Henderson Chambers

Head of Chambers: Charles Gibson KC

Chambers Director: Jason Housden

Senior Practice Manager: Daniel Kemp

Tenants: 55

Henderson Chambersprovides advice and representation over a wide range of practice areas and market sectors. The main focus is commercial and civil litigation including international and domestic group actions. Chambers is recognised as a leading set in group actions, product liability, health and safety, consumer law, European, environmental law and public procurement.

Additional practice areas, with leading silks and junior rankings, include: inquests and public inquiries, insurance law, IT, professional discipline and real estate and commercial litigation, insolvency, and competition law.

Members of chambers act for multinational organisations, foreign and domestic corporations, financial services associations, government departments and agencies, local authorities, professional bodies, SMEs, and individuals in contentious and non- contentious matters. Members are increasingly instructed regarding issues arising out the Covid-19 pandemic across all areas of chambers’ expertise. For over past 30 years, chambers has provided specialist European expertise and senior members practice in, Brussels, Madrid, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Since 1992 all pupils have had the opportunity to undertake part of their pupillage in Brussels and since 2017 from the Turks and Caicos Islands. Chambers remains dedicated to providing a high standard of client care which has been consistently recognised by Chambers UK Bar.

Work undertaken

Product Liability and Group Actions: Chambers has an unrivalled position in product liability and group actions. It has maintained its top ranking for product liability in the legal directories for over 25 years. Charles Gibson KC, Geraint Webb KC and James Purnell contribute to Clinical Negligence (Sixth Edition) published by Bloomsbury Publishing, with a chapter addressing product liability for medical products. Chambers is now also ranked as the leading set in England & Wales for group actions. The rankings are consistent with members of chambers having been continually instructed in many of the most significant unitary cases, group actions and commercial claims in respect of allegedly defective products including consumer goods, cosmetics, food, industrial machinery, medical devices, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals and white goods. Current/recent group litigation includes the Pan-NOx diesel emissions cases where chambers act for numerous parties, the Primodos litigation, and the “pelvic mesh” cases.

Health & Safety and Environment:Widely acknowledged as one of the leaders in these fields, the set covers all aspects of environmental law and health and safety litigation, including prosecutions for corporate manslaughter, infringements of health and safety legislation, environmental and waste prosecutions. Work in this area includes representing numerous Core Participants in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and Covid Inquiry; members are frequently sought after to provide representation in high profile Inquests; members acted in the first prosecution of its kind brought against a sporting governing body for alleged H&S breaches following a fatal accident; successfully defending private landowners in a landmark private prosecution under the Environmental Protection Act. Chambers has also been involved in the leading international environmental group actions, engaging issues of private international law as well as those which allege human rights abuses.

Banking, Finance and Consumer Credit:Chambers has extensive expertise in the law regulating consumer- driven group litigation involving financial products (members appear in the ongoing “mortgage prisoner cases”), financial services, asset finance, credit services, debt recovery, issues of title, consumer protection and consumer credit (in particular issues arising from Covid19).

Commercial, Insurance, Competition and Arbitration:Chambers have particular sector expertise to the handling of complex commercial claims (including competition claims). In recent years they have been instructed in heavyweight and high-profile cases, involving insurance, property damage, life sciences, oil and gas, banking and financial services, automotive, aviation, IT and telecoms, transportation and in the design manufacture and supply of products. Recent work includes acting for the government in Primer Design, the Covid 19 PCR testing dispute; appearing in the highly complex London Capital Finance civil fraud trial; appearing or the claimants in Infrastructure Services Luxembourg v Kingdom of Spain, dismissing Spain’s challenge to the recognition of an ICSID arbitration award; acting in the Trucks Collective competition proceedings; various members involvement in Qatar Airway v Airbus, a high-profile commercial dispute concerning the surface degradation of A350 aircraft; the Post Office Group litigation, in particular the developing area of relational contracts and a wide range of legal issues on incorporation of standard terms, unfair contract terms and implied terms.Micula v Romania, a significant decision by the UKSC in 2020 for all those in the arbitration community, particularly those that work on ICSID matters;Shanks v Unilever PLC, a landmark UKSC decision in compensation for an employee for contributions to patents which were held to be of benefit to his employer.

Employment Law:Chambers has a long and established practice in the field of employment law acting for both employers and employees. It has particular expertise in restraint of trade and breach of confidence; wrongful dismissal and related contractual claims; unfair dismissal claims; sex, race and disability discrimination claims; redundancy; TUPE; re-structuring and EC employment law.King v The Sash Window Workshop Ltd, a landmark ECJ judgment concerning working time and a worker’s entitlement to a payment in lieu on termination.

Inquiries, Local Government and Public Paw:Henderson Chambers have extensive experience in a wide range of areas of public and administrative law, including public inquiries, and also in many other areas of work relevant to local authorities and other statutory bodies, such as property, planning, highways, compulsory purchase, transport, finance and audit, environmental, education, social services, public procurement, employment and pensions. Work includes representing a number of parties in both the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and The Covid Inquiry, as well as involvement in the Cranston Inquiry (migrant boats) and the Post Office Inquiry.Additionally, members have acted for the Secretary of State inCatch 22 Bus Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport, where the Traffic Commissioner’s considerations for Licence Holders were addressed; a judicial review challenge alleging breaches of the Public Contract Regulations and bias over the award of a contract to supply face masks (at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic); representing the Pubs Code Adjudicator in the first ever appeal to the High Court against a financial sanction imposed by the adjudicator. Increasingly members are sought after by public bodies to conduct investigations, work in this area includes the Independent Review of the Regulation of BetIndex Limited (2021) for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and HM Treasury; and the Inquiry into the Public Appointment Process for the Chair of the BBC Board (2023), for the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Property Law: Chambers has a dynamic and innovative property litigation and advisory team with particular strengths in commercial property and development, commercial and residential landlord and tenant, social housing, stock transfers, professional negligence aspects of property law and property damage claims. Members of chambers appeared successfully before the UKSC in the leading case ofDuval v 11-13 Randolph Crescent Ltd.

Regulatory & Disciplinary Proceedings:Henderson Chambers has a long tradition of practice in the field of regulation and professional discipline and members act as advisers, legal assessors, representatives and advocates, or as members of tribunals. Kenneth Hamer is the author of the Fourth Edition of the leading textbook Professional Conduct Casebook.

Technology & IT:For many years Chambers has actively developed innovative remedies in IT and closely regulated fields, including the rapidly developing area of autonomous vehicles. Using modern technology (including social networking and up to the minute search techniques) to solve the legal problems that arise from it. Providing representation in a claim against Google on behalf of a class of iPhone users (Lloyd v Google) re: breach of data protection rights, heard by the UKSC in 2021. Lucy McCormick co-authored The Law & Autonomous Vehicles (Routledge) and is a contributor to The Law of Artificial Intelligence (Thomson Reuters).