Clerks & Administration
Meet our Cornwall Street Clerks and Admin Team
James Farmer | Chief Executive
James has worked for various sets and has clerked all areas of law across the Country for over 10 years. He started life as a Junior Clerk at No5 Chambers before moving to KCH Garden Square and then latterly to Bank House Chambers where he moved across to the management of Chambers as their Chambers Manager.
He joined Cornwall Street Barristers in 2016 and is responsible for all of Chambers’ strategic growth plans and management of Marketing and Business Development, Clerking, Administration and Finance.
James completed his LLB (Hons) with Nottingham Law School in 2017, whilst working full time with an upper second class and outside of work, he is a keen musical theatre fan and singer when time allows with having a young family.
Clerks
Matt Fleming | Senior Practice Manager (Birmingham – Family and Civil)
Matt has clerked in Birmingham since 1982 and during that time has been employed by all of the major sets of chambers in the city – as a result he has clerked over 300 barristers across civil, family and crime, from pupillage through to High Court Judge. He initially worked at Cornwall Street (in the guise of 6 Fountain Court) for 5 years in the late 1980’s and made his way back to chambers in 2013.
Predominantly responsible for the civil team, Matt assists with the clerking of the family group and with the general administration of staff and chambers, having been awarded a 2.1 BSc in Management from the Birmingham City University.
Away from the office he spends time with his two children, rides his motorbike and tries very hard not to fall off horses!
Adrian Hawes | Practice Manager
Adrian has a wealth of experience in clerking from his many years of service in London Chambers before joining Maidstone Chambers in 2017.
He is responsible for the management and development of the members practising from our Maidstone office and he has a detailed knowledge of all areas of law. He works closely with Andrew and Adrian to develop Cornwall Street South on the South Eastern Circuit.
Andrew Humphreys | Practice Manager
Andrew has, over the last 27 years, gained experience in the criminal justice system ranging from working for the Court Service, CPS, and Probation Service. More recently, he has spent a significant proportion of time working for a firm of defence solicitors specialising in all aspects of Criminal Law where he was a central part of the Crown Court Department working alongside barristers preparing Crown Court cases.
Since obtaining his Police Station Accreditation qualification in 2006, Andrew has attended police stations to advise clients who had been arrested.
Based at Cornwall Street’s Oxford office, Andrew’s role is to manage all aspects of the south based members practices.
In his free time, Andrew likes to spend time with family and friends and has a keen interest in a number of sports.
Chris Jones | Practice Manager (Crime)
Chris joined us in 1998 as the office junior. Since that time he has risen up the ranks to become the designated Criminal Team Clerk in Birmingham. He is responsible for the management of more than 20 barristers within the Criminal Team as well as assisting other teams in Chambers including our Oxford Criminal Team when the need arises.
Interests outside work include attending gigs of his favourite bands such as London Grammar, Kings of Leon and Clean Bandit. As a fan of cycling Chris commutes to work daily on his road bike. Chris is also an avid follower of The New York Giants and hopes to see his team play in America soon.
Victoria Kellar | Practice Manager (Family)
Victoria joined us in October 2016 as our Family Clerk and is now responsible for more than 20 barristers within the Family Team having previously worked as Forward Listing Officer at Wolverhampton Crown Court for over 13 years.
In her spare time Victoria enjoys shopping (handbags particularly), gin and hot yoga.
Amanda Cook | Practice Manager (Crime)
Amanda joined Chambers in December 2019 after working as a Crown Court Clerk for a firm of Solicitors in Wolverhampton for almost 25 years. She is a law graduate and brings with her a wealth of experience in criminal law, with a grass roots understanding of the needs and priorities of our instructing solicitors.
As a consequence of her working life before joining us when she attended court to assist counsel on a regular basis, she is well known throughout the Midlands Circuit, putting her contacts and extensive knowledge of court processes to good use in her role assisting with the clerking of our Criminal Team.
Outside of Chambers, Amanda is a keen acrylic painting artist and motorsports fan.
Jaheda Begum | Assistant Practice Manager (Family)
Jaheda joined the Family clerking team in April 2022 having previously clerked for 8 years. She has experience with Family, Immigration, Criminal and Civil Law.
Her hobbies include shopping, cooking, enjoying time with her family and dog (Luka) as well as reading. As a new mum, her additional hobbies revolve around soft play and playgroups!
Aran Gill | Junior Clerk
Aran recently joined the clerking team in the South East. Before joining Chambers, Aran studied a BA in Sociology & Political Science gaining an upper second at the University of Birmingham.
As well as some customer service experience, Aran has previously worked in a solicitor’s firm supporting solicitors in their preparation for cases.
Aran has an interest in martial arts as well as enjoying playing football and cricket. He also plays the piano and participates in fundraising for local charities.
Administration
Helen Purnell | Finance Administrator
Helen has worked in legal finance for over 28 years, 18 of those years have been with Cornwall Street.
Outside Chambers, she surrounds herself with her family keeping her young at heart. In the evening there is nothing she likes more than to get stuck into a good book.
Julie French | Fees Clerk
Ben Price | Fees and Finance Assistant
Ben previously worked at No5 Chambers billing defence and prosecution claims for the criminal team on a wide range of high profile cases and billed numerous multi-handed prosecution cases.
Prior to that, Ben worked for a small law firm carrying our legal debt recovery, issuing claims and enforcing those claims.
In his spare time, Ben enjoys participating at his weekly local parkrun, spending time with his wife and family, and attending his local church.
