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Silk

Barrister

Nigel Giffin

Nigel Giffin practises mainly in the field of public law at 11KBW, although he still undertakes employment law and commercial law cases of certain kinds. His practice covers commercial and environmental judicial review, as well as many aspects of local government law including education, social services, housing, powers and finance and elections. He was formerly a member of the Attorney General’s “A” panel of Counsel to the Crown, and undertook a number of important Human Rights Act cases in this capacity.

He is a CEDR accredited mediator, and has undertaken a number of mediations as both mediator and counsel.

Nigel studied law at Oxford, where he was awarded a first in his degree. He is the author of the chapter on Administrative Court proceedings in Foskett’s Law and Practice of Compromise, and a member of the editorial board of Butterworths Local Government Reports.

Nigel has recently been acting as counsel to the Public Inquiry into the murder of Zahid Mubarek at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution.

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Barrister

Philip Kolvin

Philip is one of the country’s most eminent licensing KCs. His practice spans all fields of licensing, including alcohol and entertainment, gambling, sexual entertainment, taxis, sport, caravans and the security industry. He acts across the board for national and independent operators, national regulators, local authorities and local residents and community groups.

He has been ranked in the top tier for licensing in the Legal 500 and Chambers directories for many years. As one client put it, “There isn’t anyone who comes close to his stature” (Legal 500).

He is a Patron and former Chair of the Institute of Licensing, the professional body for licensing practitioners, and a Visiting Professor at Westminster University’s Centre for Law, Society and Popular Culture.

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Barrister

Cecilia Ivimy

Cecilia has an extensive practice in public and administrative law, human rights, information law, commercial regulatory judicial review, online safety, and social security.

Cecilia’s clients include private clients, regulators, public authorities and central government departments. She has represented and advised clients at all levels in the domestic courts and in the European Court of Human Rights.

For many years Cecilia was ranked as a leading junior in Public and Administrative Law and Civil Liberties and from 2025 has been ranked as a new silk.  Prior to taking silk, Cecilia was a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel of Counsel.

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Barrister

Aileen McColgan

Aileen is recommended by the directories as a leading silk in administrative & public law, education law, civil liberties & human rights, employment law and independent investigations. She has particular interests in discrimination/equality and human rights law, including the law relating to information/freedom of expression, and extensive experience in conducting independent investigations for a variety of bodies including FTSE 100 and multinational companies, local authorities and national charities, law firms, political parties and universities.

Aileen’s interests in human rights and discrimination law have been reflected in litigation and investigations concerning the boundaries between free speech and alleged antisemitism and transphobia as well as between religious freedom and anti- discrimination rights. She has extensive experience on advising in relation to trans-related issues in the context of education, employment and policing. Recent cases include Forstater v CGD Europe & Ors (on discrimination and gender critical beliefs), R (AI) v London Borough of Wandsworth (on the PSED and the provision of education to trans students) and R (AB) v A county council & Anor (a challenge brought by a teacher in relation to a child’s social transition at school). Aileen has also advised many organisations on the investigation and management of complaints of sexual harassment/ assault and harassment/ bullying, including at the highest levels.

Aileen is recommended by Chambers & Partners (2024) as ‘very responsive and very good with clients… tactically astute and able to cut through large quantities of information and provide clear, strategic and commercial advice quickly’; ‘A great advocate to have in your corner’; ‘really able to think outside of the box’’; ‘exceptional in every aspect of advice and client relationships… a true expert’. The Legal 500 currently recommends her ‘an expert on discrimination law’ whose ‘no- nonsense approach gives confidence to the client’, and as having ‘an encyclopaedic knowledge and really in-depth understanding of the law of equality and discrimination as applicable to schools’.

Previous editions have praised Aileen as ‘a top-class practitioner’, ‘an excellent KC and a pleasure to work with’ (Chambers & Partners 2003) and ‘a leading lawyer [whose] understanding of the key issues and fundamental principles really sets her apart’ (Legal 500 2023); ‘a fierce advocate’ who ‘distils complicated issues into manageable areas … has a phenomenal ability to cut through swathes of information to get to the heart of the matter and has a genuine partnership approach’ (Legal 500, 2022), and as having a ‘stellar academic background [which] means that she is totally on top of the law, and [who] draws on that fountain of knowledge to provide comprehensive but commercial advice’ (Chambers & Partners 2022).

Aileen has a distinguished history as an academic and is internationally recognised as a leading academic in discrimination, equality and human rights law. Her academic work has been cited in the ECHR and the domestic courts. She is the former Chair of the Human Rights Lawyers Association (2019-2021); a current or former member of the editorial committees of Public Law, European Human Rights Law Review, International Journal of Discrimination and the Law and Education Law Reports and former Executive Committee Member of the Industrial Law Society. She has been trustee of the British Institute of Human Rights and was until 2016 the UK’s National Expert on the European Networks of Legal Experts in the Field of Gender Equality and of Experts in the Non-discrimination Field. She has published very widely on human rights, discrimination and employment law.

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Barrister

Peter Oldham

Peter is a well-known practitioner advising and litigating in public, local government, education and employment law, and has always appeared as a leading silk in the directories.  Peter regularly advises and appears in the cutting edge cases in his fields.  Recent litigation includes:

R (BH) v Kirklees Council (September 2025) – challenge to sale of care homes

R (Coventry CC) v Home Office (July 2025) – challenge to Home Office’s policy on procurement of accommodation for asylum seekers

R (CKT) v Twyford School and others (July 2025) – admission criteria for Church of England School and indirect race discrimination

R (NAA) v Haringey LBC, A School and an Independent Review Panel (June 2025) – exclusion from school, county lines, Art 4 of the ECHR and modern slavery

R (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council) v Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (Jan 2025) – challenge to LGSCO’s decision on nursery charges and free early education entitlement

R (X) v Bristol City Council (Dec 2024) – challenge to LA’s entry into “safety valve agreement” with DfE for SEN funding

R (Mid Ulster DC) v Department for Communities (Dec 2024) – challenge to refusal of IT grant application to central government

R (An Association) v Department for Education (Oct 2024) – challenge to DfE’s refusal to award funding for increased teaching costs

R (British Medical Association) v Royal College of GPs (Oct 2024) – challenge to exam rules/disability

R (Birmingham CC) v Department for Transport (March 2024) – challenge to cessation of PFI funding from DfT

R (Mid Ulster DC) v Department for Communities (Oct 2023) – rate support grant, equalities and rural considerations

R (Bristol Boaters Community Association) v Bristol CC (Oct 2023) – challenge to LA’s harbour charges

R (X Limited) v OFSTED (Oct 2023) – challenge to OFSTED report by apprenticeship provider

R (RDAG) v Neath Port Talbot Council (Oct 2022) – school reorganisation and Welsh language education

R (AB) v Slough BC (July 2022) – challenge to closure of LA day centre for disabled adults

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Barrister

Robin Hopkins

Robin is a market-leading specialist in information law: data protection, privacy, platform disputes, online safety, media and technology issues and freedom of information.

Robin is a top-ranked junior in Chambers & Partners for data protection (‘star individual’ junior, 2018 to 2024), consistently a Tier 1 junior in Legal 500, and is also a ranked junior in Group Litigation. Legal 500 named him Technology, Data and Crypto Junior of the Year in 2024.

He has vast experience on GDPR and DPA issues such as data breaches, compensation claims (individual and multi-party litigation), ICO regulatory actions, subject access requests and compliance challenges to data-driven business models. His cases have involved major multinationals (including Meta/Facebook, Experian, Google, TikTok, Ticketmaster, Skybet and Equifax) on some of the ground-breaking cases emerging under the GDPR.

Robin has appeared in hundreds of information rights appeals (FOI and environmental information) and jointly runs 11KBW’s Panopticon blog.

He is on the Attorney General’s A Panel of counsel, and also has a judicial role in the Ecclesiastical Courts, as Commissary General (Chancellor) of the Diocese of Canterbury.

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Barrister

Christopher Knight

Christopher was appointed King’s Counsel in 2026. He has a broad public law practice and a particular specialism in media and privacy law, the devolution settlement and in Brexit-related matters. He has appeared in the most significant constitutional law cases of the last few years, including the Article 50 Brexit case, the Scottish independence referendum reference and the challenge to the prorogation of Parliament. He has acted as sole advocate before the High Court, Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the EU. He is a leading expert in information and data protection law. Christopher is also a highly regarded academic writer, publishing widely in journals and is the co-author of the leading textbook Bradley, Ewing & Knight on Constitutional and Administrative Law (2022, Pearson). He is an editor of the White Book and a member of the Editorial Committee of Public Law.

In 2025, Christopher achieved the unusual distinction of being named Public Law junior of the year in both the Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 Bar Awards. He previously won the Legal 500 award in the same category in 2022, and has been nominated for both awards on various other occasions. He is ranked as the sole Star Individual for Administrative and Public Law, and a Star Individual for Data Protection by Chambers & Partners.

Christopher is a member of the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel. The directories have recently described him as: the “king of data rights” (Legal 500, 2021), “utterly first class” (Legal 500, 2020), “a superstar of the data and privacy world” (Legal 500, 2024) and having “a brain the size of a planet, and is very impressive and calm and collected in court” (Chambers & Partners, 2021). Clients have commented that: “Chris is an extraordinarily brilliant lawyer. He is steeped in public law, his drafting is so precise and beautifully written and his judgement is absolutely spot on” (Chambers & Partners, 2024), that “His contributions to a case are transformative” (Chambers & Partners, 2025) and that “Christopher is probably the best barrister I have ever instructed” (Chambers & Partners, 2025)

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Barrister

Julian Milford

Julian Milford was called to the bar in 2000. His main areas of practice are public law, information law, and employment law. Julian undertakes advisory and judicial review work in the field of public and constitutional law for central and local government, other public authorities, and individuals, and has been instructed for and against government on issues of major public importance. He advises on and acts in cases concerning information rights in the civil courts and statutory tribunals, and has been instructed in significant data protection and freedom of information cases, having a particular specialism in national security cases and proceedings in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. He acts in employment cases in the civil courts and Employment Tribunal, and has experience across the Tribunal’s statutory jurisdiction, including extensive experience of acting in large-scale discrimination/equal pay claims and industrial action cases. His experience in discrimination law and the breadth of his expertise makes him well placed to undertake investigations and inquiries in the employment or regulatory context. He also practices in the field of education law, particularly in cases involving higher education institutions.

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Barrister

Tom Cross

Tom Cross KC is highly ranked by each of the principal legal directories in seven areas: Administrative & Public Law, Civil Liberties & Human Rights, Education, Professional Discipline, Local Government, Employment, and Data Protection.

He took Silk in 2025. He is described in the directories as “a powerhouse in litigation” who “inspires great confidence”. Before Silk, he was described as: “the best junior at the public law bar, without question”.  He was nominated UK Public Law Junior of the Year 2022, and Public Services and Charities Junior of the Year 2023. He was UK Public Law Junior of the Year 2018 (Legal 500) and UK Employment Law Junior of the Year 2019 (Chambers & Partners).

Some of his most recent instructions include: the challenge to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Interim Update on single-sex spaces (GLP); Sussex University’s challenge to its fine by the Office for Students for breaching free speech duties; the judicial review of the admission arrangements for the Hampstead Heath ponds; the claim against the Care Quality Commission’s registration of the country’s first private gender hormone clinic (Evans); the leading case on whether faith-based school admissions criteria may be race discriminatory (CKT); the challenge to the Policeʼs participation in Pride (Smith), the judicial review of VAT on private school fees (ALX); Tommy Robinson’s challenge to his prison conditions; the leading case on considering equalities impacts in school exclusions (TZA); the leading case on the application of freedom of expression in the workplace (Higgs); defending Katharine Birbalsingh’s ban on prayer rituals at Michaela School; the “Hogwarts Express” judicial review (West Coast Railway Company); the Supreme Court claim by Deliveroo Riders to worker rights (IWGB); the British Generic Manufacturers Association’s challenge to the negotiation of a new scheme for the supply of medicines to the NHS; the Part 8 claim on whether mentally unwell patients could be sectioned following “remote” assessments (Derbyshire NHS Trust); Lucy Letby’s Article 6 claim to an additional legally aided advocate for her defence at her criminal trial; the lockdown judicial review (Dolan); advising on what constitutes non-discriminatory pornography in prisons; the dispute about Manchester United’s away supporter allowance at Stamford Bridge; the challenge to the Census 2021 guidance (Fair Play for Women); Charlie Hughes’ battle for medicinal cannabis on the NHS; the challenge to Bermuda’s prohibition of same-sex marriage (Ferguson); the claim by Sir Philip Rutnam against the then Home Secretary Rt Hon Priti Patel; the dispute between Christ Church, Oxford, and its Dean; the Article 50 / Gina Miller litigation; the challenge to the Parole Board’s decision to release the “Black Cab Rapist” (DSD); the school sex segregation case (Al-Hijrah), representing Strictly Come Dancing Professional Kristina Rihanoff in pregnancy discrimination proceedings, and acting in claims concerning abortion rights, the crime of female genital mutilation, and the recovery of silver from a shipwreck which was sunk during World War Two in the Indian Ocean.

He acts for claimants, defendants, and other parties, principally in litigation. His private and public sector clients range from major companies to private individuals, UK and foreign governments, and regulatory bodies. He is on the Panel of Silks used by the Crown in civil cases (having previously been on the Attorney General’s ‘A Panel’ when junior Counsel) and is one of the Counsel to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

 

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Barrister

Simon Forshaw

Simon is an experienced practitioner specialising in the areas of employment, commercial, business protection and public law. He is well regarded and is ranked in all the leading directories. He has recently been described in various directories as “supremely intelligent and brilliant”, as taking “a robust stance in combative situations” and as managing “his clients very well”. He regularly appears in the employment tribunals, the EAT, the county court, the High Court and the Court of Appeal dealing with all stages of litigation.

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