Former head of chambers at 3 Hare Court, Simon Davenport KC, has joined 4 Pump Court in a rare top-level lateral move between chambers.

Davenport is a leading senior commercial and chancery silk, specialising in commercial disputes, civil fraud, insolvency, international arbitration and professional negligence cases both domestically and internationally.

Each of these is an area of expansion targeted by his new set, which is best known for its IT, insurance, shipping, energy, construction and infrastructure work, alongside financial services and cryptocurrency disputes, but is keen to expand its fraud, insolvency and offshore mandates.  

The set previously welcomed commercial barrister Laurence Page from Gatehouse Chambers in 2022, while the set’s former head of chambers Nick Vineall KC, the current chair of the Bar Council, is himself a commercial specialist.

Davenport’s arrival adds undoubted heft to the set. He was head of his former set’s civil fraud, insolvency and commercial litigation groups before becoming joint head of chambers with former Allen & Overy banking lawyer Jeffrey Golden KC (Hon) in 2018.

Davenport stepped down from the role in April 2022, replaced by Howard Stephens KC as sole head of chambers, with the set reverting to having a sole head of chambers for the first time since Peter Knox KC held the position between 2013 and 2018.

Davenport’s attraction to his new home lies in his combination of onshore and onshore expertise, given his deep knowledge of overseas legal systems, including the Caribbean and Russia/CIS jurisdictions, including appellate work.

His arrival will complement his new set’s offshore specialists, with Alex Potts KC re-joining this month from Conyers in the Cayman Islands, where he was a partner. He previously left the set in 2007 to start his offshore career.

Potts, who is called in Cayman, Bermuda and the BVI, has a solid offshore practice having also been a partner at Kennedys in Bermuda for eight years following an earlier stint at Conyers as an associate between 2007 and 2012. He was appointed silk in 2018.

Both men will work alongside Page, James Purchas and other juniors in developing the set’s insolvency, restructuring and offshore trust litigation alongside mainstream civil fraud work.

The joint arrivals are not 4 Pump Court’s first senior lateral moves, with Stephen Cogley KC, a formidable civil fraud specialist, joining from Quadrant Chambers in 2019. Vineall is also expected to return in 2024 after his term at the Bar Council ends, focusing on arbitration and financial services litigation.

Rachel Ansell KC and Sean Brannigan KC, the set’s joint heads of chambers, said: “We are excited to welcome another very impressive silk to our well-established commercial team. Simon is a significant addition to 4 Pump Court and brings a distinguished reputation and notable expertise in commercial litigation.”

Davenport added: “I am thrilled to be joining a set of chambers with such a depth of talent and experience in my core areas of practice and am excited about the future.”