Legal 500 has published its professional rankings for the 2026 edition of their legal directory today. The rankings showcase the UK’s top barristers and chambers. 18 St John Street Chambers has continued its year-on-year progress and – with 36 members now ranked – we have seen another large increase in the number of rankings and individuals across several areas of law.
18 St John Street Chambers is ranked as a leading set in the following areas:
Private Wealth, Probate, and Tax
Commercial Litigation
Company and Insolvency
Costs
Crime (general and fraud)
Family: children and domestic violence
As always, we are grateful to all our clients that have taken time out to offer feedback, references and reviews to The Legal 500. We thank all of those who work with us across all our practice areas for their continued loyalty and support, it really is much appreciated.
Full rankings and editorial can be found on the Legal 500 website here: https://www.legal500.com/firms/9626-chambers-of-richard-chapman-kc/r-england/rankings. For a summary, please read below.
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY DEPARTMENT
Agricultural Law
Private Wealth, Probate and Tax
Leading Silks:
Leading Juniors:
Dr Christopher McNall , Jennifer Newstead Taylor , Nathan Goldstein, Rupert Davies, Andrew Rauer (Rising Star).
Commercial Litigation
Leading Silks:
Leading Juniors:
David Hoffman, Dr Christopher McNall, Elisabeth Tythcott, Dr Mike Wilkinson, Neil Fawcett, Oliver Caplan
Company and Insolvency
Leading Silks:
Leading Juniors:
Jennifer Newstead Taylor , Elisabeth Tythcott, John Vickery, Oliver Caplan
Social Housing
Leading Juniors:
Professional Negligence
Leading Silks:
Property & Construction
Leading Silks:
Leading Juniors:
Michael Wilkinson, Oliver Caplan
Business & Property Testimonials
’18 St John Street is starting to stamp its authority on the Manchester market. They have real strength in depth.’
‘An excellent set that ranks on par with London and in some cases is far better when it comes to service delivery.’
For more information on the Business and Property Department at 18 St John Street, please contact a member of the clerking team on 0161 278 8261 or via email bandp@18sjs.com
CRIMINAL DEPARTMENT
Crime (General and Fraud)
Leading Silks:
Leading Juniors:
Rachel Shenton, Richard Vardon, Rachel Faux, Andrew Evans, Daniel Calder , Claire Brocklebank, Verity Quaite
Crime Department Testimonials
The criminal law team at 18 St John Street Chambers is widely renowned for ‘offering a great depth of experience and talent all round’.
For more information on the Criminal Department at 18 St John Street, please contact a member of the clerking team on 0161 278 8262 or via email crime@18sjs.com
FAMILY DEPARTMENT
Children and Domestic Violence
Leading juniors:
Fiona Holloran, Kate Bramall, Kate Donohue, Leonie Caplan, Samantha Birtles, Anna Warters, Danish Ameen, Alex Walker, Farah Ahmed, Fergal Allen, Rebecca Costello, Jonathan Jackson, Hannah Phoenix, Georgia Griffiths, Emma Whelan
Divorce and Financial Remedy
Leading juniors:
Family Department Testimonials
’18 St John Street Chambers is praised as an ‘an exceptional set of chambers’ which boasts a large team of children law barristers who are well-equipped to represent clients before the High Court and the Court of Appeal
For more information on the Family Department, please contact a member of the family clerking team on 0161 278 8263 or via email family@18sjs.com
PERSONAL INJURY, CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE AND COSTS
Personal Injury
Leading juniors:
Elahe Youshani, Kane Simons, Daniel Boal (Rising Star)
Costs
Leading juniors:
Testimonials
’18 St John Street Chambers is ‘particularly strong in the field of personal injury’.
‘A strong chambers in costs matters’, 18 St John Street Chambers is well known for handling a wide spectrum of contentious and non-contentious costs issues.
For more information on the Personal Injury, Clinical Negligence and Costs Department at 18 St John Street, please contact a member of the clerking team on 0161 278 8261 or via email pi@18sjs.com
The Legal 500 says:
The Legal 500 Series is widely acknowledged as the world’s largest legal referral guide. More than 300,000 buyers of legal services are surveyed and interviewed globally each year.
The Legal 500 UK is now in its 39th year. The current rankings are taken from the 2026 guide, which was published on 1st October 2025.
Research for the guide took place in early 2025, where researchers conducted thousands of interviews and assessed nearly 3,000 from barristers’ chambers.
Nearly 160 barristers’ chambers submitted over 2,000 submissions, and regionally, 106 chambers were ranked across all circuits of England and Wales, and in Scotland.
The Legal 500 is an independent guide, and firms and individuals are recommended purely on merit. It is the only guide to truly reflect the needs of corporate counsel by focusing on the strength in depth of the teams (practice and associates) rather than simply list individual partners.
18 St John Street is a multi-disciplinary set based in Manchester. Members of Chambers have been delivering the highest standards of advice and advocacy services to professional and lay clients for over 50 years.
For more information on the services provided, please contact a member of the clerking team by email clerks@18sjs.com or by calling 0161 278 1800.