We offer expert legal advice and representation with barristers who specialise in Chancery and Commercial law.
Chambers has extensive, collective expertise and considerable practical experience of how multiple legal disciplines often overlap when applied to the actual issues our clients face. We also offer highly skilled barristers who practice in areas that fall outside the scope of traditional Chancery law.
Our friendly, professional Clerks’ Room is the principal port of call for anyone who would like to instruct a barrister at Ten Old Square.
Our team of clerks will advise on the expertise and availability of the barristers in Chambers and discuss the most suitable fee structures for your case. They will do this in a speedy and responsive manner, keeping you fully informed throughout the process.
Our clerks offer a very high quality service combined with a down-to-earth and collaborative approach.
If you would like to discuss a specific case, arrange a meeting or receive further information about any of our barristers, areas of expertise or about the way we work in general, please contact our clerks.
Our excellent legal services extend beyond case work to the provision of remote talks, complimentary training events and programmes to support our clients’ continuing competence requirements.
Further details about this can be found on our events page or by contacting Emily Overett.
Ten Old Square is a professional, friendly and forward-looking set.
We are renowned for delivering an outstanding level of service and welcome applications from like-minded individuals.
Ten Old Square is an award-winning set of Chancery barristers’.
Chambers contains some of the finest and brightest lawyers currently practising in all the current Chancery disciplines. Our Chambers comprises of talented barristers whose expertise meets and exceeds the demands of those who approach us needing legal representation and require expert advice of the very highest calibre.
Private Client
Ten Old Square is universally renowned for its private client work.
We deal with all private client work, both non contentious and contentious, at the very highest level.
We are consistently ranked as one of the top private client sets of Chambers in Chambers UK, Chambers HNW and The Legal 500, and many of our members are consistently ranked as amongst the leading barristers for both onshore and offshore private client work.
We are ranked in Band 1 for Traditional Chancery in Chambers UK 2023 which states: “Ten Old Square remains a premier set for handling trusts, probate and estates matters. The bench strength at the set is highlighted as a particular asset: “The set has tremendous expertise and experience in their more senior members of chambers, combined with very capable juniors who are developing expertise in this field as well. They are very reactive,” remarks an interviewee. An impressed source echoes this, adding: “The silks and those senior juniors with whom I have had professional dealings are masters of their craft and both very responsive and very good value for money.”
Chambers HNW also ranks us in Band 1 for Chancery: Traditional
The Legal 500 2023 says: “Ten Old Square is an ‘excellent set for trust disputes’, with a ‘strong bench of highly rated and capable barristers, from silks to juniors’.
We have won Chambers of The Year at the STEP Private Client Awards twice.
Non-Contentious matters
Our collective expertise spans the full range of non-contentious private client work. Our barristers are well known for their constructive and empathetic approach to dealing with the complicated and sensitive matters that affect families and individuals.
We are one of the leading sets for non-contentious private client work, encompassing drafting and varying wills, drafting trusts and ancillary deeds and documents, capital taxation advice, variation of trusts and other non-contentious advisory work. We have a formidable reputation for complex onshore and offshore matters.
We have particular expertise in Variation of Trust Act matters. Our barristers have been involved in most of the high value variation of trusts cases including Wyndham v Egremont (extending the perpetuity period); V v TA and MN v OP (CA) (privacy and anonymity); C v C (variation of foreign trusts) and A v B (revocable partial release of power for the purpose of the variation).
Contentious matters
We are similarly renowned for our work in all disputes concerning private clients, including wills, estates, trusts, the Court of Protection, charities, property and trusts of land. Our barristers are regarded for their abilities in court, for their drafting skills and for the quality and accuracy of their advice.
We have acted in many recent high profile and high value claims both in England and Wales and offshore. Matters which we have been engaged in include: disputes over the validity of wills, the removal of trustees and personal representatives, claims in the Court of Protection regarding a person’s property and affairs, disputes over the ownership of land and claims for the sale of land. Our barristers appear at all levels of courts and tribunals and in many jurisdictions.
Please follow the links below to the dedicated pages on our website for the areas of private client work in which we specialise..
Trusts & Estates – Inheritance, Probate & Wills – Court of Protection – Offshore – Taxation – Property – Charities
Contact our Private Client Clerks
Contact our experienced Clerks to find out which Private Client barristers would be ideal for you. They have many years of experience and will ensure that you receive a premium service and advise on the suitability, availability and cost of instructing specialist Counsel.
Call +44 (0)20 7405 0758
Email clerks@tenoldsquare.com
Private Client Barristers
Simon Taube KC
Call 1980
Sidney Ross
Call 1983
Susannah Meadway
Call 1988
Samuel Laughton
Call 1993
Robert Arnfield
Call 1996
Evan Price
Call 1997
Richard Dew
Call 1999
Georgia Bedworth
Call 2001
James E. Petts
Call 2002
Philip Jenkins
Call 2003 & Accredited Mediator
Naomi Winston
Call 2006
James MacDougald
Call 2011
James Egan
Call 2015
James Poole
Call 2016 & Accredited Mediator
James Kirby
Call 2017
Adam Stewart-Wallace
Call 2018
Thomas Arnull
Call 2019
Thomas James
Call 2018
Elizabeth Atkinson
Call 2021 & Accredited Mediator
Our Private Client Experience
Chambers is home to one of the highest ranked Chancery KC’s in Simon Taube (“sheer knowledge of technical trust law” – Chambers 2020). It has numerous highly ranked and highly rated juniors including Susannah Meadway (“personable, technical and really helpful” – Chambers 2020), Richard Dew (“very responsive, very clear in his advice, and commercial as well” – Chambers and Partners 2020), Georgia Bedworth (“ brilliant technical trust lawyer” – Chambers 2020) and James MacDougald (“super bright, willing and never lets me down” – Chambers 2020). In Keith Plowman, Marc Schofield and Fay Bennett the barristers are supported by one of the best regarded Chancery clerking teams in Lincoln’s Inn.
In addition, members of Chambers are authors and contributors to leading practitioner texts in the non-contentious field, namely Williams on Wills, Parkers Modern Will Precedents, Foster’s Inheritance Tax, Mellows Taxation of Executors and Trustees, Rossdale on Probate and Administration of Estates. All are frequent contributors to journals and to seminars and conferences.
Private Client Frequently Asked Questions
What do we mean by non-contentious private client work?
Advising private individuals on their private affairs, particularly including their Wills and the administration of estates, as well as advising trustees and beneficiaries regarding the establishment, administration or variation of trusts. We can provide technical, skilled and knowledgeable advice on all of these matters including on capital taxes and capital taxation planning.
What is the focus of Chambers’ work in this area?
We are private client specialists. We are able to provide advice, assistance and representation in all of the areas referred to above and you will find all members will have considerable knowledge and experience from dealing with many similar or related matters.
All members, at whatever level have a wealth of experience in non-contentious private client work. You will find that all members will have considerable knowledge and experience from dealing with many similar or related matters.
What trusts and estates can you advise upon?
We are all qualified to advise regarding trusts and wills established in England and Wales. We will also provide expert advice regarding trusts and succession in countries around the world, including the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas the BVI, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
How do I select a barrister for a non-contentious Private Client matter?
This website contains details of the barristers at Ten Old Square to assist you. You should speak to one of our clerks who are highly experienced in matching the right barrister to the matter.
What are the fees for instructing a barrister in a non-contentious Private Client matter?
We aim to provide a cost-effective service and will strive to ensure that our fees are competitive. Our Clerks will advise you of the hourly rate applicable to any barrister in Chambers and for any piece of work and this will be agreed in advance taking into account the nature of the case and its complexity, and the experience of the barrister instructed.
Areas of Expertise in Private Client
- Variation of Trusts Act Applications
- Applications under s. 57 Trustee Act 1925
- Beddoe applications
- Applications by Trustees or personal representatives for directions
- Drafting wills
- Drafting trusts
- Drafting deeds of appointment
- Drafting deeds
- Capital taxes planning
- Capital taxation advice
- Advising on the administration of estates
- Advising on the administration of trusts
