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Six Pump Court
Department profile | Six Pump Court
Health & Safety

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Health & Safety - London (Bar)

2
Band 2

What the Team is Known For

Six Pump Court houses a strong bench of seasoned health and safety practitioners who are regularly called upon to handle prosecutions arising in the oil and gas, manufacturing, transport, construction and retail sectors, among others. Members are particularly well regarded for their expertise in environmental offences and food safety matters and have experience both prosecuting and defending complex and high-value cases. The set's clients include several large multinational organisations, as well as local authorities and regulators such as the HSE, FSA, ORR and MCA. Sources say Six Pump Court "are always willing to go the extra mile to help us achieve what we need to with our cases." Recently the advocates successfully prosecuted on HSE v SERCO, a case involving the killing of a SERCO employee by a prisoner that focused on the health and safety culture within the organisation.

Richard Constable is the senior clerk.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

Liaising with the clerking team is extremely efficient, as is the support throughout the course of the case.

Health & Safety respondent
UK Bar

They are great at clerking. They are really good at equality diversity; they are really listening to women in the industry and they really care about it. It's refreshing.

Health & Safety respondent
UK Bar

The clerking is perfect, they are very responsive. I deal with all of the clerks and they are all excellent; they are hugely responsive.

Health & Safety respondent
UK Bar

Notable Practitioners

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Gordon Menzies
1
Gordon Menzies
1
Band 1

Gordon Menzies is an experienced advocate who has over 20 years of knowledge and experience in the health and safety field. He handles matters for clients in various sectors including the transportation and construction industries, and also frequently advises on prosecutions arising from severe injuries.

Gordon has an approach whereby his technical skills are matched with a superb 'bedside' manner with clients, and coupled with the art of persuasion in front a judge.

He is able to grasp such technical and complex matters so efficiently and knows the way we work and what we are trying to achieve in such detail, working with him is a fully collaborative experience.

He works extremely hard and he is very good.

Gordon's very bright, well prepared and very detailed. He fights for his clients and if you have a sticky situation he has a very calm way of dealings with things.

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Mark Watson
1
Mark Watson
1
Band 1

Mark Watson KC is a specialist in regulatory matters who represents defendants facing prosecution for corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter. He is an expert at handling cases arising from rail disasters.

He is a Rolls-Royce health and safety lawyer.

Mark is simply superb - tenacious, articulate and has a genuine courtroom presence.

He is very excellent, has a massive brain, and knows so much about so many areas of law and regulatory law generally.

Mark was really good, he made a complex point very elegantly and simply. He is super.

I think he is exceptionally good. He is very quick to get to the issues in enormous sets of papers and is just very lovely to work with.

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2
Lee Bennett
2
Band 2

The majority of Lee Bennett's busy practice is devoted to defending corporations, their directors and local authorities against the HSE in regulatory matters pertaining to serious and fatal accidents within the workplace. He also has experience in non-workplace incidents, including those related to construction.

He is a great tactician and is good at explaining complex issues and giving strong strategic advice.

He is a fantastic strategist and he works out the best outcome for clients; he is an outstanding strategic thinker.

He thinks of all the issues outside of the box; he is great with clients and he articulates difficult concepts really well. He's so decent.

He is on top of his brief all the time and gets great results. He is strategic and bold.

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2
Nicholas Ostrowski
2
Band 2

Nicholas Ostrowski's practice sees him acting on behalf of both the prosecution and defence in complex health and safety cases. He is well-versed in rail-related incidents and has experience acting for the ORR. His broad expertise also encompasses fire and food safety matters, and he frequently appears for his clients at inquests and in criminal proceedings.

He is very nice, very effective and collaborative. He is on top of the detail but also has great emotional intelligence.

He is extremely personable and responsive and takes the time to really understand our cases so that he knows how best to advise.

I would always recommend him; he is smart, clever, humane and works incredibly hard.

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Stephen Hockman KC
2
Stephen Hockman KC
2
Band 2

Stephen Hockman KC conducts defence work for major corporate clients in prosecutions often involving serious injuries or fatalities.

Bringing him in on a case is effective.

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David Hercock
3
David Hercock
3
Band 3

David Hercock is an advocate with an established health and safety practice. He has experience representing clients in the Supreme Court and in the European Court of Justice. He has experience defending clients who operate in industries such as manufacturing, transport and food, and has particular expertise in fire safety and food safety cases.

He is extremely good.

He is very good at spotting technical points; he is very thorough and has an extremely good knowledge of the law.

He is brilliant - an encyclopaedia of regulatory law.

He is technically adept, knowledgeable on issues, thorough and organised. He is very personable, really takes the lead and doesn't miss key points and steers the case where we need it.

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3
Mark Harris
3
Band 3

Mark Harris is an esteemed junior who has significant expertise across the whole spectrum of health and safety law. He devotes much of his practice to regulatory work, undertaking cases relating to waste management and pollution control. Harris regularly handles matters concerning construction sites, the railways and hazardous substances.

Mark is an excellent barrister. He is extremely experienced and brings his detailed knowledge of health and safety matters to each of our cases.

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Pascal Bates
3
Pascal Bates
3
Band 3

Pascal Bates is an astute practitioner with a significant civil and regulatory law practice. He regularly prosecutes on behalf of local authorities and the HSE, and is routinely sought out for his strategic advice pre-charge. He has considerable experience handling cases concerning fatal accidents and serious injuries.

He is exceptional in his field.

He is a diligent prosecutor who will leave no stone unturned.

He is a pleasure to deal with, and is very helpful.

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Ranked Barristers at
Six Pump Court

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Band

Silks (KC)

London (Bar)

Health & Safety
Mark Watson KC
1
Mark Watson KC
1
Band 1
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Stephen Hockman KC
2
Stephen Hockman KC
2
Band 2
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Juniors

London (Bar)

Health & Safety
Gordon Menzies
1
Gordon Menzies
1
Band 1
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2
Lee Bennett
2
Band 2
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2
Nicholas Ostrowski
2
Band 2
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David Hercock
3
David Hercock
3
Band 3
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3
Mark Harris
3
Band 3
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Pascal Bates
3
Pascal Bates
3
Band 3
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