Sam is consistently recognised as one of the top juniors in public and administrative law, who strives to balance his Government practice with work for the individual.
He also has a successful practice in tax. He has been on the Attorney General’s panels of Civil Counsel to the Crown for 10 years, being appointed to the A Panel in 2007. Chambers & Partners recommend Sam as a leading junior in Administrative and Public Law, Civil Liberties, Education, and Local Government. Recent comments include that his “knowledge of the law is superb”; that he is a “polished advocate”, who is “focuses on the key issues that would interest the court” and that “he’ll inevitably rise through the ranks and take silk”.
In public law, Sam regularly acts for a range of central and local government clients and other public bodies; and on behalf of claimants. For example, Sam recently advised the Metropolitan Police in cases arising from the Damian Green MP investigation, and related to the shooting of barrister Mark Saunders. He is acting for the FSA in a challenge to its power to bring prosecutions for offences outside the Financial Services and Markets Act. He acted for the family of a man found in a coma in his police cell, in a judicial review against the IPCC concerning its investigative duty under Article 2 ECHR. He acted for a group of prisoners in a land mark case challenging the independence of the Parole Board from the Home Office. He acted for the Government of Cyprus in the ECtHR in a case concerning retrospective punishment and life sentences for murder. He also regularly acts for the UK Government in a range of cases in the Strasbourg Court.
On the tax side, Sam is regularly instructed by HMRC in cases at all levels. He is also increasingly acting for taxpayers, including in several multi-million pound cases in the fields of VAT and excise duty, the cases often involving points of public law and human rights. He acted in the ECtHR in a case about the compatibility of UK inheritance tax laws with human rights. He is acting for many leading brewers in a test case about calculation of excise duty; and is acting for a group of excise traders in a judicial review concerning the withdrawal of warehousing drawback.