Church Court Chambers ranked in The Legal 500 UK Guide 2025

We are pleased to announce that Church Court Chambers and nine of its members have been ranked in The Legal 500 UK Guide 2025, representing our strength and depth of bench and work across a wide variety of high-profile and complex matters over the past year.

Head of Chambers Michael Mather-Lees KC, Benjamin Aina KC, Kerim Fuad KC, Lewis Power KC and Maria Karaiskos KC are all recognised as Leading Silks for Crime.

Colin Witcher, Michael Polak, Yasin Patel and Islam Khan are all recognised as Leading Juniors for Crime, with Yasin Patel also recognised as a Leading Junior for Sport.

Please see below a list of the full rankings and commentary about chambers as published in The Legal 500 UK 2024 Guide:

• Lewis Power KC and Colin Witcher are ranked Tier 1 for Crime.
• Michael Mather-Lees KC, Kerim Fuad KC and Yasin Patel are ranked Tier 3 for Crime.
• Church Court Chambers, Benjamin Aina KC, Michael Polak and Islam Khan are ranked Tier 4 for Crime.
• Yasin Patel is ranked Tier 4 for Sport.

Testimonials:

“A reliable set with very good crime specialists.”

“Church Court Chambers is progressive and has strength in depth.”

“The set is very diverse and talented from the young to the senior. They also provide a lot of seminars to help solicitors which is commendable given how much work they have.”

“Michael [Mather-Lees KC] is a pleasure to watch in action – he is very calm and persuasive in his submissions to the court and jury. He is incredibly well prepared and just gets to the issues in a case with complete ease and understanding. He is personable both in and outside of court.”

“Maria [Karaiskos KC] is excellent and has hit the ground running as a new silk. Her judgement is excellent and the tone she sets in court is really just exceptional. Her cross-examination is also excellent. She is measure and reasonable, with a clear and strategic approach to cases.”

“Colin [Witcher] is a completely brilliant junior. He is always on top of the facts, excellent with both solicitors and lay clients, and has an ability to command the attention of his audience. He is a formidable opponent and certainly a KC in waiting.”

“Yasin [Patel] is thorough with his work, able to quickly identify weaknesses in evidence, address legal arguments that might be applicable and provide written advice when sought. He will always go over and above to help clients. His advocacy is best described as elegant. He is persuasive in his legal arguments where he is calm and collected and charms the jury with his wit.”

“‘Islam [Khan] is a very competent advocate with the requisite qualities that cause him to be an outstanding criminal lawyer. He is always extremely well-prepared and presents submissions with great eloquence and focus. He also possesses sound judgement, and knows which battles to fight, which is an important, but-all-too-frequently absent, skill in many advocates.”

“Church Court Chambers is a boutique set that regularly hosts in-house training, lecture nights, and social events.” 

“The set is incredibly helpful and try to accommodate any requests made by solicitors. They really go above and beyond. ”

“The service provided by clerks is excellent. It is a feature of the profession that solicitors firms come in all shapes and sizes and have a diversity of different and sometimes complex professional requirements. The clerks in chambers excel in catering for these needs. On a more personal level, the individual members of the clerking team are very approachable, user friendly and professional. ”

Click here to view Church Court Chambers’ profile in full.