David is recommended as a Leading Silk by Chambers UK (in the fields of Commercial Dispute Resolution, Banking & Finance, Insurance and International Arbitration), The Legal 500 (Commercial Litigation, Banking & Finance, Insurance & Reinsurance and International Arbitration), and Chambers Global (Commercial Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration). He is ranked as a “Star Individual” by Chambers UK in Banking & Finance. Directory comments include:
- ‘David is a phenomenon. Without doubt among the best at the Bar. He has a sparkling intellect and provides unrivalled advocacy and judgement. The most highly respected and feared opponent.’ (Legal 500 2023, Insurance & Reinsurance)
- ‘He’s really clever, even-tempered. A classic banking silk. One of the best defence barristers, very thoughtful and articulate.’ (Chambers & Partners 2023, Banking & Finance)
- ‘David is a formidable advocate. His analysis is meticulous, his advocacy penetrating and persuasive. Unfailingly courteous and very measured in his submissions, he is a delight as well as a challenge to appear against as counsel, and a delight to have him appear before a tribunal.’ (Legal 500 2023, International Arbitration: Counsel)
- ‘David Railton is the consummate, well prepared KC. Sometimes silks delegate work to juniors but he really owns the matter and gets into the detail.’ (Chambers & Partners 2023, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘David Railton is extremely experienced, so he speaks with authority and gravitas on everything. He is extremely knowledgeable. He is very effective and thoughtful. He is a fantastic thinker.’ (Chambers & Partners 2023, Insurance)
- ‘He is one of the leading lawyers in the country.’ (Chambers & Partners 2023, International Arbitration: General Commercial & Insurance)
- ‘If you ever need a ‘super advocate’ for the biggest cases, he fits the bill.’ (Chambers & Partners 2022, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘In a league of his own in banking (and so much else); he is the master strategist, always five moves ahead of his opponents.’ (Legal 500 2022, Banking & Finance)
- ‘An outstanding senior silk and team leader for the largest cases. Makes submissions with real substance and credibility.’ (Legal 500 2022, Commercial Litigation)
- ‘Very knowledgeable, practical and presents with gravitas.’ (Legal 500 2022, Insurance & Reinsurance)
- ‘A very good advocate.’ ‘He tailors his submissions and is very effective at that.’ (Chambers & Partners 2022, Banking & Finance)
- ‘He is well regarded and hugely experienced.’ (Chambers & Partners 2022, Insurance)
- ‘An absolutely stellar advocate. He is meticulous in his preparation. He also demonstrates a truly astonishing ability to make persuasive submissions on complex issues with extreme brevity.’ (Legal 500 2021, Banking and Finance)
- ‘Vastly experienced advocate with a practice spanning the full range of disputes in banking and finance. ‘David is excellent. He is a deep thinker and very strategic in the way that he thinks things through.’ ‘He is an extremely good advocate and someone who commands the respect of judges. His submissions are always very measured.’ (Chambers & Partners 2021, Banking & Finance – Star Individual)
- ‘An absolutely outstanding advocate, who also manages to have an extraordinary grip on the detail. Never wrong-footed, he provides cautious but firm advice.’ (Legal 500 2021, Commercial litigation)
- ‘He is very good with judges and very authoritative.’ (Chambers & Partners 2021, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘David is fantastic. He is extremely bright and phenomenally hard-working. He has the ear of the court.’ ‘He is an immensely accomplished advocate.’ (Chambers & Partners 2021, Insurance)
- ‘An outstanding advocate.’ (Legal 500 2021, Insurance and Reinsurance)
- ‘One of the most lucid thinkers I have ever encountered. David tests every argument and the strength of evidence from all possible angles.’ (Legal 500 2021, International arbitration)
- ‘He is an outstanding advocate and a real team player.’ (Chambers & Partners 2021, International arbitration)
- ‘He is an articulate, unflappable and exceptionally well-prepared advocate. He has a knack for anticipating questions from the Bench.’ (Chambers & Partners Global 2021, International Arbitration)
- ‘A true statesman of the Banking Bar, he is very good on his feet, has great judgement and is an excellent voice for the client.’ ‘He is extremely bright and commercial and is very good at simplifying complex issues.’ (Chambers & Partners 2020, Banking & Finance – Star Individual)
- ‘One of the best advocates I’ve seen in action. He’s incredibly calm and unflappable when he’s in front of the court.’ ‘You can feel the heat coming off his brain.’ (Chambers & Partners 2020, Insurance)
- ‘He has command of the courtroom, is flawless, articulate, and grapples with key commercial decisions quickly and intelligently.’ (Legal 500 2020, Commercial litigation)
- ‘Extremely bright, hugely experienced, and unflappable under pressure, as well as being very personable and client friendly.’ (Legal 500 2020, Banking and Finance)
- ‘A huge figure at the Commercial Bar,’ ‘he’s a strong advocate for the bigger case.’ (Chambers & Partners 2020, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘He is meticulous in preparation, realistic in setting expectations and brilliant as an advocate.’ (Chambers & Partners 2020, International arbitration)
- ‘A real market leader.’ (Legal 500 2020, Insurance and Reinsurance)
- ‘Provides painstaking attention to detail and outstanding advocacy skills.’ (Legal 500 2020, International arbitration)
- ‘A very wise and highly experienced advocate who lends immense intellectual heft and proper gravitas to any case that he leads.’ ‘He has an incredibly unassuming, effective advocacy style.’ (Chambers & Partners 2019, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘David is superb. He prepares meticulously, is definitely one of the top silks intellectually, and is unfailingly polite. Judges always listen when he’s on his feet.’ ‘David is a superb senior leader who fosters a cohesive and motivated team atmosphere. He has a calm but very persuasive approach in court, and his arguments and advice invariably are carefully thought through and well judged.’ (Chambers & Partners 2019, Banking & Finance – Star Individual)
- ‘Very good on his feet.’ ‘Very experienced and a real pleasure to work with.’ (Chambers & Partners 2019, Insurance)
- ‘Incredibly clever.’ (Chambers & Partners 2019, International arbitration)
- ‘An extremely experienced trial advocate whose cross-examination is superb.’ (Legal 500 2019, Commercial litigation)
- ‘He has a great strength for advocacy as well as being great with clients.’ (Legal 500 2019, Banking and Finance)
- ‘Extraordinary levels of preparation and skill ensure his performance is first rate.’ (Legal 500 2019, Insurance and Reinsurance)
- ‘A particularly impressive silk.’ (Legal 500 2019, International arbitration)
- ‘David is a very wise and highly experienced advocate’. ‘He also has excellent client-handling skills.’ (Chambers & Partners 2018, Banking & Finance – Star Individual)
- ‘A master of cross-examination, who is calm and incisive.’ (Chambers & Partners 2018, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘An outstanding advocate.’ (Chambers & Partners 2018, International arbitration)
- ‘Thoughtful and strategic, one of the best commercial advocates at the Bar.’ (Legal 500 2018, Commercial litigation)
- ‘A very smooth advocate, who always has the ear of the court.’ (Legal 500 2018, Banking and Finance)
- ‘He is terrific. A fine advocate with meticulous attention to detail, he is very steady and robust under pressure.’ ‘Absolutely phenomenal. Quietly spoken but fantastically bright, a very clear thinker and a real delight to work with.’ (Chambers & Partners 2017, Banking & Finance – Star Individual)
- ‘Very eminent and incredibly accomplished.’ (Legal 500 2018, International arbitration)
- ‘Consistently impressive, particularly in financial insurance claims.’ (Legal 500 2018, Insurance and Reinsurance)
- A highly respected silk with a fine commercial practice, who has handled a number of high-value and very important cases arising out of the 2008 financial crisis. ‘He is a fine advocate who shows meticulous attention to detail.’ ‘He’s extremely clever, exceptionally user-friendly and highly reliable.’ (Chambers & Partners 2017, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- Silk known for his ‘top-level preparation and advocacy,’ who is involved in a wide variety of complex insurance cases. ‘He is meticulous in his planning, incredibly bright and a lovely man as well.’ ‘An excellent senior silk suited to the most complex cases.’ (Chambers & Partners 2017, Insurance)
- ‘A first-class insurance and general commercial barrister.’ (Chambers & Partners 2017, International arbitration)
- ‘An outstanding senior leader; intellectually incisive and an excellent advocate.’ (Legal 500 2017, Banking and Finance)
- ‘An excellent senior silk, suited to the most complex cases.’ (Legal 500 2017, International Arbitration)
- ‘A standout QC who enjoys a stellar reputation. He is regularly sought out to act in high-profile, landmark cases.’ ‘He always produces an exceptional service. Not many counsel have his ability to take very complex legal matters and produce clear and appropriate advice in no time at all. He consistently wows clients.’ ‘He’s an extremely effective, careful and thoughtful lawyer. He has an excellent court style.’ (Chambers & Partners 2016, Banking & Finance – Star Individual)
- ‘Incredibly able, and produces very succinct, very structured submissions. He has you following him every step of the way, and he uses cold, clinical logic to obtain the result he wants.’ ‘His performance was sensational; he pushed all the right buttons in cross-examination.’ (Chambers & Partners 2016, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘Adept at litigating insurance and reinsurance cases across a wide spectrum of areas, ranging from professional indemnity to complex coverage matters. He is particularly skilled at resolving cases with multi-jurisdictional aspects.’ ‘He has a beautifully poised, measured style and real strategic strength.’ (Chambers & Partners 2016, Insurance)
- ‘He is extremely impressive, as he is thoughtful, articulate and all over the detail in a case.’ (Chambers & Partners 2016, Professional Negligence)
- ‘Extremely clever, exceptionally user friendly and reliable. (Legal 500 2016, International Arbitration: Counsel)
- Combines intellectual strength with practicality and common sense.’ (Legal 500 2016, Insurance and reinsurance)
- ‘A very wise and highly experienced advocate with excellent client-handling skills.’ (Legal 500 2016, Commercial litigation)
- ‘A number-one choice for large cases, with excellent judgement.’ (Legal 500 2016, Banking and Finance)
- Receives excellent market feedback for having a methodical and technically superior approach to advocacy that yields outstanding results in a broad range of commercial disputes. ‘A well-established silk. He’s very unshowy but incredibly effective and hard-working.’ (Chambers & Partners Global 2015, Commercial Dispute Resolution)
- ‘His submissions and cross-examination are both perfectly measured and pitched. He takes the judge with him in a very understated and irresistible way.’ (Chambers & Partners 2015, Banking & Finance)
- ‘David has a first-class brain, works incredibly hard and is a joy to work with. He is also incredibly busy, and the demand for his time illustrates the high regard in which he is held in the insurance and reinsurance market’ (Chambers & Partners 2015, Insurance)
- ‘An extremely experienced senior silk, who has fantastic judgement.’ (Chambers & Partners 2015, International Arbitration)
- ‘Just superb, he’s charming and utterly reassuring in conference. He’s skilled at making the client the centre of attention.’ (Chambers & Partners 2014, Professional Negligence)
- David Railton QC’s ‘modern-style commercial approach’ and ‘impeccable client handling’ earn him various admirers. He ‘thinks several steps ahead of the opposition’ and has ‘an attention to detail that is second to none.’ ‘a fantastic advocate,’ who is ‘extremely persuasive in an understated way’ (Chambers & Partners 2014, Banking & Finance)
- ‘He provides clear, comprehensible advice on very complex issues and is an excellent strategist.’ (Chambers & Partners 2014, Insurance)
- ‘a brilliant advocate’ who is ‘fantastic in cross-examination.’ (Chambers & Partners 2014, International Arbitration)
- a ‘top-class advocate’ who impresses clients with his ‘ability to take things down to a simple level, making difficult legal concepts easily accessible.’ (Chambers & Partners 2013, Banking & Finance)
- Interviewees heap praise on the ‘hugely intelligent, respectful and easy to work with’ David Railton QC, who is considered an ‘integral part of any team.’ (Chambers & Partners 2013, Insurance)
- He is not only ‘smart, creative and good with clients,’ but also a ‘great advocate and a savvy strategist.’ (Chambers & Partners 2013, Professional Negligence)
- ‘inspires confidence with his cool head and superb eye for detail.’ Clients note his ‘commercial mindset and approachability,’ while he also attracts praise for his ‘smooth and persuasive courtroom manner.’ (Chambers & Partners 2012, Banking & Finance)
- Described variously as ‘a class act’ and a ‘top-flight insurance practitioner,’ David Railton QC is noted for his measured approach: ‘He is one of the calmest barristers, completely unruffled by anything.’ He maintains a formidable reputation as a go-to barrister for cases across the full spectrum of the insurance and reinsurance field. (Chambers & Partners 2012, Insurance)
- One commentator enthused: ‘I have rarely seen a commercial silk with such judgement and finesse. He’s beautiful to watch as an advocate’ (Chambers & Partners 2011, Professional Negligence)
- a particular favourite of many a barrister and solicitor alike, with many sources praising him as ‘an unshakable and extraordinarily successful opponent.’ (Chambers & Partners 2011, Insurance)