In a significant reshuffle within London’s chancery set community, 9 Stone Buildings has officially dissolved.

All its members joined other established chambers, namely Tanfield Chambers and Selborne Chambers, earlier this week.

Founded in 1893, 9 Stone Buildings was one of the longest established sets of barristers’ chambers in Lincoln’s Inn. Its main areas of practice included land and property, private client, insolvency and business, financial and commercial law. 

In a statement published on the set’s website, head of chambers Peter Shaw KC said: “After many years in practice, the members of 9 Stone Buildings have decided to dissolve chambers and continue their practices in other chambers.

“We are grateful for all of our clients who have instructed us over many years and hope that they shall continue to do so in our respective new chambers.”

Tanfield Chambers has received 12 former members of 9 Stone Buildings, bringing skills in commercial disputes, insolvency, property, private client services and tax law.

They include notable practitioners such as Nigel Meares, Edward Denehan and Martin Young, all of whom are senior juniors whose careers span decades and are distinguished by their expertise and contributions to the field.

The transition also includes the appointment of David Clayton, the former senior clerk at 9 Stone Buildings, as a senior practice manager at Tanfield alongside Jake Price, enhancing Tanfield’s existing clerking team.

Andrew Butler KC, joint head of chambers at Tanfield, expressed enthusiasm about integrating the new junior members, highlighting an associated expansion of the chamber’s insolvency and tax law capabilities.

“With a flourishing workload, excellent staff and planned investments in our premises, this is an exciting time to be at Tanfield,” Butler said, underscoring the importance of the new arrivals to his set’s growth and associated prospects for chambers, which is known for civil and property litigation, including leasehold work and construction cases.

The arrivals bring the set’s junior numbers to 52. Walter Womersley, the set’s CEO, commented: “This excellent news means that we will be able to continue our ambitious plans for future growth.”

Meantime Selborne Chambers announced the addition of five distinguished barristers: Shaw, former Freshfields solicitor Paul Wright, Thomas Cockburn, Andrew Shipley and Andrew Brooke, across a range of Call.

The group brings a wealth of experience in corporate and personal insolvency, banking litigation, fraud, asset recovery and commercial litigation. Ian Clarke KC, head of Selborne Chambers, praised the new members for bolstering the chambers’ strength across its areas of expertise.

Shaw shared his satisfaction with the move. “We are delighted to be joining Selborne Chambers and adding depth to its existing expertise, especially in insolvency, company, commercial and civil fraud,” he said, bringing the set’s silk total to nine, with more than 40 juniors.

The closure of 9 Stone Buildings marks yet another substantial realignment of London’s chancery and commercial law sectors following the dissolution of 11 Stone Buildings in 2015, many of whose members then joined what is now Gatehouse Chambers.

Individual chancery practitioners have also left for commercial sets in recent years, most notably with Essex Court, Twenty Essex, and Fountain Court all having grown their capabilities in that sector.

By contrast, recent mergers in the common law space include the 2022 tie-up of 9 Gough Square and 1 Chancery Lane to form Deka Chambers, a 120-member set at new premises at 5 Norwich Street with a management team led by Michael Goodridge and Gordon Walters.