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St John's Chambers
Department profile | St John's Chambers
Chancery

About

Provided by St John's Chambers

St John’s Chambers offers specialist advice and representation across the full spectrum of wills and trusts matters, with a particular focus on complex and contentious disputes. Our dedicated Wills & Trusts team is nationally recognised for its expertise, and regularly acts in some of the most significant and challenging cases in this area of law.

  • Crew v Oakley [2024] EWHC 2847 (Ch) – revocation of wills by destruction and capacity issues
  • Winter v Winter [2023] EWHC 2393 (Ch) - doctrine of mutual wills, proprietary estoppel and to enforce an option contained in a partnership agreement
  • Hughes v Pritchard and others [2021] EWHC 1580 (Ch) – testamentary capacity and the evidential role of the will draftsman
  • Ann Legg and Lynn Burton v Aaron Burton, Victoria Brooks and Michael Burton [2017] EWHC 2088 [2017] 4 WLR 186 – mutual wills

Our team is featured in the Chambers UK High Net Worth Guide 2025.

What We Offer

We combine technical expertise with a sensitive, client-focused approach, particularly when dealing with bereavement-related disputes. Our barristers are known for their pragmatic, compassionate guidance and robust advocacy.

We advise and represent clients in a wide range of matters, including:

  • Contentious probate claims
  • Construction and rectification of wills and trusts
  • Estate and trust administration
  • Claims involving personal representatives and trustees
  • Inheritance Act 1975 claims
  • Proprietary estoppel
  • Associated taxation issues

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Chancery - Western (Bar)

1
Band 1

What the Team is Known For

St John's Chambers is highly esteemed on the Western Circuit for its expertise in traditional and commercial chancery work. The chambers assists with contentious will and trusts disputes, property disputes and Court of Protection matters, as well as professional negligence claims. It is also well known for its expertise in high-value agricultural land disputes. The set appeared recently in Harvey v Van Hoorn, a high-value variation of trust case. An interviewee states: "St John's Chambers is an eminent set of chambers in Bristol." Another adds: "The set is able to offer a range of experience."

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

The clerks will try their best to accommodate for specific budgets whilst also maintaining realistic expectations about the cost of the expert services their team offers.

Chancery respondent
UK Bar

The clerking is excellent and Paul Bennet, practice team leader, is my go-to and always responds in a timely manner.

Chancery respondent
UK Bar

The clerking is very good. The clerks are really helpful and responsive, you rarely have to wait more than an hour for a response.

Chancery respondent
UK Bar

Simon Lyons, practice team leader, and Luke Hodgson, practice manager, are excellent.

Chancery respondent
UK Bar

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

1
Alex Troup
1
Band 1

Alex Troup KC is recognised for his impressive traditional chancery practice. He specialises in contentious trusts and probates, as well as property litigation and associated professional negligence cases. He acts as a mediator and as a representative at mediations. He is also commended for his handling of Court of Protection matters.

Alex is exceptional in everything. He is careful, considered and he is at the very top of his game.

Alex Troup has always been very grounded and he is excellent as an advocate.

Alex is a highly regarded chancery barrister who is technically very sound and is excellent on his feet. His manner is authoritative and reassuring for clients.

Alex Troup is very knowledgeable, very authoritative and handles the other side. His advice is always very sound and very practical.

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1
Christopher Jones
1
Band 1

Christopher Jones is a trust litigation and advice specialist with a broad chancery and commercial practice. He also assists clients with landlord and tenant disputes, property litigation and professional negligence cases. He is a trained mediator.

Christopher Jones is practical and commercial, and was very good to work with.

Christopher Jones is very good. He's very organised, really good when it comes to proprietary and promissory estoppel matters and very good with clients.

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1
John FH Dickinson
1
Band 1

John Dickinson is a well-regarded chancery practitioner and experienced in contentious trusts and probates, as well as company law, restructuring and insolvency, and shareholder litigation. His professional negligence work includes cases concerning solicitors, financial advisers and accountants.

John Dickinson is extremely good on the details; in fact he's frightfully good on the details.

His manner with clients is excellent.

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1
John Sharples
1
Band 1

John Sharples is a property barrister who often acts for public authorities, developers, landowners, house builders and private individuals. He is held in high esteem for his client care skills.

John Sharples is my go-to barrister for complex and technical property disputes who not only achieves outstanding results but is a joy to work with.

John Sharples is the best in the business, probably the best in the country at what he does.

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1
Oliver Wooding
1
Band 1

Oliver Wooding is a chancery and commercial junior with a broad practice spanning traditional chancery, real estate litigation and agricultural law. He is experienced in contentious probates, wills, trusts and tax matters, and also handles Court of Protection cases. He also acts as a mediator.

Oliver Wooding is superb as an advocate.

Oliver has great technical knowledge and has the ability to break down complex matters into terms which can easily be understood by his clients.

Oliver Wooding is good on his feet, easy to work with and very responsive.

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2
Adam Boyle
2
Band 2

Adam Boyle is a specialist in proprietary estoppel with additional expertise in probate and will cases. He has a vast knowledge of a range of issues including partnership matters, estoppel disputes and injunction cases.

Adam cuts to the chase and works out the most pragmatic way to get from A to B.

Adam is a safe pair of hands, responsive and really client-friendly.

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2
Charlie Newington-Bridges
2
Band 2

Charlie Newington-Bridges is a traditional chancery practitioner with a specialism in Inheritance Act 1975 claims and experience with high-value estates and complex wills. He previously worked in banking, and his commercial cases include insolvency, banking and financial services and partnership matters.

He is very commercially-minded, results-oriented and very good with clients.

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Natasha Dzameh
2
Natasha Dzameh
2
Band 2

Natasha Dzameh is a commercial and chancery practitioner handling property, insolvency, wills and trusts disputes. She is regularly instructed in high-value and complex litigation.

Natasha's attention to detail is good and she is a quick reader of papers.

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3
Brittany Pearce
3
Band 3

Brittany Pearce has significant knowledge of acting in property-related matters, as well as being regularly sought out to act in traditional chancery issues such as trust and will disputes.

Brittany Pearce is very talented in terms of the technical aspects of the law.

Brittany Pearce is excellent for property work. She thinks things through carefully, is very good with clients and gets back to you very clearly.

Brittany Pearce is brilliant for the following reasons - she is very personable, very responsive, always helpful and engaging and also very calm and measured and analytical.

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3
Joss Knight
3
Band 3

Joss Knight maintains a mixed practice of commercial and chancery matters. His work includes property disputes, contractual claims, and will and trusts matters.

Joss Knight is excellent, very bright, very capable and very practical.

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3
Michael Clarke
3
Band 3

Michael Clarke is a chancery and commercial barrister with a broad practice spanning traditional chancery, professional negligence, and commercial and contractual disputes. He is experienced in contentious probates, wills, trusts and tax matters.

Michael Clarke has a broad practice. He is very down to earth, very practical and thinks quickly on feet.

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Ranked Barristers at
St John's Chambers

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Band

Silks (KC)

Western (Bar)

Chancery
1
Alex Troup KC
1
Band 1
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Juniors

Western (Bar)

Chancery
1
Christopher Jones
1
Band 1
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1
John FH Dickinson
1
Band 1
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1
John Sharples
1
Band 1
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1
Oliver Wooding
1
Band 1
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2
Adam Boyle
2
Band 2
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2
Charlie Newington-Bridges
2
Band 2
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Natasha Dzameh
2
Natasha Dzameh
2
Band 2
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3
Brittany Pearce
3
Band 3
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3
Joss Knight
3
Band 3
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3
Michael Clarke
3
Band 3
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