HavelockChambers

In the matter of the practice

fo. 1

Instructions we accept, and what became of the last ones

Capability, stated the way counsel would state it in writing. Each area sets out what we do and the matters the courts have lately seen, and then the sort of dispute it suits. No adjectives where a citation will do.

All citations on this page are specimens with dummy numbers, replaced by the practice's own reports

(1)

CONTRACT · Sale, supply, distribution · Termination

Commercial disputes

These are the money fights, over contracts and shareholdings, and over partnerships and joint ventures. We are briefed early when the letters are still polite, and late when they are not. The advice is the same in either season: know the number you would settle at, then litigate as if you had never heard it.

Lately before the courts

Marchwood v Pellin Holdings [2025] EWCA Civ 000

Suited to

Disputes above the small-claims weight where the contract, not the relationship, must now do the talking.

(2)

APPEAL · Permission · Fresh evidence

Appeals

An appeal is a different craft from a trial: colder, shorter, and won on the record as it stands. We give honest permission advice first, because the kindest thing to do with a hopeless appeal is to say so in writing before it costs a second fortune.

Lately before the courts

Tern Estates v Halloway [2023] UKSC 000

Suited to

Judgments that read wrongly against the transcript, and points of law a first court was not able to decide.

(3)

EMPLOYMENT · Dismissal · Restraint · Discrimination

Employment

Both sides of the dismissal letter. For employers: restraints that hold because they were drawn narrowly. For the dismissed: the difference between an exit that stings and one that is actually unlawful, explained before the limitation clock runs anyone's nerves down.

Lately before the courts

Osei v Bramford Transit [2026] EAT 000

Suited to

Senior exits, team moves, restraint enforcement and tribunal claims with documents worth reading.

(4)

PROPERTY · Leases · Estates · Contested wills

Property & estates

Land and legacies: lease disputes, easements, boundary wars conducted over centimetres, and wills contested by the people the testator knew best. These matters run on feeling and are decided on documents. We keep the two separate for you.

Lately before the courts

Re the Estate of Calverton [2024] EWHC 000 (Ch)

Suited to

Estates and holdings where the asset is worth more than the costs of being right about it.

(5)

REGULATORY · Professional discipline · Fitness to practise

Regulatory & disciplinary

Professionals answering to their regulators, where the tribunal is polite and the livelihood is on the table. Early advice on the first notice shapes everything after it. The worst letters we see are the ones sent before anyone rang counsel.

Lately before the courts

In re a Practitioner [2025] Tribunal 000 (specimen)

Suited to

First notices, interim orders and final hearings for regulated professionals of every kind.

(6)

ARBITRATION · Commercial · Enforcement

Arbitration

Private tribunals, and the stakes are no smaller for it. We appear as counsel in commercial arbitration and in the court applications that orbit it: stays, challenges and enforcement. The privacy changes the room and not the standard of preparation.

Lately before the courts

AWX Commodities v Ferehold SA (2025, seat London) (specimen)

Suited to

Arbitration clauses that have woken up, and awards that now need a court to mean something.

Method

How instruction works

For solicitors

Brief through the clerk

Ring or write to the clerks' room with the area, the dates and the weight of the matter. Joseph gives you a fee indication and counsel's availability on the same call, and papers are acknowledged in writing the day they arrive.

For direct access

Start with the triage

Certain matters can come to counsel without a solicitor. The instruct page asks three plain questions and tells you whether yours qualifies, and at the end of it you reach a person. Fees are published on the same page.

Brief bundles tied in pink tape stacked on an oak desk under lamplight
Tomorrow's reading, tied today.

The clerks' room

Joseph Hartree

Senior clerk since 2012

Ring before you write. Two minutes with Joseph settles who you need and whether the dates work, and gives you a sense of the fee, before a page is sent.

Direct line

+44 20 0000 0000

Clerks' room

Weekdays 8.30 to 6.30, hearings permitting

Chambers

6 Paper Court, Temple Row, London

Put the matter to the clerk
Buy Havelock Chambers, $449 USDBuild Me One Like ThisKeep Browsing