Staff

Michael is the Senior Revenue Controller.

Michael joined Doughty Street Chambers in September 2012. Previously he worked as the Fees Clerk in a leading family law set for 7 years. Michael has been clerking in various areas of law since 1976.

Over the last 12 years Michael’s career has concentrated purely on fee collection. His experience in clerking has given him a great understanding of how matters progress and assists him in relation to when matters should be chased.

Terry is the Revenue Controller.

Terry joined Doughty Street in 2009.

Terry commenced his career in the legal sector working in the court department at Thompson Solicitors.  Prior to that he worked at Field Court Chambers as a criminal clerk and at Francis Taylor Buildings.

In his spare time Terry enjoys sports including boxing and playing golf and loves to travel.

Norman is a Revenue Controller.

Norman Joined Doughty Street in Jun 2013 having previously worked in chambers undertaking all aspects of common law. Norman has been clerking since 1972.  His previous role as a Senior Clerk is invaluable experience for his current role.

Matt is the Revenue Controller and is led by Michael Sweeney.

His responsibilities include monitoring and chasing any aged debt fees and queries for the Civil team.

He joined Doughty Street Chambers in November 2016. 

Outside of work, Matt’s interests include many sports such as Football and Boxing and enjoys general socialising.

Ruth is a Costs Lawyer who joined Doughty Street Chambers in January 2020 having previously worked with TMC Legal Services Limited and previously worked as a Consultant within chambers.

Since her qualification in November 2014, Ruth has specialised in dealing with high value and complex Group Litigation in addition personal injury, clinical negligence and human rights claims.

Outside of work, Ruth is keen animal lover and enjoys taking her dog for walks with friends and family. She also enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews.

Sarah is responsible for the billing of criminal and extradition work and also assists with civil billing. Sarah is also responsible for ensuring the case and fees management systems are efficient and effective, enabling the teams to provide a high level and compliant service to our clients and members of Chambers.

Sarah began her clerking career in 2001 as a fees clerk in a common law set before moving on to roles as a Second Junior and then First Junior Clerk, specialising in Crime and Professional Discipline and Regulatory Law.

Melissa is a Civil Billing Clerk.

Melissa joined Chambers in July 2019.

Lavanya is a Civil Billing Clerk and joined Doughty Street in June 2021.

Andreas is the Head of Finance and has overall responsibility for Chambers' finance functions.

Andreas joined Chambers in September 2008.

He trained in a small accountancy practice becoming a Client Manager responsible for a range of clients ensuring that their financial affairs were handled correctly and in a timely fashion. Andreas then became the Finance Manager for a thriving Central London firm of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys. When they were taken over, he became  Regional Financial Controller for the London and Cambridge offices.

He is a qualified ACCA accountant and has a BA (Hons) in History.

Beverly is the Finance Assistant.

She is responsible for the day to day element of purchase ledger activities, together with various other financial administration duties.

Beverly joined Chambers in February 2009, having come from a finance background in various industry sectors.

Shahin is a Finance Assistant.

She joined Chambers in 2018.

Shahin is responsible for processing Supplier invoices, payments and various other tasks in the finance department.

Prior to joining Doughty Street Shahin has worked with Natwest Bank where she finished her full CeMap and moved on to become an Independent Mortgage Advisor. She then moved into the Finance field and became a Bookkeeper for manufacturing, service and property sector.

Sheena Byrne joined Chambers in June 2019 as a Senior Manager (Client Services). 

Sheena specialises in business planning and development, marketing analysis and positioning, and client relationship management. As an integral member of the original team at Chambers & Partners legal directories, she was instrumental in formulating the research methodology and developing the publication brand as an editor and assistant publisher. Since then she has worked with a wide variety of leading law firms, barristers’ chambers, representative bodies including the Law Society and the Inns of Court, advising senior decision makers of these organisations on critical aspects that impact on their business expansion. 

Sheena is a qualified solicitor and holds a BSc (Honours) Degree in Chemistry.

Richard is the Senior Marketing Executive based out of the Manchester office.

Richard takes primary responsibility for our website and its content, as well as managing the relationship with our web designers; assisting barristers in the drafting of news updates and their website profiles; ensuring a fair and balanced presentation of the casework of all practice teams in line with our news policies.

He also develops all marketing collateral and content for client pitch documents, team brochures, and other marketing collateral, as well as regular subsequent review for potential improvements and updates.

Richard assists in co-ordinating processes for making submissions to industry awards and legal directories (under the direction of Chambers’ Senior Manager - Client Services) engaging with barrister team leaders as appropriate, managing the work of the Marketing and Events Co-ordinator, as well as managing relationships with external agencies tasked to provide assistance.

Richard joined Doughty Street Chambers in 2018.

Raimonda is a Marketing and Events Co-ordinator based out of the London office.

Raimonda works with Richard Everingham, Senior Marketing Executive, in assisting with website and email marketing, social media work and internal communications and with the running of Chambers’ busy programme of events, which includes seminars, conferences and social events.

Raimonda joined Doughty Street Chambers in 2018.

Louise is the Chambers Librarian.

Louise works with Sandy in controlling and developing the operation of Chambers’ library, including research facilities and the preparation of court bundles.

Joined Doughty Street in August 2015.

Louise is a graduate in European Humanities with Classical Studies and also holds an MA in Library and Information Studies. She has a varied background in legal library management and information administration having worked at the British Dental Association, a range of large city law firms and within the financial services sector.

Julie Ahadi is the Director of Operations and Strategic Planning. The DOSP is responsible for the effective and efficient management of the strategic operations of Chambers, supporting the Management Board (MB) and Deputy Heads of Chambers (DHoCs) in strategic and operational planning and execution. A key member of the Senior Management Team, the DOSP is also a non-voting member of Chambers’ Management Board and has overall management/oversight of the People, IT and Marketing functions of Chambers.

Julie joined Chambers in September 2019.

Sonia Freestone was appointed in August 2021 as the Director of People and Transformation.  

This is a new role for Chambers, reporting to the Deputy Heads and Management Board.  

Sonia has been engaged to work with Chambers on developing our internal governance and human resources systems, so that they best meet the needs of a large, innovative, multi-disciplinary set with a firm commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. 

She has around 30 years’ experience of human resources and employment law.  She has a BA (Hons) in Business and Human Resource Management and an LLM in Employment Law.  She is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development.   

Sonia has extensive strategic and operational experience working with a broad range of clients in different sectors including not for profit organisations such as Marie Curie, Dementia UK and Oxford University Press, elite sports such as Aston Villa Football Club, and a variety of private sector organisations including British Midland Airlines and Ericsson Telecoms.  

Isi is the Secretariat and HR Executive for chambers. Isi looks after recruitment, pupillage and works closely with the Management Board.

Isi joined in January 2020.

Ricky is an IT Support Technician. 

Ricky joined Doughty Street Chambers in March 2020.

Terrance joined Doughty Street Chambers in June 2019 as the Front of House Supervisor and has recently moved to the role of Head of Facilities taking charge of managing several key projects as well as the day-to-day facilities operations of chambers for all of our sites including five buildings in London, and one regional office in Manchester.

Terrance has a BSc in Hotel, Catering and Hospitality Management from Sheffield Hallam University and brings over 15 years of management and team building experience with him. His experience includes managing 5 star hotels such as the Royal Garden Hotel in London, The Randolph in Oxford and Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa in Bedfordshire, as well as more recently managing teams within the corporate arena such as Smith & Nephew and Regent Street Management Direct. 

Away from work Terrance is a family man and an avid reader of fictional novels by John Grisham and Dan Brown as well as proudly supporting Manchester United football club. He has a keen interest in youth charities and volunteers for Young Enterprise whenever possible.

Cynthia is the Interim Front of House Manager, she is in charge of supervising and co-ordinating the entire front of house team. She ensures that every visitor and colleague is met with a professional and friendly welcome from the reception team.