'A number of great IT and telecoms barristers.'
Legal 500 2010
'An incredibly good set for IP matters'.
Legal 500 2010
'A veritable powerhouse of IP expertise'
Chambers and Partners 2011
'excellence on IT matters'
Legal 500 (Information Technology) 2010
The clerks are described as "helpful," "generous" and "very good at knowing what you want."
Chambers & Partners (Intellectual Property) 2013
'8 New Square successfully parlays its renowned IP expertise into success in the IT sector.'
Chambers & Partners (Information Technology) 2009
'Practical and helpful clerks" provide a "smooth and personable service.'
Chambers and Partners 2011
"an impressive set with quality from the top
silk down to the most junior barristers."
Chambers & Partners (Information Technology) 2013
'Top drawer IP set.'
Legal 500 2010
History of Chambers
8 New Square, the Chambers of Mark Platts-Mills QC has been established for over a hundred years. As far as we can ascertain, the chambers were in existence before 1900 but began specialising in patent law just after the turn of the century. Kenneth Johnston QC, a previous Head of Chambers wrote the following note which is attached to the back of a photograph of Fig Tree Court which hangs in the waiting room.
"The Chambers in 5 Fig Tree Court began to specialise in patents during the first decade of the 20th Century, although A.J. Walter had done patent cases before then, and by the 1920s had become pre-eminent in this kind of work. In 1934 Wilfred Greene, K.C. was brought in by British Celanese to lead their appeal to the House of Lords against Courtaulds. After the hearing it was thought by some-wrongly-that he had won and at about that time I was walking up Chancery Lane with James Whitehead, K.C., who had led for Courtaulds, and he said to me, “They have blown the trumpets round Fig Tree Court many times, but the walls have not yet fallen.” What Wilfred Greene failed to do metaphorically was achieved physically by the Luftwaffe and in 1941 chambers, then much reduced in numbers, withdrew to 1 Gray's Inn Square.
After 12 years at 8 Kings Bench Walk, we moved in 1957 to Francis Taylor Building. The entrance to 5 Fig Tree Court was from a covered passage leading south into Fig Tree Court, then lying to the north of Crown Office Row. On the left as one entered there were two rooms, both overlooking Fig Tree Court. The second room, with three windows, was that of James Whitehead, who was there followed by Basil Drewe in 1935. Facing the entrance was the Senior Clerk's room, by the side of which there was a stair to the basement with windows looking up to Fig Tree Court. Here was a large room (later divided into two) containing, until 1936 some tools, including a lathe on which A J Walter was said to have turned a well shaped leg for demonstration in the Fox's puttee case. The first floor was reached by a stair leading up from the right just by the entrance. It had four rooms, two of them over the main rooms of the ground floor, the further and larger being that of W Trevor Watson, K.C. The postcard shows 5 Fig Tree Court from Fig Tree Court and it can be seen that it was a small house. Trevor Watson used to hold that it was occupied by William Cowper when he tried to commit suicide there, but I have not verified this. It has now gone, but may the walls of its successor, Francis Taylor Building, never fall in any sense."
Kenneth Johnston November 1975
Well, the walls of Francis Taylor Building never did fall, but, with the expansion of chambers and the reluctance of others in the building to make room for us, they began to bulge. In 1993 we moved to 8 New Square, our present home in Lincoln’s Inn.
Queen's Counsel practising from Chambers since its formation
A.J.Walter QC, J.Hunter Gray QC, James Whitehead QC, W.Trevor Watson QC, Basil Drewe QC, Kenneth Johnston QC, T.A.Blanco White QC, Anthony Walton QC, Julian Jeffs QC, A.Kynric Lewis QC, Robin Jacob QC, Michael Fysh QC, Hugh Laddie QC, Peter Prescott QC, John Baldwin QC, David Kitchin QC, Mark Platts-Mills QC, Martin Howe QC, Mary Vitoria QC, Daniel Alexander QC, James Mellor QC, Richard Meade QC, Michael Tappin QC and Adrian Speck QC.
Senior Clerks
Charles White, Fred Watts, Sidney Leigh, John Call