GATEHOUSE CHAMBERS - Key Persons
Alison Meacher appointed to Equality & Human Rights Commission's panel of counsel
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- Chief Executive
- Chief Executive on
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- Senior Practice Manager
- Senior Practice Manager on
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- Head of Marketing
- Member of the Marketing Team
Cameron is a committed member of Advocate and has taken on a number of pro bono matters since joining chambers. In addition, Cameron regularly volunteers for the Chancery Litigants in Person Support Scheme and was one of the first Pro Bono Champions recognised by the Chancery Bar Association, an award given to advocates who have volunteered the greatest number of times for the scheme.
Carl Brewin is a specialist property barrister with a particular focus on cases involving land and real property, landlord and tenant matters and disputes concerning and arising from property transactions.
Recognised by The Legal 500 as a leading property practitioner, his clients include: well-known retailers, national housebuilders, institutional investors, property managers, insurers, local authorities and housing associations, as well as high net worth individuals. Carl is sought out as a confident and firm advocate and he is known for giving clear and concise advice that enables clients to understand their legal position as well as what that means for them in practical terms. He has a wide range and experience of advisory work, drafting and advocacy in all levels of court and tribunal.
Carl studied Russian and Politics. Before coming to the Bar, he worked in a busy solicitors' office and for a city-based firm of corporate governance consultants advising pension funds and other large investors.
In alpine ski season Carl can be seen on the slopes attempting to match Eddie the Eagle's finest achievements. For the rest of the year he can be seen mostly recovering from those attempts.
Carl has been appointed as a Deputy District Judge on the South Eastern Circuit and is also an accredited mediation advocate.
Areas of expertise
Property
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- Finance Manager
- Member of the Finance Team
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- Member of the Marketing Team
- International Business Development Consultant
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- Specialist in All Areas of Property
Clare is a specialist in all areas of Property and Housing Law, with a particular emphasis on residential and commercial landlord and tenant work. Clare also handles the full spectrum of land and real property cases and has a keen interest in disputes over beneficial ownership of property and trusts of land.
"Clare is a tenacious advocate. She is clear and commanding on her feet." (The Legal 500 2025)
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Member of the Associate
Dr Victoria McCloud was appointed as an Associate Member following her retirement as a senior Judge sitting in the High Court of England and Wales. Victoria served for 14 years as a High Court Master and is also the UK's first transgender Judge.
Victoria's appointment marks the first time a judge has been appointed to Gatehouse as an Associate Member post-retirement.
Victoria brings expertise from her current role as an advisor to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Whistleblowing via its secretariat, Whistleblowers UK, as well as her career as a judge. Her expertise and background also supplements Gatehouse Chambers' high profile investigations, public inquiries and inquests work, which includes the Covid and Grenfell inquiries.
It is with great sadness that we report that our great friend and colleague, Maggie Bloom died on 11 July 2018.
Maggie was held in high regard by friends and colleagues.
Before being called to the Bar, Maggie practised as a medical General Practitioner for over 13 years in south London. She sat as a Deputy Coroner for Inner London North and later for Greater London North for over 11 years. She also sat on an ethics committee for a Ministry of Defence research establishment.
Maggie became a barrister in 1994 and worked exclusively in the areas of Clinical Negligence, Personal Injury, Mental Health and Coroner's Law.
She was recognised for many years in the legal directories, Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners as a leading clinical negligence practitioner.
She was respected by colleagues, competitors, clients and commentators working in this area of law who valued her experience, insight and tactical nous. Due to the nature of her work and the long-running nature of the cases she worked on, Maggie often lived through cases with her clients and the families affected for a very long time, often many years.
The large proportion of Maggie's work as a barrister was in the field of clinical negligence, where her medical qualification enabled her to provide dual medical and legal insight into each case. She specialised in particular in brain injury at birth and cerebral palsy, and negligent treatment in the neonatal period.
Some highlights of Maggie's other work include:
Job Titles:
- Finance Director
- Member of the Finance Team
Gemma de Cordova is an experienced property litigator. She has a busy practice encompassing the full breadth of landlord & tenant and real property disputes.
Gemma's practice encompasses property litigation in the County Court; First Tier Tribunal; High Court; and the Court of Appeal. She has extensive trial experience, winning praise from solicitors and judges for her skills in cross-examination and handling the unusual and often-unexpected issues that multi-day trials can throw up. She also undertakes advisory work and drafting and is an experienced mediation advocate.
She is known for her ability to engage well with both professional and lay clients at all levels of seniority.
We have such fond (and funny) memories of our friend and colleague George, who was a colourful and kind man. He was in every sense a larger than life character. He loved a party and/or celebration, and he was very much a people person who took a genuine delight in the achievements of others. He especially enjoyed giving time to and assisting the young, especially students whom he could guide and mentor.
George made a valuable contribution to Gatehouse Chambers over many years. The Bar must have seemed like a very different place at the point he retired from practise to the profession he joined in 1971. He had a great and distinguished career as a barrister and a judge.
George was an active Bencher of his Inn, was the Chancellor of the Diocese of Chelmsford where he was loved and appreciated, and had been Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Peterborough for many years. He was very proud of having been made a Fellow of his old college, Downing College Cambridge, and was a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers.
He was truly a collegiate man, and one who loved friendship and fellowship, and was rightly proud of and loving towards his family. He will be sadly missed.
During the course of his career, George was an experienced insurance lawyer and was instrumental in building Gatehouse Chambers's formidable reputation in commercial circles. He accepted instructions from clients on all sides of the insurance arena, including Lloyd's underwriters, insurers and mutual insurance associations, brokers and assureds.
George's practice included advising and representing doctors and consultants on their liability, often in cases with complex clinical dimensions. He was equally experienced in bringing cases against negligent medical practitioners by patients, local authorities and the NHS. His work in the mental health arena naturally overlapped with his work in medical negligence and public liability.
He was a leading silk in the personal injury field and gained significant recognition for his appearances in court. He had decades of experience in both employment and personal injury law and acted in many multi-party and test cases.
George was also a leading expert on product liability and regulatory compliance. He represented clients who have been injured by dangerous products, and in the defence of HSE and corporate manslaughter prosecutions.
In addition to his extensive knowledge in these practice areas, George had particular experience in cases concerning:
Churches
Costs sharing orders (multi-party actions)
Costs limiting orders (CPR)
Firemen and fires
Horticultural machinery (e.g. mowers, cultivators etc.)
Part 36 offers (claimant/defendant)
Railway accidents
Schools
TV and film
Tyres (e.g. blow outs) and seat belts.
He was formerly junior counsel to the Crown, defending judicial review and damages claims for the Crown, and he had an interest in the ecclesiastical Canon Law of the Church of England.
George established himself as an extremely capable legal advisor and was involved with the Hong Kong Government Legal Aid Study Group, the Legal Aid Green Paper and the Personal Injury Bar Association. He was also a lecturer for the Judicial Studies Board, the University of Kent and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.
Job Titles:
- Probationary Tenant Barrister
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- Deputy District Judge
- Specialist
Henry is a specialist practitioner in the fields of personal injury, clinical negligence, health and safety law, coronial law and related insurance issues. He has experience of acting for both Defendants and Claimants and has a varied practice encompassing employer, public liability, motor claims and occupiers' liability with a strong interest in health and safety law and environmental law.
Henry is a leading personal injury specialist, dealing with all injury related claims including road traffic accidents, employer's liability, occupier's liability, travel claims, occupational disease and public liability. He is particularly adept at handling claims where fraud, exaggeration or dishonesty are suspected. Henry has experience in serious injury claims and those involving complicated causation issues.
Henry deals with all areas of public liability, including accidents on the highway and landlords' liability cases. He has experience of accidents abroad and cases involving the Animals Act 1971. He also advises defendants and insurers on coverage and policy interpretation issues arising in this area.
Led by Jamal Demachkie in a matter concerning a claim for specific performance of a family trust arrangement for the sale of a multi-million-pound farm estate. Cameron successfully resisted an application for summary judgment before Master Brightwell and the matter is due for trial in summer 2023.
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- Member of the Marketing Team
- Marketing and Events Manager
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- Member of the Fees Team
- Fees Collection Manager
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- Marketing Consultant
- Member of the Marketing Team
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- Member of the Marketing Team
- Marketing and Events Assistant
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- Member of the Fees Team
- Fees Collection Assistant
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- Member of the Finance Team
- Finance and Fees Assistant
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- Senior Practice Manager
- Senior Practice Manager on
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- Senior Practice Manager
- Senior Practice Manager on
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- Senior Practice Manager
- Senior Practice Manager on
Re Marsh (2021-present): Acting for the joint trustees (T) of a bankrupt (M) who, just prior to his bankruptcy, entered a consent order with his ex-wife (P) for financial remedies, whereby M agreed to transfer his entire interest in a property to P. The case is factually and legally messy, especially as the property had been purchased by M and P jointly only after M had already divorced P and remarried (to W). The case involved the setting aside of the family court consent order, in relation to which Alaric intervened on behalf of T on W's application in the family court. Re Brockman (2022): Alaric advised the joint supervisors of two interconnected IVAs regarding their remuneration and how to bring the arrangements to a satisfactory and swift conclusion, in circumstances where creditors had repeatedly voted to extend the IVAs but had refused to revise the supervisors' fees.
Job Titles:
- Finance Assistant
- Member of the Finance Team
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- Member of the Fees Team
- Head of Fees Collection
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- Member of the Fees Team
- Fees Collection Manager
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- Practice Operations Director