Kings Chambers becomes Northern Powerhouse partner

Leeds-based Kings Chambers has been confirmed as the first chambers to become a Northern Powerhouse partner.

As a partner, Kings Chambers will work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to promote the North of England.

Partners work specifically to support development in connectivity and transport; skills, science and innovation; quality of life and culture; and devolution.

Nigel Poole QC, head of Kings Chambers, said: “It is a great honour to be named as the very first chambers in the country to become a partner to the Northern Powerhouse. With nationally respected barristers in all aspects of civil law, including planning, construction, business, property and health and safety litigation, we are ideally positioned to be a significant partner.”

“Kings Chambers is committed to building the Northern Powerhouse by working with partners to develop the legal services sector in Leeds and across the North. A key focus for us will be to provide opportunities for students through our annual work experience programme and to work to attract talented graduates from right across the country to work here in Leeds’s growing legal sector.”

He added: “We are also committed to working collaboratively to encourage devolution within the civil justice sector and to attract increasing volumes of work to the Northern Circuit of the legal sector. There is no shortage of outstanding legal talent in the North of England, and we want to see that pool of talent continuing to expand, providing real impetus to the northern economy.”

Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry commented: “As the first barristers’ chambers to become a Northern Powerhouse partner, I’m looking forward to working with Kings Chambers on attracting the best and brightest graduates to work in the North’s burgeoning legal sector.”

“I’m delighted to see so many Northern businesses and organisations at the forefront of their fields coming together, furthering the Northern Powerhouse’s reputation as a globally competitive, highly skilled region.”

Andrew Singer QC, a specialist in construction law, will be leading the barristers’ work with the Northern Powerhouse and its partners. He said: “As a key player in the North’s legal sector, with 110 barristers attracting work from right across the country and abroad, we know from experience that the region’s legal profession is growing both in size and stature.”

“As a partner of the Northern Powerhouse, we are committed to ensuring this continues and that opportunity across the North is expanded. I will be working closely with the Minister Jake Berry MP to ensure that we help realise the ambition of the Northern Powerhouse and drive innovation and excellence across the region.”

Kings Chambers joins transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson in the Northern Powerhouse partnership programme. Its Leeds office signed up last month.

(Pictured, from left to right: Nigel Poole QC and Andrew Singer QC)