18 St John Street Chambers are delighted to announce that all our departments have received further recognition in the 2024 edition of the prestigious Chambers & Partners legal directory rankings.
The Business & Property Department are ranked Band 2 in Chancery for the first time where Elisabeth Tythcott, Dr Christopher McNall, Dr Mike Wilkinson and Oliver Caplan join Richard Chapman KC and David Hoffman as being ranked. Head of department Oliver Caplan stated, “this is testament to the quality of work our department receives from our loyal clients. We continue to be instructed in some of the leading and most challenging cases in the High Court and Business & Property Courts up and down the country.”
Richard Chapman KC is now ranked in 8 categories having now been ranked in Real Estate Litigation Band 2 where he joins Dr Christopher McNall. Richard is also ranked Band 1 in Commercial Dispute Resolution and Tax alongside his other 6 rankings. Dr Christopher McNall is now ranked in 4 categories including Band 1 for Agriculture & Rural Affairs and Tax. He is also ranked in Chancery and Real Estate Litigation.
Jennifer Newstead-Taylor is ranked Band 2 for the first time and joins Richard Chapman KC in the Restructuring & Insolvency rankings.
The hugely popular Elisabeth Tythcott joins Head of Business & Property Department Oliver Caplan in being ranked Band 3 in Commercial Dispute Resolution for the first time, joining Richard Chapman KC, Band 1.
Oliver Caplan maintains his Band 3 ranking in Social Housing resulting in 3 rankings overall.
Rupert Davies is the 4th member of the department ranked in Tax having been instructed in several reported cases in recent times. He is ranked Band 2 and joins Richard Chapman KC, Band 1, Dr Christopher McNall, Band 1 and Jenny Newstead-Taylor, Band 2. The 18 SJS Tax Litigation specialists are the largest and most recognised department outside of the London Tax Chambers.
Our Family Law Department is ranked again in Band 2 and continues to enhance their growing reputation as one of the leading expert departments in the country and the go-to choice for many Family Law specialists.
The exceptional Kate Bramall is ranked Band 3 for the first time. Fiona Holloran is elevated to Band 1, recognising her powerful and persuasive advocacy and reward for her hard work and dedication in care work. Sam Birtles retains her long standing Band 1 achievement and Stephen Murray continues to be praised for his work in Family Matrimonial Finance, Band 2 where he is consistently involved in high value and complex financial remedy cases.
Head of 18’s Family Department, Leonie Caplan, said “it is recognition for the incredible work our members undertake on a daily basis, working across the full spectrum of family law with some extremely vulnerable clients in very challenging cases.”
The Personal Injury, Clinical Negligence & Costs Department continue their renaissance with Head of Department Elahe Youshani being ranked Band 3 for the first time in recognition of the serious injury practice she has developed. Kane Simons maintains his ranking and continues to develop his reputation for handling high-value and complex catastrophic work and he is one of the leading authorities in the new area of the law surrounding E-Scooters and E-Bikes.
Gemma McGungle continues to be ranked in Clinical Negligence work where she is praised for the exceptional level of service that she provides clients on challenging and sensitive cases.
In addition, our door tenant Steve Killalea KC maintains his “Star Silk” status, the highest accolade granted by Chambers & Partners.
18 St John Street Chambers Criminal Department also enhanced their rankings with Michael Brady KC ranked following a string of high-profile cases he has prosecuted and defended. Andy Evans maintained his Band 3 ranking across all Circuits in the specialist area of POCA work and Asset Forfeiture. Richard Vardon is elevated to Band 1, a reflection of the serious work he undertakes in representing defendants in murder and drug importation cases. He is often chosen counsel for pursuing Appeals. Rachel Faux, who deals with the most complex criminal work, including serious sexual offences & murder, continues to be ranked in Band 2.
18 St John Street Chambers Head of Chambers, Richard Chapman KC, “Many congratulations to all members of Chambers who have been recognised in Chambers and Partners this year. Each of the departments continue to go from strength to strength. It is particularly pleasing that the recurring theme in the rankings is praise for the service Chambers gives to our clients, which is a reflection on our clerks and other staff, as well as our members.”
Chamber Director James Parks stated, “Manchester and The North West is an incredibly strong legal market. We are delighted to see the continued recognition in the 2024 directories and are immensely grateful for the continued support and instructions we receive from our loyal clients; a lot of our success can be attributed to the quality of work they provide our members.”
As always, we are very grateful to clients who gave up their time to provide feedback and reviews to Chambers & Partners.
For further information on the services 18 St John Street provide please contact Chambers Director James Parks.
FULL RANKINGS 2024 – Members
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Northern (Bar)
- Dr Christopher McNall Band 1
Banking & Finance
Northern (Bar)
- Richard Chapman KC Band 2
Chancery
Northern (Bar)
- Richard Chapman KC Band 2
- Dr Christopher McNall Band 3
- David Hoffman Band 3
- Elisabeth Tythcott Band 3
- Michael Wilkinson Band 3
- Oliver Caplan Band 3
Clinical Negligence
Northern (Bar)
- Gemma McGungle Band 3
Commercial Dispute Resolution
Northern (Bar)
- Richard Chapman KC Band 1
- Elisabeth Tythcott Band 3
- Oliver Caplan Band 3
Company
Northern (Bar)
- Richard Chapman KC Band 2
Crime
Northern (Bar)
- Michael Brady KC Band 3
- Richard Vardon Band 1
- Rachel Faux Band 2
Family: Children
Northern (Bar)
- Fiona Holloran Band 1
- Samantha Birtles Band 1
- Kate Bramall Band 3
Family: Matrimonial Finance
Northern (Bar)
- Stephen J Murray Band 2
Personal Injury
Northern (Bar)
- Elahe Youshani Band 3
- Kane Simons Band 3
POCA Work & Asset Forfeiture
All Circuits
- Andrew Evans Band 3
Professional Negligence
Northern (Bar)
- Richard Chapman KC Band 2
Real Estate Litigation
Northern (Bar)
- Richard Chapman KC Band 2
- Dr Christopher McNall Band 2
Restructuring/Insolvency
Northern (Bar)
- Richard Chapman KC Band 2
- Jennifer Newstead Taylor Band 2
Social Housing
Northern/North Eastern (Bar)
- Oliver Caplan Band 3
Tax
The Regions (Bar)
- Richard Chapman Band 1
- Dr Christopher McNall Band 1
- Jennifer Newstead Taylor Band 2
- Rupert Davies Band 2