran at Wilberforce, recently joined BRG in a senior management position.
The move reflects successful changes at other sets. 4 Stone Buildings previously announced that long-term senior clerk David Goddard would step down after 42 years to take a consultancy role, succeeded by joint senior clerks Ben Lashmar and Ryan Tunkel.
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