7 Bedford Row wins QC from Hollis Whiteman

A full quarter of 7 Bedford Row tenants are now silks after the civil and criminal set poached Hollis Whiteman Chambers fraud specialist Gareth Rees QC.

Rees's arrival at 7 Bedford Row, along with last week's appointment of John Pini as silk, increases the set's QC count to 20, out of 80 members.

Rees's experience includes advising on major cases such as the Jubilee Line fraud, the Versailles fraud, the Millennium Dome corruption case and the Mars corruption case. He is also regularly instructed by City firms on corporate crime matters, such as the Serious Fraud Office investigation into pharmaceutical companies.7 Bedford Row's chief executive Robert Graham-Campbell said the hire was part of the set's ongoing strategy to grow its business crime and regulatory practice. "Gareth's appointment is a very significant step forward in that strategy, with his high profile in many of the most significant cases in recent years," Graham-Campbell said.

Rees's hire coincides with the arrival of three new junior barristers, including two for 7 Bedford Row's criminal team. Fraud specialist Hanisha Patel has moved from Bridewell Chambers alongside 2 Paper Buildings' Kate Lumbers.

Senior junior Rosalind Coe is also joining the set, bringing a personal injury practice from Nottingham's Ropewalk Chambers.

Rees is the sixth barrister to leave Hollis Whiteman this year after Julian Bevan QC, Timothy Langdale QC and John Kelsey-Fry QC, along with senior juniors Richard Horwell and Ian Winter (both now appointed silk) quit in February to launch Cloth Fair Chambers.

Hollis Whiteman's chambers director Vicky Thompson said: "We're sorry to see Gareth go, but wish him all the best."