Insights

Autumn Insolvency Webinar Series

11/08/2025

Guildhall Chambers is delighted to invite you to our Autumn Insolvency Webinar Series. Commencing once a month from September until November.

The webinar series will focus on a variety of insolvency topics such as corporate, personal and restructuring.

Please find the details for each webinar below:

𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 – 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗱𝗹𝗲𝗿, 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗮𝗰.

𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘒𝘊, Stefan Ramel 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘡𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘩 𝘗𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳

The Court’s burgeoning jurisdiction to sanction restructuring plans for companies in financial difficulty in the face of creditor dissent – known as the “cross-class cram down” (“CCCD”) power – under Part 26A Companies Act 2006 has now been the subject of analysis in three high-profile Court of Appeal decisions in Adler, Thames Water and Petrofac.

In this webinar, Simon Passfield KC, Stefan Ramel, and Zachariah Pullar discuss the practical significance of these (and other recent) decisions (including Waldorf Production in which Stefan appeared for HMRC) for the court’s approach to key issues arising under the CCCD jurisdiction – such as allocation of the benefits preserved by the restructuring ~~surplus~~, provision of new money, and treatment of ‘out of the money’ creditors – as well as areas for future development

To sign up to the webinar, please click here

𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟮 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 – 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱: 𝗦𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘃 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮 [𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱] 𝗘𝗪𝗖𝗔 𝗖𝗶𝘃 𝟳𝟬𝟴.

𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘺

In this webinar, Govinder Chambay will discuss:

The good faith duty which directors owe under s.172 of the Companies Act 2006;
The legal and practical consequences of the Saxon Woods decision which substantially alters the test which applies when considering whether there has been a breach of the good faith duty.

To sign up to the webinar, please click here

𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 – 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀

𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴

Considering the operation of the equity of exoneration and also its defeat, whilst also considering other defences which may be raised in bankruptcy proceedings.

To sign up to the webinar, please click here

Share

Employment Lunch and Learn - Cardiff

11/08/2025

Patient autonomy and informed consent: where are we now?

19/08/2025

Authors

Simon Passfield KC

Call: 2009 Silk: 2024

James Hannant

Call: 2013

Govinder Chambay

Call: 2018

Jennifer Edwards

Call: 2022

Zachariah Pullar

Call: 2024

Related Practice Areas

Insolvency and Restructuring

Sign up

To be kept up-to-date with our latest news and future events, please complete the short form.

Register

Follow

Popular Insights

Release after half or two-thirds of a sentence? Examples from a year in the criminal courts

09/08/2023

Recoverability of VAT on Costs

06/12/2022

Closing the door? The Supreme Court’s Decision in Paul, Polmear, and Purchase

16/01/2024

For help, please complete the form below.

A member of the clerking team will help you resolve your request.

Facebook

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

How can we help?(Required)

CAPTCHA

Frequently asked questions

If you have any queries about the services offered by Guildhall Chambers you are invited to contact the clerks at:

[email protected] or [email protected]. If you would prefer to telephone then please call 0117 930 9000 (the telephone number for the London office is 020 8087 1621).

For Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence specific enquiries, please email [email protected].

For Employment related enquiries, please email [email protected].

For Court of Protection enquiries, please email [email protected].

For Cost and Litigation enquiries, please email [email protected].

The following are invited to contact the clerks (as above) for our barristers’ services:

Solicitors;
Licensed Access clients, who may hold a licence issued by the Bar Standards Board, or be a members of a professional body which has been recognised by the Bar Standards Board; and
Members of the public who wish to instruct a barrister under the Public Access scheme.

We will provide you with a quote as soon as possible and, unless you are informed otherwise, within 14 days. If your matter is urgent please specify this when contacting chambers, and we will work to expedite your query. Guildhall Chambers are used to receiving and responding to work on an urgent basis.

Our barristers act both in advising clients and in representing clients in court. Barristers from Guildhall Chambers appear at all levels of the civil and criminal courts, including the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown Court, the County Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Our barristers act in criminal work for the Crown Prosecution Service (hereafter ‘CPS’) and other prosecuting agencies, as well as for Defendants, at all stages in the criminal justice process.

In civil work, our barristers act for both Claimants and Defendants at all levels of the civil justice system.

We also act for public bodies (particularly in Court of Protection work). Some of our members are members of the Attorney General’s Panel Scheme, which means that they can be instructed to act for the government.

Members of chambers also act for clients in cases heard in the Land Tribunal and in the Employment Tribunal.

If you have any questions about whether a barrister from Guildhall Chambers is able to represent you or has experience in representing clients in a particular area of law, or in a particular tribunal or court, then please do not hesitate to contact the clerks.

Public Access (also known as Direct Access)

If you are a member of the public, the Bar Standards Board’s Public Access Guidance for Law Clients is available here.

This guidance will help you to understand how the Public Access scheme works and explains how you can use it to instruct barristers directly.

Please note not all of our barristers act on a public access basis. Please check with the clerks and on the Public Access page on our website to see which barristers are able to act on a direct / public access basis.

We have barristers who are able to provide services on a public access basis including in the following areas:

What are the levels of fees to be charged for Public Access work?

Guildhall Chambers provides further information on the likely level of fees to be charged for specific areas of work if the barrister is instructed on a Public access basis. We provide this information in relation to work on a Public Access basis for:

Summary only motoring offences;
Employment tribunal work (in relation to unfair and wrongful dismissal cases);
Inheritance Act advices (where the value of the estate is less than £300,000);
Winding-up petitions

Please click on the relevant area to find out more information about the likely level of fees for the services of our barristers in these areas. This information is also available in hard copy format.

Please note that all of the above indicative fee information is still dependent upon the usual factors which may increase (or in some circumstances decrease) the likely cost of the barrister’s services.

Please read this information when considering the range of likely fees in these areas of Public Access work. For the most accurate information on the potential fees involved in your case, please contact the clerks.

If I instruct a barrister on a Direct Access basis, will there be any additional costs to pay or just the barrister’s fee?

It is also important to note that in relation to direct access work there may be costs, fees and/or charges which you will have to pay in addition to the fees which are payable to the barrister. In order to find out more about what (if any) additional costs arise, it is sensible to discuss this with the clerks (or the barrister who you instruct) at the outset.

Examples of additional charges which may be payable in addition to the direct access barrister’s fee include:

Court fees. Whether a court fee is payable (and how much that court fee will be) will depend on the circumstances of your case albeit in many (but not all) cases the value of the remedy which you are seeking will be a key factor;
There may occasionally be charges for photocopying and/or bundle preparation;

Barristers in the following teams most often charge on the following basis for the following areas of work (in each instance please contact the clerks to check that this system of charging will be applicable for your case):

Administrative and Public Law work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Court of Protection work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Clinical negligence and personal injury work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Commercial work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Costs and litigation funding work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Criminal work on a private basis (where the client is not eligible for legal aid) is normally charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate fixed fee.
Employment and discrimination work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate for advisory work. Representation in court is most often charged on the basis of a fixed fee.
Insolvency work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
International and offshore work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Property and estates work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Regulatory and disciplinary work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.
Sport law work is most often charged (or calculated) on the basis of an hourly rate.

Please note that this is guidance for the approach which is taken in most cases in the relevant area of work. It does not preclude the barrister from charging fees on an hourly rate or a fixed fee basis (as appropriate) where the circumstances of the case, the work which the barrister is required to undertake, and the nature of the instructions best suit that model.

All fees are charged exclusive of VAT (where applicable).

Please contact the clerks in the first instance for information about fees and fee quotes because they will be able to provide you with the clearest information about what the services from barristers at Guildhall Chambers may cost. The clerks will also be able to provide you with information about what may cause any fee quote or estimates to vary. The clerks can only provide you with a quote based on the information which you provide to them, so please endeavour to provide a written summary of the important aspects of your case.

All quotes will be provided within a reasonable time, and in any event the clerks will aim to provide a quote within 14 days. If you require work urgently, please inform the clerks about this when seeking a quote.

We will always aim to set out quotes clearly, but if you receive your quote and there is something that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to contact the clerks. There is also an enquiry form on our website which allows you to provide the clerks with information for the purposes of generating a quote for your case.

Barristers in chambers can charge on an hourly rate basis or on the basis of a fixed fee. However, unless a fixed fee is set when a barrister initially receives instructions to undertake work on your behalf, then the barrister will work on an hourly rate basis.

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers work on a “no win, no fee” basis? Can I fund my case with legal insurance?

Our barristers will also accept instructions under conditional fee arrangements (colloquially known as ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements) however the barrister is not obliged to agree to work on this basis and will have to enter into a written agreement to that effect in order to do so. Please contact the clerks in order to discuss whether this is an arrangement which you would like to explore in the circumstances of your case.

If you have any queries about whether you have legal insurance available to you to cover your costs and/or provide funding in relation to your legal costs then please read the guidance provided by Legal Choices at https://www.legalchoices.org.uk/legal-choices/money-talks/after-the-event-insurance/.

Do any of the barristers at Guildhall Chambers work without requiring a fee?

Some barrister will work without requiring a fee from their client (this is referred to as “pro bono” work). However, barristers are not required to act on this basis. If this is something which you are interested in for the purposes of your case, then please contact the clerks. Please note that pro bono work is normally provided through the Pro Bono ‘Advocate’ Scheme. For more information on that scheme please follow this link https://weareadvocate.org.uk/ or call 020 7092 3960.

Do barristers at Guildhall Chambers provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency?

Barristers at Guildhall Chambers do provide their services to clients who are funded by the Legal Aid Agency. If you are unsure whether you are eligible for legal aid then please see the legal aid eligibility calculator at https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid.

Please note that barristers cannot do legal aid work unless they have been instructed by a solicitor. However, just because your case is eligible for legal aid funding does not mean that you cannot choose to proceed under Public Access scheme.

Timescales for a case may vary depending on factors such as the availability of the barrister, the type and the complexity of the case, the approach of the other side and court waiting times. Whilst all barristers will aim to complete any written and/or advisory services required on a case within 28 days this will not be possible in all cases. If there is a particular deadline then this must be raised and agreed with the barrister when any instructions are given to the barrister.

Please note that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic many cases (both civil and criminal) have been delayed and there are significant backlogs in the system. Whilst this will not usually alter the timescales for the services which barristers at Guildhall Chambers will provide, it may mean that timescales given in relation to the progress of your case through the courts will be affected.

Whether the fees are to be charged on an hourly rate or a fixed fee basis there will be certain factors which may increase the level of work involved, and therefore the fees which are likely to be charged (or the number of hours involved). Those factors include:

The seniority of barrister required for your case. The more experienced the barrister (which is normally calculated on the number of years since they were called to the bar) the higher the likely level of fees to be charged.
The number of papers involved in the case and/or the complexity of the factual issues involved.
The time in which you require the work to be turned around and/or the services to be provided. More urgent work will often involve a higher level of fee (for example if this involves the barrister working over a weekend or prioritising your case over other work).
The amount of time that your case will require the barrister to be in court.
The amount of travel time required for the barrister to get to and from court. Travel time is usually charged at half the barrister’s hourly rate.
The complexity of the legal issues involved.
The significance of the case more generally, for example if the case has wider ramifications for the client generally and/or public or legal significance.

If you are concerned about the level of fees which may be involved in your case please inform the clerks at the earliest opportunity who will be able to discuss with the barrister how costs can be managed on the case.

Please not that fee indications are (unless expressly agreed otherwise) not “caps”, and if a barrister is required to do work on the case, then they will charge accordingly. We will always aim to inform you if the fees on the case are likely to exceed the fee quotes or estimates previously provided.

The best way to manage the level of the fees is to discuss the circumstances of your case (including any issues regarding fees) with the clerks when initially seeking to instruct a barrister.

Barristers at Guildhall Chambers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board (hereafter ‘BSB’). You can contact the BSB at 289-293 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7HZ or by telephone on 020 7611 1444. Please follow this link to the BSB website:
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk.

If you are interested in seeing: (i) whether a barrister has a current practising certificate or (ii) whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings (which are published on the BSB website) then you can search the Barristers’ Register on the Bar Standards Board website.

What is the complaints procedure at Guildhall Chambers, and do I have any further rights of redress if I am unhappy with how my complaint has been handled?

If you have any complaint about the services provided by a barrister at Guildhall Chambers, then please read our complaints procedure or download a pdf copy

.

Guildhall Chambers have premises in both London and Bristol. Please find the addresses for our offices below:

Bristol offices:

5-8 Broad Street
Bristol
BS1 2HG

23 Broad Street
Bristol
BS1 2HG

London office:

Central Court
Southampton Buildings
London
WC2A 1AL

It is advisable to contact the Bristol offices in the first instance, because Guildhall Chambers do not have a permanent staff presence at the London office (although calls will be forwarded from the London office). This does not inhibit barristers from Guildhall Chambers from representing London clients or in appearing very frequently in the courts in London.

Autumn Insolvency Webinar Series

𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 – 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀