John McDonnell KC

December 2, 2015

In 2004 John McDonnell founded Thirteen Old Square Chambers which merged with 3 Stone Buildings in 2016 to form Three Stone where he is now Head of Chambers.

He is one of the most senior Chancery Silks.

He has always enjoyed an unusually varied practice as can be seen from the list of his reported cases.

He has been admitted to the Bar for the purpose of local cases in Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Irish Republic, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.

He has been appearing regularly in Hong Kong since 1978 and has won a succession of landmark property cases in the Court of Final Appeal.

The cases which have given him most satisfaction were

  • Lloyds Bank Pension Trust  Lloyds Bank plc [1996] PLR 263 where he appeared for a representative member of the Bank’s Pension Scheme and defeated an attempt by the Bank and the Trustees to level down the benefits of female pensioners, earning the editorial comment in the Pensions Law Reports: “There have been some bizarre decisions recently in the pensions field, but this one takes the biscuit!”
  • Re OT Computers Ltd [2004] Ch 317 where he established that the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 applies to all insurable liabilities and is not limited to motor insurance.
  • Fok Lai-ying The Governor in Council [1997] HKLRD 810 where he persuaded the Privy Council to make a landmark decision about the Hong Kong Bill of Rights only weeks before Hong Kong was returned to China
  • Barclays Bank TOSG Trust Fund [1984] AC 626 which his Leader (now Lord Millett) still describes as the most difficult case he ever argued and which explains the Rule against Double Proof in the law of insolvency
  • Brackenbank Lodge Ltd v Peart [1996] NPC 124 (HL) in which Lord Browne-Wilkinson said “Mr McDonnell’s written case is an outstanding piece of research and scholarship” and
  • The two leading cases of Gillet v Holt [2001] Ch 210 and Thorner v Major [2009] 1 WLR 776 (HL) which have definitively laid down the modern law of proprietary estoppel.

Giles Maynard-Connor KC

Giles is recognised as a robust, thorough advocate. He has a clear grasp of commercial issues and how best to overcome them. He works with his clients, favouring a team approach, particularly when faced with complex issues. With an in-depth understanding of the commercial world, he is adept at keeping his clients informed and aware of any issues that may arise at the earliest opportunity. Giles is a truly commercial litigator in terms of approach to his cases and his clients’ interests and needs. He recognises the importance of achieving his clients’ aims and objectives (whether at trial or through ADR) as quickly and as cost effectively as possible.

Giles is consistently noted as a leader in his field, is highly regarded for his ‘technical knowledge and commercial know-how’, and has a wealth of experience dealing with substantial commercial litigation. Over the last 28 years he has appeared at all levels up to and including the Court of Appeal and even in the Supreme Court of the Seychelles and in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar.

His practice has a particular emphasis on civil and corporate fraud, company and contentious insolvency work, professional negligence (claimant and defendant) and banking.

Before taking Silk, Giles was Junior Counsel to the Crown (Regional Panel A) and his work for the Secretary of State focused on contentious public interest winding up petitions, including the appointment of provisional liquidators and appropriate injunctive relief, and disqualification applications under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.

In recent years he has successfully completed a number of high profile high value corporate fraud cases, leading other junior Counsel, and has successfully acted as the leading Counsel for the Secretary of State in what was then the largest public interest petition brought by Companies Investigations.

Giles has also recently appeared in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, where he successfully appealed against a decision of a liquidator of a foreign insurance company in order to confirm a substantial proof of debt based on a UK judgment; and has dealt with the high profile insolvency of the Redcar based steel business operated by SSI UK Ltd, now in liquidation.

He has also represented over 300 claimants in a multi-million pound corporate fraud case in the Cayman Islands.

Giles was appointed Queen’s Counsel in December 2020, with effect from 15 March 2021.

Client/solicitor testimonials recommendations

“I have worked with Giles for a number of years, and he is my first choice barrister for complex disputes. My clients always warm to him as he displays exceptional attention to detail and superb commercial awareness. On his feet, Giles is an extremely proficient advocate; and he is a great team player. I have no doubt that he will prove to be a great QC”.
Marc Yaffe Head of Commercial Litigation, JMW Solicitors LLP

“A fantastic advocate. Extremely bright and able to grasp the facts of the case quickly even when technically demanding. Tenacious. Commercially astute. Easy to work with and always impresses the client / business.”
Darren Hill, Head of Claims and Debt Recovery, United Utilities Legal Service

“I have known and used Giles over the last 10 years on a variety of high value and/or complex commercial disputes, including professional negligence, breach of contract and tort cases, and actions involving fraud. He has an insatiable appetite for work and will leave no stone unturned in his desire to do the best job possible for a client. At the same time, he is very much a team player and adopts a pragmatic, commercial approach to the matter at hand and never loses sight of the client’s stated goal.”
Steve Morris, Commercial Litigation Partner, JMW Solicitors LLP


James Gibbons

December 30, 2015

James Gibbons has been in practice at the Bar since 1974.

His practice covers many aspects of chancery and commercial disputes, civil fraud and professional negligence. He has a particular interest in trade secrets and confidential information and related pre-emptive remedies, advising employers, employees, directors, partners, vendors and purchasers of businesses and in assisting clients before setting up competing businesses to avoid the risk and costs of litigation by adopting an open and straightforward strategy.

James is licensed for Direct Public Access work.

 


Matthew Marsh

May 10, 2021

Matthew qualified as a solicitor in 1977 and practised with London law firms in domestic and international business disputes and commercial property cases.

He became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1992 and in 1996 obtained a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration. He sat regularly as sole arbitrator in domestic and international arbitrations and conducted arbitrations for parties under a variety of rules including ICC and LCIA.

In 2002 he was appointed as a Recorder.

In 2012 he became a Chancery Master and Chief Master in 2014. He has recently retired from that role although continues to sit as a Deputy Chancery Master. Matthew has experience in the full range of work conducted in the Chancery Division including business disputes, banking, professional negligence, real estate, trusts and probate.

Matthew has wide experience in dispute resolution as a solicitor acting for parties in mediations. He set up the Chancery Financial Dispute Resolution procedure in the Chancery Division which uses a mix of facilitation and evaluation. While he was Chief Master he conducted Chancery FDRs in a range of cases.

Matthew is an accredited mediator.

In 2015 he was appointed an Honorary Bencher of Gray’s Inn.

He is available to accept appointments as a sole arbitrator or as a member of a panel.


Stephen Baister

September 18, 2018

Stephen Baister brings over 30 years of experience in insolvency, company and commercial litigation to Three Stone’s mediation team.

Admitted as a solicitor in 1981, Stephen specialised in contentious insolvency and commercial work, often involving German clients or with another cross-border element. He became a licensed insolvency practitioner in 1985 and was one of few solicitors who took appointments as an office-holder. He also practised as a Rechtsbeistand, acting as a consultant to a major commercial law firm in Essen.

He was appointed as a bankruptcy registrar of the High Court in 1996, serving as chief registrar from 2004 until his retirement in 2017. While in office he lectured regularly on insolvency for the Judicial Studies Board and has also lectured or conducted seminars for the Chancery Bar Association, INSOL, R3 and the Rechtsanwaltsverein as well as contributing to practitioner texts such as Civil Procedure (The White Book) and Tolley’s Insolvency Law. He continues to sit as a deputy Insolvency Judge in the High Court.

He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, an honorary Member of the Insolvency Lawyers Association and an honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management of which he is also president. He was the recipient of the Sabin Award for services to the insolvency profession in 2016 and was made an honorary bencher of Lincoln’s Inn in 2017.

Stephen will act as a mediator primarily in insolvency, insolvency-related and company law cases but will consider appointments in other commercial law disputes where appropriate.


Jonathan DC Turner

December 2, 2015

Jonathan is an experienced barrister specialising in intellectual property and competition law.

His practice covers all types of intellectual property and a wide variety of subject-matter. He is particularly well-known for litigation relating to fabric designs, domain name disputes, and issues relating to the interface between intellectual property and competition or free trade law.

He is also known for his willingness to take on difficult cases and fight tenaciously and creatively for his clients, challenging conventional views when necessary.

He has extensive experience of cases which involve both IP and commercial, international, tax or other issues.

He is the author of “Intellectual Property and EU Competition Law” (2d Edition, OUP 2015), which has been described as the leading work of reference on this subject.


Richard Devereux-Cooke

Richard practises primarily in property based law including all aspects of landlord and tenant work (commercial and residential) as well as other issues relating to land ownership and occupation. He has a particular interest in matters involving adverse possession, easements, housing, access to land (including rights of way and highways), licences, boundary disputes, and claims concerning trespass and nuisance especially where these involve environmental issues. Richard also advises and acts on planning issues and in respect of tree preservation orders.

An important part of Richard’s practice is personal injury litigation with a regular focus on high-value and complex claims involving motorcyclists. In addition, Richard undertakes work involving clinical and other professional negligence claims, often with a strong medical context.

Richard advises and appears in cases relating to Trusts of Land, Inheritance Act claims and other matters linking property and family law such as contentious and non-contentious probate work, and in commercial contract disputes. A part of recent years’ practice has also been taken up with work dealing with Consumer Credit Act disputes.

In common with other member of Chambers, Richard also advises and acts in matters dealing with both personal and corporate insolvency and related issues.

Richard has been admitted to the Bar of Gibraltar in order to appear in personal injury and clinical negligence cases in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, instructed by solicitors based in Gibraltar.

Richard is an accredited mediator and is equally happy to appear for parties at mediations as well as act as a mediator. He is also able to accept instructions for work through the Bar’s Direct Public Access scheme.

Background

Richard came to the Bar after a highly successful career in agriculture, covering both practical farm management and two decades running his own agricultural business providing services to farmers and industrial land users. Whilst in that industry, he became a nationally recognised expert in pesticide use and law. He was a member of a number of government and government agency committees dealing with pesticides, environmental, and health and safety issues. He has also had major involvement in the drafting of environmental codes of practice and other industry guidance on the avoidance of pollution.

Seminars

Richard has for many years been a regular contributor to technical seminars and conferences, both as a speaker and as conference chairman. He continues to contribute to seminars on property law matters.

Richard is also a Middle Temple Advocacy Trainer, and an accredited pupil supervisor.


Michael Smith

Michael is a barrister specialising in intellectual property, insolvency and general commercial litigation.

His intellectual property practice comprises copyright, designs, trade marks and trade names, passing off, patents and confidential information.

In his insolvency practice, he acts for trustees in bankruptcy, liquidators, creditors and debtors.

Michael has a special interest in the music industry and in music law. He has acted in disputes between artists and their management on both sides. He is well acquainted with the various IP rights involved in music production and with how they move in the music industry. Michael has acted for and against world renowned artists and other industry players and in doing so he knows the strategies that work. In addition, his cross-discipline expertise leaves him uniquely placed to deal with questions related to insolvency of musical artists, their service companies, and record and publishing companies.

As a former IT infrastructure specialist and keen coder himself, Michael is well placed to assist with disputes about IT and software.  He has first hand experience of the contractual, technical and IP issues that can arise.  His current language of choice is C# and he has worked in the past with many, including Java, VB, VB.NET, VBScript, C++, XML, XSLT and Windows Installer.  Michael is always looking for opportunities to automate or simplify his working practices using technology.  Current projects include a C# WPF application for managing and analysing data about winding up petitions and hearings, an addin for Outlook, and an application for managing and merging data into document templates to create rich documents.

Michael has a reputation as an excellent litigation strategist and tactician. His forensic analysis of documents is meticulous and he has a keen eye for the unusual. He is known for his thorough and well considered advice and his strong commercial focus. He is an effective and persuasive advocate whose cross-examination can turn a trial.

Michael is is an accredited mediator with the Society of Mediators and also deals with company law matters, commercial matters and general chancery work.