The Commercial Court Seminar on Professional Negligence will take place In the Ashworth Centre Lecture Theatre at Lincoln’s Inn on the 7th May 2024 at 5.30pm.

Chair: Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr.

Mrs Justice Dias “Scope of Duty in 2024:  Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton and Meadows v Khan three years on”

Professor Janet O’Sullivan, Professor of Private Law, University of Cambridge, “Limitation and professional negligence: where are we now?”

Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, Fountain Court Chambers “Hidden Clients”: Recent Developments in Duties owed by Professionals to Third Parties

All are welcome. Please register here. A webinar link will be sent to online attendees just before the event.

Patrick Goodall KC will give a talk followed by questions.

The talk will take place in rooms at the Ashworth Centre at Lincoln’s Inn from 5:45pm to 6.45pm.

The event will be hybrid and recorded.

It is open to COMBAR members only and pupils are welcome.

On 8 March 2024, COMBAR is holding a breakfast for female advocates to mark International Women’s Day. This will provide an opportunity to meet other barristers in an informal setting, network and share experiences. Juniors are strongly encouraged to attend.

The breakfast will be hosted by Gatehouse Chambers from 08:30. A range of continental breakfast options will be available.

The event is open to female COMBAR members, female pupils are also welcome.

Address for Gatehouse Chambers: 1 Lady Hale Gate, London WC1X 8BS

This will be a panel talk on the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in PACCAR and related issues concerning costs and funding of commercial litigation. We are looking forward to hearing from leading practitioners from the Bar, law firms and a litigation funder.

The talk will take place in the Ashworth Centre lecture theatre, Lincoln’s Inn from 5.45pm – 6.45pm.

It is open to members of COMBAR only. Pupils are welcome.

The event will be hybrid and recorded.

The Chancery Bar Association, COMBAR and TECBAR, are delighted to jointly host a pupillage panel and CV workshop for those interested in pupillage at the commercial and chancery bar. We would especially welcome those from under-represented and non-traditional backgrounds and a number of such barristers will also be taking part.

The Panel will be chaired by Zulfikar Khayum (Atkin Chambers) and include Lucy Garret KC (head of the pupillage committee at Keating Chambers), Michael Walsh (Secretary to the pupillage committee at Serle Court Chambers) and recent tenants Neil Dowers (4 Pump Court) and Sheriar Khan (Atkin Chambers). The panel will discuss and provide some guidance in relation to the pupillage application process in general.

There will then be a CV workshop undertaken on an individual basis with at least twenty commercial/chancery KCs and junior barristers, all of whom have relevant experience in a wide range of commercial and chancery practice; many of whom act as pupil supervisors or mentors to aspiring pupils. This is an invaluable opportunity to hear from those experienced in reviewing pupillage applications and to receive a one-on-one CV review from a barrister specialising in commercial/chancery practice. Barristers from a wide range of sets including Atkin Chambers, Brick Court Chambers, Keating Chambers, Littleton Chambers, No.5 Chambers, One Essex Court, Quadrant Chambers, Selborne Chambers, Serle Court Chambers, 2 Temple Gardens, 3VB, 4 Pump Court, 4 New Square, 7 KBW and 39 Essex Chambers will be taking part.

All are welcome. Membership of ChBA, COMBAR or TECBAR is not required. Participation in the CV workshop is limited to 45 places. Those wishing to participate should sign-up on the following registration page: Registration is now closed for this event.

While participants are still welcome to register for the webinar, the CV workshop element is now oversubscribed, please do not send your CV in. Registration is now closed for this event.

In this talk Waksman J will consider the challenging decisions to be made by barristers and judges in heavy litigation and how to deal with them; the importance of perspective and context; silo and strategic thinking; the use of intuition; good and bad points; the concept of co-operation; the judicial nudge.

The talk will take place in the Ashworth Centre lecture theatre, Lincoln’s Inn from 5.45pm – 6.45pm.

It is open to members of COMBAR, ChBA and TECBAR only. Pupils are welcome.

The talk will be aimed at Juniors but all members are welcome to attend.

The event will be in-person only. We are now at capacity, apologies for any inconvenience caused.

On 1 November 2023, Junior COMBAR will be hosting a breakfast for those undertaking a commercial pupillage to meet and socialise. The event will run from 08:15 to 09:30 at Essex Court Chambers. Pupils at all COMBAR sets are welcome. A range of continental breakfast options will be available.

The event is now at capacity.

Have you ever had a sleepless night before a hearing? Do you find your sleep suffers during challenging cases?

COMBAR has arranged for a seminar from sleep expert Dr Mike Farquhar, a consultant in sleep medicine at the Evelina Hospital in London.

He will be providing a talk tailored for COMBAR members covering aspects of the physiology of sleep, what can go wrong with our sleep when we encounter unfavourable stimuli at work, and what can be done to better one’s sleep in and around the (sometimes) unavoidable stresses and strains of the job. The talk will be followed by a Q&A, and a drinks reception.

The talk will take place in rooms at the Ashworth Centre Lincoln’s Inn from 5.45pm

It is open to COMBAR Members only. Pupils are welcome.

The COMBAR Africa Committee will be hosting a breakfast meeting in Cape Town during the African Arbitration Association Conference.  Any COMBAR Members attending the AfAA are invited to attend.

The meeting will discuss “How to Africanise African Arbitration: What needs to be done”.

The meeting will be held at the Regency Hyatt Cape Town and will start at 0730 and is expected to finish at 0830 to allow guests to move to the conference.

To register your interest in attending the meeting please email admin@combar.com

See more information on the work of the COMBAR Africa Committee here.

The Annual Lecture will be delivered by

The Rt Hon Lord Justice Popplewell 

on Tuesday 7th November at 5.30pm, in Gray’s Inn Hall

on the subject

“Judging truth from memory”

looking at the implications which the current state of scientific research on memory has for evidence and fact finding in commercial litigation

Wine and refreshments will be served after the lecture – All  welcome

The lecture is now oversubscribed to be added to the reserve list, please email admin@combar.com