two of the north-east's largest barristers' chambers combine to create the largest set in the region
York Chambers are to merge with Broad Chare Chambers in Newcastle to expand their services to national and regional clients
The mighty Roman road and trading route that stretched from York to Edinburgh - Dere Street - is to be the name of the North East's largest set of barristers' chambers when the merger proceeds on 1st December.
The merged chambers, which are to be headed by John Elvidge QC, will create the largest home-grown set of chambers on the North East Circuit and has strong ambitions to extend its services nationally.
The chambers will comprise nearly 100 barristers specialising in a broad spectrum of law, from crime, family, civil and chancery & commercial to more niche areas including licensing and planning work. The set already does some extensive national work, including employment law for RBS banking group and several public organisations such as Customs & Excise and a number of Trades Union. The set also works for a wide number of national law firms.
Although it is traditional that barristers' chambers are named after premises, the name Dere Street was selected for the chambers because of its Northern heritage as well as its strong connections with the rest of the UK.
The chambers will formally come together at the start of business on Thursday 1st December, and will be marked at two separate hospitality events taking place at the two premises in Newcastle and York respectively early in December.
Commenting on the merger, John Elvidge QC said "This is an especially important and exciting time for the new set of chambers, bringing together considerable depth of experience and reputation across one of the widest portfolios of legal practice to be found anywhere outside London. Our enlarged operations and synergies will benefit our clients, first and foremost, with a focus on providing the best legal advice and services possible with a commercial approach and a strong focus on providing exceptional value for money."
Broad Chare Chambers was founded in the early part of the last century and was one of the earliest chambers in the UK to be established outside London. It expanded into its current premises at 33 Broad Chare in 1989. York Chambers, originally the annex to 2 Harcourt Buildings, Temple, London, became independent in 1990 and continued its tradition as a leading common law set of chambers.
"We have attracted some exceptional barristers into our operation" continues Elvidge "with an increasing number of young barristers from London and the other major cities looking to play a part in the new organisation within this most dynamic region. We also see that with increasing pressures on client budgets, not least publically funded work, the need to deliver top drawer services on sometimes rigorous budgets is paramount. We feel we are much better positioned to achieve this without the high overheads associated with colleagues in the capital and indeed other cities. The merger of the two chambers seeks to exploit our advantages and capabilities and we are excited at building our reputation for excellence even further afield.
"The name Dere Street is most apt because the old Roman road linked the North East with other parts of the UK."
published 14-12-2011
