'James Donovan is a very personable and pragmatic clerk. He will go above and beyond to help regardless of the time of day.'
Legal 500 2026 - The English Bar Offshore - Commercial disputes
'James Donavon is an exceptional clerk.'
Legal 500 2026 - The English Bar Offshore - Commercial disputes
'James Donavan, the senior clerk, is outstanding. He is professional, knowledgeable, and super responsive. He is top of mind always when legal assistance is required in England.'
Legal 500 2026 - The English Bar Offshore - Commercial disputes
'James Donovan is very good.'
Legal 500 2026 - The English Bar Offshore - Other expertise
'James Donovan is a personable and committed clerk. James will go out of his way to help in all situations.'
Legal 500 2026 - The English Bar Offshore - Other expertise
'James Donovan is incredibly personable and helpful. He will go above and beyond to help in any situation.'
Legal 500 2026 - The English Bar Offshore - Other expertise
'James Donovan is particularly good.' - Caribbean - The English Bar Offshore - Other expertise
Legal 500 2025
'The clerks are great; extremely accommodating, very friendly, and they will always try to help. James Donovan in particular is an absolute pleasure to deal with.'
Legal 500 2025
‘Very strong and very good with international solicitors and international clients, including in government. James Donovan is the standout player.’ - The English Bar Offshore
Legal 500 2024
‘3 Hare Court is a well run chambers and the clerks go the extra mile to accommodate clients. James Donovan, Toby Eales and Simon Hamilton provide excellent support.’
Legal 500 2024
‘Very polite, professional, flexible and friendly. James Donovan in particular is extremely helpful and easy to deal with.’ - Caribbean – The English Bar Offshore
Legal 500 2023
‘James Donovan, Simon Hamilton and Toby Eales are very helpful with counsel bookings and availability of suitable counsel and they know their barristers well.’
Legal 500 2023
The clerks have delivered an excellent service over the years – nothing is too much trouble. Toby Eales and James Donovan are class acts and the whole team has benefitted from their leadership.’
Legal 500 2023
‘James Donovan is very personable and has a great deal of experience and knowledge of the chambers’ strengths.‘
Legal 500 2022
‘Clerks are very responsive and commercial – special mention to Toby Eales and James Donovan.‘
Legal 500 2022
James Donovan leads an extremely friendly, efficient and effective team.
Legal 500 - 2021
James Donovan, senior clerk, has always been particularly impressive and accommodating in terms of recognition of need, knowledge of progress of the matters, urgency of response and follow-up.
Legal 500 - 2021
Excellent clerks – particularly Toby Eales and James Donovan who are extremely helpful and try to be extremely accommodating.
Legal 500 - 2021
The clerking team led by James are amongst the best in the business. They are helpful, accommodating and sensible on fees. All of the clerks have a good knowledge of the work undertaken by Chambers to help place cases and agree fees quickly.
Legal 500 - 2021
"James Donovan leads an extremely friendly, efficient and effective team."
Legal 500 2020
"James Donovan, senior clerk, has always been particularly impressive and accommodating in terms of recognition of need, knowledge of progress of the matters, urgency of response and follow-up."
Legal 500 2020
"The ‘superb’ clerks’ room is headed up by the ‘delightful’ and ‘charming’ senior clerk James Donovan, who ‘knows his barristers - their strengths and weaknesses - inside out’ and ‘is interested in building lasting working relationships rather than short-term profits’. Chambers ‘really seems to be going places’ under Donovan’s guidance."
Legal 500 2018
"James Donovan, the senior clerk, is one of the best in the business and in my experience he has never recommended a barrister who wasn't totally suited to the job in hand."
Chambers & Partners 2018
