Eleanor Temple KC

Year of call: 2000  | Year of silk: 2024

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gyoung@kingschambers.com
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Eleanor Temple KC’s practice focuses on commercial litigation for domestic and international clients with a particular emphasis on insolvency and company (predominantly shareholder) law disputes, partnership actions, banking and finance, guarantees, civil fraud, contract disputes, breach of trust and fiduciary duties, including asset tracing claims, and directors’ disqualification. One commentator recently described Eleanor as “simply excellent”.

Eleanor serves as the Chair of the NECCBA and the Co-Chair of the Yorkshire Pro Bono Committee. Additionally, she regularly sits as a Recorder for both the North Eastern and Northern Circuits and as a Deputy District Judge on the North Eastern Circuit.

Eleanor is recommended as a Leading Junior in four practice areas of the Chambers UK Guide 2019: Restructuring/ Insolvency, Banking & Finance, Chancery, and Commercial Dispute Resolution, and in the Legal 500 2019 as a Leading Junior in Commercial, Banking & Insolvency.

In 2014 Eleanor was named as one of the Chambers UK Top 200 junior barristers practising in England and Wales.

Clients include insolvency practitioners, banks, multi-nationals, SMEs, professional firms, private equity houses and private individuals. Eleanor has acted for and against the Government including on public interest winding up and directors’ disqualification matters.  She is a member of the Attorney General’s Provincial Panel.

  • 2018  – appointed a Recorder in both Civil and Family.
  • 2017 – appointed Chair of R3 Yorkshire and Chair of the NECCBA.
  • 2015  – appointed a Deputy District Judge authorised to hear Business and Property Court matters.
  • 2012 – Selected by the Bar Council to present a paper to the New York City Bar Association on Cross Border Insolvency.
  • 2007 – featured in The Times “Future Stars of the Regions” Report.
  • 2004 – founded the R3 (North West) Women’s Group

A list of Eleanor’s areas of expertise can be found below.  In addition, she has expertise in interim remedies — including summary judgment, applications for specific and third party disclosure, security for costs and injunctions (including freezing injunctions, worldwide and domestic).

Expertise

Secure and unsecured lending (including mortgages and guarantees) finance litigation and advisory work and financial services litigation.

Contracts; commercial fraud; sale and supply of goods and services and e-commerce disputes; joint ventures; shareholder disputes; share and asset purchase agreements (especially warranty claims and other acquisition disputes), all procedural aspects of the CPR, evidence, costs and interim applications.

Eleanor is an experienced and established commercial practitioner, with a particular emphasis on insolvency, banking and finance, company and commercial dispute resolution, especially asset tracing claims, shareholder disputes, breach of trust and fiduciary duties and directors’ disqualification.

Contentious and non-contentious, international and domestic personal and corporate insolvency and restructuring (for office holders and individuals/companies) – including administrations, voluntary arrangements, liquidations, bankruptcy, claims under the Insolvency Act 1986, especially wrongful and fraudulent trading, misfeasance, preferences, transactions at an undervalue, cross-border insolvency (particularly in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man), employment and pensions issues and directors’ disqualification. Eleanor undertakes contentious trusts litigation with a particular interest in offshore trusts in the Channel Islands and related cross-border insolvency. Eleanor has recently been involved in an international trust dispute in Jersey.

Especially concerning professional practices such as solicitors, accountants, chartered surveyors, medical practitioners and veterinary surgeons, breach of partnership agreements, disclosure, injunctions, breach of duty, confidentiality.

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'Eleanor is one of the top nationwide insolvency barristers. She is strong in every aspect of her work: technically brilliant in her opinions; persuasive in her written submissions; challenging and realistic in her strategic advice; and adaptable in her advocacy.'

Legal 500 2025

 'Eleanor is the best barrister for insolvency in Leeds bar none.'

Legal 500 UK 2025

"Eleanor has a very direct, no-nonsense and effective style that gets the ear of the judges."

Chambers UK 2025

"She is extremely good at getting the confidence of clients and a strategy they believe in."

Chambers UK 2025

"Eleanor complements her intricate understanding of the law with the ability to understand the commercial and practical side."

Chambers UK 2025

"She is pragmatic and achieves great outcomes for clients."

Chambers UK 2025

"She's tough, good in court, and her written work is also good."

Chambers UK 2025

   

  • March 2024 – Appointed King’s Counsel
  • June 2018 – Recorder (Civil)
  • March 2018 – Appointed a Recorder (Family) N
  • September 2017 – Appointed Chair of the R3 Yorkshire Region
  • October 2016 – Appointed Chair of North Eastern Circuit Commercial Bar Association (NECCBA)
  • 2015 Deputy District Judge (Civil) North Eastern Circuit
  • 2015 Deputy District Judge (BPC authorisation)

Chambers UK 2025

“She is extremely good at getting the confidence of clients and a strategy they believe in.”

“She is pragmatic and achieves great outcomes for clients.”

“Eleanor complements her intricate understanding of the law with the ability to understand the commercial and practical side.”

Legal 500 2025

‘Eleanor is the best barrister for insolvency in Leeds bar none.’

‘Eleanor is one of the top nationwide insolvency barristers. She is strong in every aspect of her work: technically brilliant in her opinions; persuasive in her written submissions; challenging and realistic in her strategic advice; and adaptable in her advocacy.’

Chambers UK 2024

“She is incredibly good on her feet and has a calm but persuasive demeanour in court, which is attractive to judges.”

“Eleanor is always available in an emergency. Her advice is technically excellent but also pragmatic and objective at all times.”

“Eleanor is a class act, an excellent blend of both technical knowledge and commercial acumen.”

“Eleanor is tenacious inside and outside of the courtroom and is masterful when it comes to having tough conversations with clients.

Legal 500 2024

‘Eleanor is extremely good on her feet, and she is well known by the judges on the Northern Circuit and this really comes across in her advocacy. She has a wonderfully relaxed style that is clear and to the point, and judges really appreciate her clarity and conciseness.’

‘Eleanor provides objectivity and insight at all times. Her strategic support is invaluable, and her advice is rigorous and comprehensive. Her advocacy is commanding and persuasive.’

Chambers UK 2023

“The reason we go to Eleanor is for her tactical decision making, her experience with the courts and commercial approach.”

“Eleanor really is beyond solid.”

“Eleanor is amenable, straightforward and great with clients.”

“She works like a demon and is really cost-effective.”

Legal 500 2023

‘Eleanor is first-class in court and always has a good sense of when to press points with a judge. An impressive, pragmatic advocate with great energy’

‘Eleanor is commercial, practical and gets straight to the heart of any issue. She is an exceptional advocate, with a presence in court which demonstrates her confidence and technical ability. An incredible barrister.’

 

Chambers UK 2022

“Truly spectacular. She is an incredible advocate but also maintains great relationships with her clients and always takes a commercial attitude to cases, which makes her sensible and pragmatic.”

“She is commercial, good on her feet and very client-friendly.”

“Eleanor was very accessible and she worked with us on issues with very tight deadlines. She not only is good on the technical side, but has good commercial acumen and is good with judges and clients.”

“Eleanor Temple is a very pragmatic barrister and understands the commercial impact of litigation.”

“She is regularly involved in cases where every other party has a KC.”

“She is armed with a wealth of experience in banking and insolvency litigation. She is an excellent advocate and is very easy to work with and extremely client-friendly.”

“She is an incredible advocate but also maintains great relationships with clients and always has a commercial attitude to cases which makes her sensible and pragmatic.”

Legal 500 UK 2022

“Eleanor is extremely responsive, despite clearly balancing a large caseload of work which is, given their practice area, often very urgent. She has an excellent way with clients – an understanding and sympathetic tone but unafraid to deliver robust and realistic advice. Clients feel that Eleanor is truly on their side and will fight their corner with all she can. ”

“Eleanor is superb: a second-to-none junior. She is user friendly, impressive both in writing and on her feet, and clients appreciate and admire her commercial and sensible attitude.”

“She is regularly involved in cases where every other party has a KC.” “She is armed with a wealth of experience in banking and insolvency litigation. She is an excellent advocate and is very easy to work with and extremely client-friendly.”

Chambers UK 2021

“A KC, with everything but the letters”

“She is always aware of the practical and commercial context of her advice, ensuring that matters are resolved as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. She is also incredibly thorough, well prepared and a pleasure to work with.”

“She gets to grips with the issues straight away and comes back with incisive and helpful comments that advance the case.” “She is very measured in court and she performs very well.”

“Absolutely brilliant, hugely knowledgeable and very responsive. She gives really good advice and is a good advocate and all-round barrister.” “She’s commercial, hard-working and gets great results.” “She’s very client-friendly, very sharp and a bit of a star.”

“Eleanor Temple is a brilliant advocate who is intellectually astute and has a superb manner with clients.” “An outstanding barrister: extremely driven, capable and competent.”

Legal 500 2021

“Eleanor is very capable – good at what she does and advocacy (with great charm) but also a good presenter and networker. Nothing seems to phase her.”

Legal 500 2020

“Eleanor is very capable – good at what she does and advocacy (with great charm) but also a good presenter and networker. Nothing seems to phase her.”

“Eleanor is exceptional. Her written submissions are detailed and demonstrate her knowledge and understanding of complex legal issues and she is an outstanding advocate. She can think on her feet and always knows her cases inside out. Eleanor is my first choice on all company and insolvency matters. She is commercial and puts clients at ease. She always achieves the best possible outcome.”

“Eleanor has the ability to distil even the most complex of matters to their key elements and present those elements in a cogent and powerful manner whether that be in writing or as an advocate.”

“Intellectually and commercially savvy.”

Chambers UK 2020

“A determined and forceful advocate.” “A great advocate with superb knowledge of the law in this area. Her thorough approach and expert guidance is invaluable.”

“Determined and forceful advocate.” “She is well respected by judges, barristers and solicitors and can cut through things.”

“She’s very client-friendly and good both on her feet and on paper. She has a formidable level of experience.” “She’s easy to work with and very approachable.”

“A superb, very persuasive advocate. She is very quick and intuitive with judges.” “She will always find the clever points.”

 

Chambers UK 2019

“A very good commercial disputes practitioner.” “She addresses issues quickly and meets deadlines. She’s organised about her work and never lets me down. She definitely goes the extra mile.”

“She is an excellent all-rounder, who remains persistent and confident.” “A leading insolvency barrister specialising in the full range of chancery and commercial litigation.” “A great advocate with superb knowledge in this area of law. We value her thorough approach and expert guidance.”

“She’s very good on her feet, she can read situations and individuals and she inspires confidence in her clients.” “She’s got a great touch with clients and is able to get to the nub of issues very quickly.”

“She is really client-focused, gets to grips with issues really quickly, is proactive and is pragmatic with her solutions. She is excellent on her feet.”

Legal 500 2019

“A compelling and client-friendly advocate.”

Chambers UK 2018

“A determined and forceful advocate,” who is “very quick-thinking, great at delivering speeches and someone who offers very commercial advice.”

“She is very user-friendly, excellent on her feet and good with clients.” “She’s very experienced, proactive, always available and has a wide range of knowledge and experience to apply to different situations.” “A great advocate with superb knowledge in this area of law. We value her thorough approach and expert guidance.”

“She comes up with solutions to difficult problems and takes a commercial view with ‘out of the box’ thinking. She also makes clients feel comfortable.”

“She has superb knowledge backed by a commercial approach to problems.” “Very user-friendly, excellent on her feet and good with clients.”

Legal 500 2018

‘A formidable advocate and an unstoppable force, who is loved by clients.’

Chambers UK 2017

“She is an excellent advocate and nothing seems to faze her. You know she’ll always do a good job for you.” “She is a wonderful advocate who is great on her feet and gets to the bottom of problems immediately. She’s great in conference and is very impressive in court.”

“She is excellent. She is tremendously clear and eloquent in court and has a very persuasive style.” “Her written work is very good and innovative.”

“She is a very robust advocate who knows her onions and cuts to the chase.” “She is extremely experienced. She has huge knowledge of insolvency matters and provides very pragmatic advice.”

“She is a wonderful advocate who is great on her feet, and gets to the bottom of problems immediately.”

Legal 500 2017

‘Wonderfully talented, both in her people skills and her technical knowledge and expertise.

Who’s Who Legal 2016

Eleanor Temple is known for being “extremely through and not missing a thing.”

Chambers UK 2016

“She is a very good advocate who wins everything I send to her!”

“She is an extremely good barrister and is particularly strong in cross-examination.”

“Fantastic in front of judges, she really punches above her weight. Her strength is in her advocacy – she is almost surprisingly fierce in court.”

Who’s Who Legal 2015

“Kings Chambers junior Eleanor Temple is a “leading figure” in corporate restructuring with a “stellar reputation”. Clients praise her “quick grasp of complex issues”

University: St Johns College, University of Durham

Degree: 1st Class (Hons) Law

  • New York City Bar Association
  • R3 (Yorkshire) Committee Member
  • R3 (Full member)
  • Insolvency Lawyers’ Association (Full member)
  • Chancery Bar Association
  • Northern Chancery Bar Association,
  • Northern Circuit Commercial Bar Association
  • Northern and North Eastern Circuit
  • The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

  • Reginald Prize, Gerrard Rawnsley Prize, R. K. Vanham Prize, Outstanding Achievement Prize (Overall results), Inner Temple Major Scholarship, Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Scholarship

  • Misfeasance: Shadow Director Versus De Facto Director, Insolvency Intelligence 11/02/2011, 44, (2011) 24 Ins. Int. 4
  • Family Law and Bankruptcy Update, Insolvency Intelligence 11/02/2011, 39, (2011) 24 Ins. Int. 1
  • Equine Law: Taking the reins (2008) LS Gaz, 7 Aug, 14.
  • High Court grants joint liquidators relief in complex transaction at an undervalue avoidance claim following asset sale agreement Corporate Rescue and Insolvency (2018) 5 CRI 173

  • Attorney’s General’s Provincial Panel – appointed 2008, re-appointed 2015

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