Henderson Chambers

Head of Chambers: Charles Gibson KC
Chambers Director: Jason Housden
Senior Practice Manager: Daniel Kemp
Tenants: 53

Henderson Chambers provides advice and representation over a wide range of practice areas and market sectors. The main focus is civil and commercial litigation including international and domestic group actions. Chambers is recognised as a leading set, in group actions, product liability, commercial dispute resolution health and safety, inquests and public inquiries, consumer law, European, environmental law and public procurement. Additional practice areas with leading silks and junior rankings, include: insurance law, insolvency, information technology, professional discipline, local government, and real estate.

Members of Chambers act for multinational organisations, foreign and domestic corporations, financial services associations, government departments and agencies, local authorities, professional bodies, SME’s, 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 the past 30 years, Chambers has provided specialist European expertise and senior members practise 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 from the Turks and Caicos Islands since 2017. Chambers remains dedicated to providing a high standard of client care which has been consistently recognised by Chambers UK.

WORK UNDERTAKEN 

Product Liability: Chambers has an unrivalled position in product liability, having maintained its top ranking in the legal directories for over 25 years. During that time, members of chambers have been 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, white goods. Current/recent group litigation includes the “emissions” cases, the “pelvic mesh” cases and Seroxat.

Group Actions: Chambers has been at the centre of the development of Group Actions since the 1980s. Since then many of the major group actions have involved members of Henderson Chambers. Chambers’ involvement in these cases led to the development of group action practices and procedures which are now considered to be the ‘usual’ way of managing proceedings involving multiple Claimants and/or Defendants. Chambers has been innovative, not least in respect of commercial funding and mass settlement mechanisms. As well as group actions arising from Chambers’ pre-eminence in product liability, 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. Members have also been regularly involved in multi-party actions claiming damages for injuries or death. The leading consumer/financial services/commercial group actions involve members of chambers, including the Sub-Postmasters action, mortgage prisoners, and the NOxdiesel emissions litigation.

Health, Safety & 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; acting 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.

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

Commercial, Insurance & Arbitration: Chambers has particular sector expertise to the handling of complex commercial 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, IT and telecoms, transportation and in the design manufacture and supply of products. Recent work includes 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 notable 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.

Local Government & Public Law: Henderson Chambers have extensive experience in a wide range of areas of public and administrative law, 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 acting 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.

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. Member of chambers appeared successfully before the UKSC in the leading case of Duval 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 Third 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, published December 2020).