13 Old Square takes on fourteen new tenants
The new chancery set 13 Old Square, headed by former political speechwriter John McDonnell QC, has hired 14 tenants.
The list includes Edward Bartley-Jones QC, who will work part time from 13 Old Square while continuing to head the commercial and chancery departments of Exchange Chambers in Liverpool.
Former Clyde & Co lawyer Adam Chichester-Clark and ex-Financial Services Authority enforcement officer Richard Peat have also joined.
McDonnell, who formerly practised at 9 Stone Buildings, plans to hire 30 tenants in total. He was inspired to establish 13 Old Square, which was previously occupied by KSB Law, by two of his former clerks – Justin Brown, the new set’s senior clerk, and Warren Lee, its administrator.
Before joining the bar in 1971, McDonnell had an influential political career, including working as a speechwriter for US senator George McGovern. As a member of the London-based Conservative Research Department, he helped develop the ideas that produced the Industrial Relations Act 1971, and also advised prime minister Edward Heath.
As a barrister, McDonnell’s clients have included bands The Sex Pistols and Motör-head as well as the Bishop of Durham and the owners of the Patak spices empire.
The other tenants at the new set are: Richard Astor (an independent adviser in the US on Lloyd’s litigation), Raymond Davern (a former lecturer at King’s College, London), Professor Mark Watson-Gandy (1 Plowden Buildings), Marianne Perkins (7 New Square), Sandradee Joseph (an employed barrister at DLA), Richard Devereux-Cooke (Phoenix Chambers), James Couser (Phoenix Chambers), Hannah Chapman (36 Bedford Row), Joanna Perkins (the Law Commission), Ekaterina Sjostrand (New Square Chambers) and Duncan Henderson (4 Stone Buildings).
