9 Gough Chambers and 1 Chancery Lane set to merge

Members of 9 Gough Chambers and 1 Chancery Lane and have agreed to merge to form a new set to be known as 5 Norwich Street.

Chambers are aiming to complete the merger in the Autumn. All members and staff from 1 Chancery Lane will join 9 Gough Chambers in their existing premises at 5 Norwich Street.

5 Norwich Street will consist of over 120 barristers, including 14 Silks, making it one of the biggest common law sets in the country. Jacob Levy QC and Simon Readhead QC will be joint heads of Chambers.

Simon Readhead QC, current head of chambers at 1 Chancery Lane, said he looked forward to the “new and exciting” opportunities the merger would bring for clients, barristers and staff alike.

He said: “This merger is built on shared ambitions and values. By bringing together our specialist expertise and experience, we aim to enhance the quality of the service that we offer to our existing clients and to expand and develop the large range of practice areas in which barristers in both Chambers are already widely recognised as pre-eminent in their fields. Our objective is to strengthen still further our position as a leading Chambers in all these practice areas”.

Readhead said the merger would lead to administrative efficiencies that will allow Chambers to be more responsive to the needs of clients and “react, quickly and appropriately, to the challenges of a fast changing market for legal services”.

“We remain committed to reinforcing and developing our many exceptional and longstanding client relationships”, he concluded.

Jacob Levy QC, current head of chambers at 9 Gough Chambers, commented: “A merger between our two Chambers – 9GC and 1CL – is both exciting and innovative.

“We’ve long been admirers of each other and the prospect of increasing our overall bench strength is hugely appealing to both of us.

“We consider that the already excellent service we offer our clients; the range, depth of knowledge and skilled Counsel available – would only see an enhancement by a merger of our two Sets.

“This is an exciting time for 9GC and 1CL, and we want to assure all our clients that this is not just business as usual, but business with even greater choice, more variety, more skill and the offer of an even larger pool of first class advocates delivering first class and specialist advice in all our core areas of work. And more.”

Following the merger, 5 Norwich Street will continue with areas of work including personal injury, clinical negligence, professional liability, crime, criminal and civil fraud, travel and cross border claims, family law, dispute resolution, public sector and human rights, police law, public law, inquests and inquiries,  property chancery and commercial, regulatory, professional disciplinary proceedings, local government, court of protection and costs.

Clients include national and local firms of solicitors, companies, individuals, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office, government departments, insurers, police forces and local authorities.