Led by perhaps the UK's most well known barrister, Michael Mansfield Q.C., Tooks Chambers was established in 1984 at the height of the Minor's Strike and spent much of its early days defending miners wrongly accused of riot and affray.

Tooks remained proud of its historic roots in upholding social justice, and developed  into a  modern  set of barristers  who still shared that fearless commitment to access to justice for the most vulnerable individuals and groups in society. Regretfully, as a direct consequence of government policies on legal aid which effectively cut the public funding upon which Tooks could operate, Tooks Chambers took the sad decision to dissolve formally on 27th December 2013 and to wind down its operations from 11th October 2013. A detailed notice of this dissolution is contained here.  

Tooks Chambers was proud of its reputation for taking up the most difficult and controversial cases in recent times, pushing the boundaries of the law to protect the rights of individuals on both a national and international platform. It is sad that government cut backs have now undermined  the rule of law to such an extent that a chambers which was dependant on public funding to do so, can now no longer effectively operate.

All the Barristers at Tooks Chambers shared a profound belief in human rights and civil liberties for all and their work was fuelled by this drive. In the current legal regime of cut-backs, which has banished legally aided legal representation to a small corner of the legal landscape, this commitment is all the more needed.