Ben Smiley

Ben Smiley has a commercial practice encompassing all manner of business disputes.  He is a leading junior in all his fields of practice.

He is described as “one of the stars of the junior Bar”, a “formidable advocate”, “a delight to work with” and “always first-rate”. Ben was shortlisted for Chancery Junior of the Year in the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2022 and for Chambers & Partners Professional Negligence Junior of the Year 2021.

His commercial practice is broad, comprising the full span of corporate, insurance, professional liability, insolvency, banking and financial services disputes. His substantial costs and funding experience complements those areas. Ben also has a strong regulatory and disciplinary practice, which covers both the financial and legal professions, and sport. His sport instructions overlap with his commercial practice, and have included corporate, insurance and professional liability disputes, and governance issues.

He is praised for his clear advice, effective advocacy, in applications, trials and appeals. A trial judge described his cross-examination as leaving the witness “punch drunk”. He is able to digest complex facts and analyse difficult legal issues, in heavyweight litigation. He has had recent success in the Supreme Court in Armstead v RSA – an important decision on issues including remoteness and the burden of proof.

Ben’s cases often have an international element, with work that has involved the Middle East, Africa, South America, Central Asia and the common offshore jurisdictions. Ben also deals with cases involving allegations of the utmost seriousness: fraud, dishonesty, deliberate wrongdoing and recklessness.

More detail in respect of the areas in which Ben accepts instructions can be found below.

Ben is named a “Leading Junior” in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. Comments include:

• “Excellent – great to work with and brilliant with clients.“
•  “Ben Smiley is very intellectual and sharp.“
• “Ben is a good junior to work with. He is very responsive and gets into the paperwork – an upcoming star.“
• “Ben is an absolute delight to work with. Charming, hard-working and prepared to get stuck in.“
• “Ben takes a measured and methodical approach, advises the client in clear and transparent terms, and is very much a rising star capable of dealing with the most complex of disputes and drilling down into the key issues.“
•  “Ben Smiley is very able and responsive. He is a pleasure to work with.“
•  “He is approachable and easy to work with. Ben is flexible and is able to adapt on tricky nuanced cases. He is good at thinking on his feet.“
•  “One of the stars of the junior Bar; his paperwork is thorough and well drafted, and he is an extremely able lawyer.”
•  “Incredibly hard-working; he’s one of the best juniors around and is undoubtedly a star of the future.”
•  “An extremely polished performer.”
• “An extremely effective advocate who often out-performs his more senior opposing counsel. He is incredibly well prepared and has a sharp focus on the detail.”
• “Highly adept at dealing with complex issues and difficult clients under extreme time pressure, and very user-friendly. He deals with matters pragmatically and commercially which is a great help.”
• “He just works incredibly hard and produces excellent work.”
• “An emotionally intelligent advocate who can adapt his style when necessary.”
• “He has a particularly impressive ability to quickly digest the details of even the most complex cases. He is also a formidable advocate in court and has achieved some remarkable victories.”
• “He’s very clever, very affable, turns things around quickly and efficiently, and always thinks things through.”
• “A really reliable and very capable junior barrister.”
• “He provides clear, practical advice that goes to the root of the matter and is targeted to meet the aims of the client.”
• “A good advocate, and a rising star.”
• “An impressive junior with strong analytical skills.”
• “Flexible in his methods and modern in his approach.”
• “Incredibly charming, hands-on and [someone who] always responds.”
• “An up-and-coming star, who has a keen mind and an engaging approach.”
• “Always first-rate. Very slick, personable and hard working. He beats deadlines and is ahead of the game.”

Early in his career, Ben undertook secondments at international law firms and the Financial Services Authority (now the Financial Conduct Authority), working on international commercial cases, insurance matters, financial services regulation, professional liability work and sports disputes.

Just as comfortable providing advice as making submissions, and equally adept at written work as in court or conference, Ben has a keen understanding of the needs and objectives of solicitors, insurers and lay clients. He is happy to accept instructions in matters which cross the spectrum of 4 New Square’s work.

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