Addington Chambers—three appointments

Addington Chambers, the new 'virtual' international barristers’ chambers specialising in tax and revenue law and related chancery and commercial matters, has further expanded the number of its members taking on one new member and two associate members. This takes the numbers of members at the chambers to 14.

Hartley Foster, head of tax disputes at law firm Fieldfisher has now joined the chambers.

Hartley had been head of the tax disputes practice at law firm Fieldfisher since 2012, when he established the department. He has specialised in contentious tax matters for over 20 years; during which time he acted on over 60 reported cases, including four House of Lords and Supreme Court cases and five references to the CJEU. Hartley focuses on the technical and tactical management of enquiries by, and disputes with, HMRC. He undertakes work in relation to all taxes, and has particular expertise in tax avoidance, judicial review and professional negligence claims relating to tax.

Hartley started his professional career at Pump Court Tax Chambers. Joining Addington Chambers is a return to the Bar that will enable Hartley to specialise on the advocacy of tax matters, an aspect of the work that he has always relished.

He comments: 'I have very much enjoyed my career as a solicitor, but I am excited about returning to the Bar. It will enable me to focus on and enhance my advocacy skills. I have known and respected Adrian and Julian* for many years; I am impressed with what has been achieved by Addington in just nine months. One of the consequences of the pandemic for the legal profession has been showing that virtual working works. The rituals of sewing up documents in faded red tape and attending to the tea ceremony before advising in an Elizabethan building are quaint, but, sadly, inefficient. Even when lockdown is fully over, virtual hearings and virtual meetings will stay. My prediction is that the Addington business model soon will become the norm for the Tax Bar.'

In addition to Hartley, Addington Chambers has attracted two new associate members, Andrew Noble and Dominic Hodge:

Andrew Noble FRICS, is an experienced barrister & chartered arbitrator, specialising in commercial chancery litigation, with emphasis on all aspects of property and construction (including extension of time, money and defects claims), associated professional liability and insolvency cases, before specialist judges, arbitral tribunals and in adjudications.

His international practice includes leading litigation teams in international commercial arbitrations (and in ADR), extending principally to the Middle East and South East Asia, where he has also appeared, on numerous occasions, in administered international commercial arbitrations. Andrew is licensed to appear before offshore court judges, for example at the Dubai International Financial Centre.

As Treasury Counsel for eight years he appeared in complex VAT and excise cases on behalf of HMRC.

Andrew boosts Addington’s expertise in international commercial arbitration/ADR and in his specialist areas. He re-joins his former colleagues from 9 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn.

Dominic Hodge practises in all areas relating to tax and trusts but has a particular interest in international tax and contentious trust matters. In addition, Dominic’s advisory, arbitration, and litigation practice includes the areas of Chancery and commercial.

Dominic was called to the Bar in South Africa in 2011, admitted as an Attorney and Counselor at Law in New York State, US, in 2016 and called to the Bar of England and Wales by Lincoln’s Inn in 2018. He boosts Addington’s expertise in international taxation and Chancery / commercial matters.

These three new arrivals at Addington Chambers come hot on the heels of previous recruits to the chambers, in particular Michael Ashe QC, the chambers’ first silk and barrister Lynne Counsell, who both joined in February 2021 from 9 Stone Buildings. The chambers only began life nine months ago. It was set up during the pandemic as a virtual, collegiate barristers’ set of chambers, without the associated costs and overheads of being in buildings in the Inns of Court. It has rapidly expanded since its establishment by Adrian Shipwright and Julian Hickey, to a team of fourteen, with six full members and eight associates.

Adrian Shipwright, joint head of chambers, said: 'We are delighted with all our new members. Hartley is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading contentious tax practitioners, with a wealth of experience in establishing and managing tax disputes practices at solicitors’ firms. This is experience that is invaluable to Addington. It reinforces our current experience in terms of providing support to accountants and law firms advising their clients on complex tax matters. We are delighted that we have attracted a practitioner of Hartley’s calibre to our team.'

Joint head, Julian Hickey added: 'Brexit has brought more complexity and uncertainty in tax matters. In addition, the impact of the pandemic has led to a need to maximise tax collection- so businesses and individuals need to prepare.

'HMRC has said that about £3.5bn worth of payments made through the furlough schemes may have been claimed in error or fraudulently and that it is seeking to recover these amounts. This will lead to more enquiries by HMRC, and more tax disputes are likely to follow.

'The need for specialist tax advisers and those able to advise in related areas has never been higher and we are delighted that we will be able to meet our clients’ needs with all our new members who have a raft of different but complimentary skills. We believe that with their help we can ensure that Addington Chambers becomes one of the strongest tax sets, strongly positioned to cope with the fall-out from the pandemic.'

* the founders of Addington Chambers