Our History

These chambers first came together as a distinct entity shortly after the second world war. From then until 1964, chambers was led by K.E. Shelley KC. He was succeeded by Guy Aldous QC, Douglas Falconer QC, William Aldous QC, David Young QC and Antony Watson QC. Our current head of chambers, Simon Thorley QC, became head of chambers in 2008.

Douglas Falconer was appointed as a Patents Judge of the High Court in 1981. William Aldous similarly crossed the Strand in 1988 and subsequently was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1995. Colin Birss QC left to become the Judge of the Patents County Court in 2010.

Chambers has expanded gradually to its present size of fifteen members. All but one of the current members of chambers joined chambers as pupils.

Chambers was originally located at 6 Pump Court, on the second floor of a building built in 1686. Its charm was offset by its lack of modern heating: until gas fires were installed, one of the clerks’ responsibilities in winter was to bring in the coal. Rooms for only four barristers were available there, and so an annex on the third floor of 3 Pump Court was taken on in the 1970s as chambers grew. The first senior clerk was Bill Russell. He was followed by John Glazebrook, who retired in 1987 and was succeeded by his then junior, Ian Bowie.

Chambers relocated to its present address at 3 New Square, Lincoln's Inn in April 1995, having outgrown its former premises in Pump Court.

Since the 9th edition in 1951, senior members of chambers have edited the leading practitioners’ textbook on patent law, Terrell on the Law of Patents, to which other members contribute. The 17th edition of Terrell was published in January 2011.