Sam is recognised as a leading practitioner in a number of areas, in particular public law and tax. Before becoming a QC in 2011, he was on the Attorney General’s panels of Civil Counsel to the Crown for over 10 years, being appointed to the A Panel, at the earliest opportunity, in 2007. Prior to becoming a barrister, Sam was a commercial litigator at Freshfields and he continues to practice in commercial law.
Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500 between them recommend Sam as a QC in Administrative and Public Law, Indirect Tax, Civil Liberties, Local Government and Education. Recent comments include that clients are “blown away” by his advocacy; that his “knowledge of the law is superb”; that he is “fantastically conscientious” with a “first-rate brain”, and that he “focuses on the key issues that would interest the court”.
In public law, Sam regularly acts for a range of central and local government clients and other public bodies; and on behalf of claimants. Recent cases include acting for the solar industry in a challenge to the Government’s changes to the scheme for subsiding green energy (HomeSun & Friends of the Earth); acting for the Law Society in a challenge to criminal legal aid cuts; acting for the Government in the Supreme Court in litigation about whether the Upper Tribunal’s decisions are amenable to judicial review (Cart); acting for Eurocontrol in the leading case on the lawfulness of aircraft detention (CGTSN); acting for a number of local authorities (e.g. Lancashire County Council) on challenges to social care funding cuts; and acting for the FSA in a Supreme Court challenge to its powers of prosecution (Rollins).
In tax, Sam is regularly instructed by both taxpayers and HMRC, particularly in complex cases in the fields of VAT and excise duty, the cases often involving points of public law. He is acting for many leading brewers in a test case about calculation of excise duty; and acted for a group of excise traders in a judicial review concerning the withdrawal of warehousing drawback. He is currently acting for HMRC in cases concerning the insurance intermediary exemption in VAT (RBS); about the place of supply in web-based hotel bookings for VAT purposes (Med Hotels); and about the scope of industrial buildings allowance for corporation tax (Next Distribution). He acted in the ECtHR in a case about the compatibility of UK inheritance tax laws with human rights.