Senior Practice Manager
Practice Manager
Assistant Practice Manager
Stephen Hawes joined XXIV in October 2026, following his successful completion of pupillage. During pupillage, he was supervised by Max Archer, James Bradford, Benjamin Waistell, and Ryan Hocking. He gained experience of a broad range of Chambers’ practice areas, with a particular emphasis on commercial litigation, trusts, probates and estates, and aviation and travel matters.
Before coming to the bar, Stephen taught on University College London’s undergraduate equity and trusts module. He also completed a PhD, which focussed on the application of trustee-duties to occupational pension schemes. Prior to this, Stephen studied for an LLM covering topics which included international and commercial trusts, commercial remedies, and insolvency. He completed the GDL at City University, and a BA in History at the University of Oxford.
As a pupil, Stephen gained experience in a variety of aviation and travel matters, including:
Stephen assisted with a significant amount of commercial litigation during pupillage, including obtaining experience in the following:
During pupillage, Stephen gained experience in drafting a defence to an application for rectification of a company register under section 125 of the Companies Act 2006 as part of a dispute as to the ownership of a family business.
Stephen gained experience of group litigation in a product liability context during pupillage, including in relation to applications to serve out of the jurisdiction, group litigation orders and observing complex conferences with experts.
During pupillage, Stephen gained insolvency experience including:
Stephen’s experience during pupillage included offshore work concerning the law of the Bahamas, the BVI, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey and Jersey.
Stephen has a particular interest in pensions litigation. His PhD thesis (“Control of Trustee Decision-Making in Pension Trusts”) was obtained at University College London. His research included a range of topics, such as the application of trust law rules to occupational pension schemes; the Imperial duty owed by scheme employers; and issues related to ESG investing in the pensions context. A book based on his research is expected to be published in 2027.
Before coming to the bar, Stephen taught on University College London’s undergraduate equity and trusts module. As a pupil, Stephen gained experience in a number of matters relating to trusts, probate and estates, including:
PhD (thesis title: “Control of Trustee Decision-Making in Pension Trusts”) – University College London
Bar Vocational Studies (LLM) – City, University of London (Distinction)
LLM – University College London (Distinction)
GDL – City, University of London (Distinction)
BA in History – Balliol College, Oxford
Evan Ashfield Memorial Prize (City, University of London)
Kennedy Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
Peter Birks Scholarship (University College London)
Lord Bowen Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn)
Fletcher Scholarship (Balliol College, Oxford)
Before coming to the bar, Stephen taught on University College London’s undergraduate equity and trusts module.
Before coming to the bar, Stephen taught on University College London’s undergraduate equity and trusts module.
