OVERVIEW
We are very sorry to announce the death of Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony who passed away peacefully on 16 April 2026 with his indefatigable wife Rosy by his side.
Tony was a remarkable figure in the life of Quadrant Chambers and in the law more widely. He spent 27 years at the Bar, building a leading practice in maritime and commercial law and playing a central role in putting Quadrant Chambers (then 2 Essex Court) on the shipping and commercial map or, as he would prefer, on the chart. He was an outstanding advocate, who wore his brilliance lightly. As our Head of Chambers, and as our mentor and our colleague, he was a constant source of wisdom and wit with boundless enthusiasm, good cheer and always a twinkle in his eye.
Called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1965, he became a Recorder in 1985 before being appointed to the High Court in 1993, succeeding our previous Head of Chambers Mr Justice Sheen as Admiralty Judge. In 1998 Tony was appointed to the Court of Appeal, where he was asked to conduct the Marchioness and Bowbelle Public Inquiry and which he handled with outstanding sensitivity. He later served as Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice from 2005.
Appointment to the highest court in the land came in 2009, with Tony being the first Justice appointed directly to the Supreme Court and where he served until 2017. He also sat for many years as a non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. His judicial career was, in every sense, stratospheric, though he remained notably modest throughout.
Following his retirement from the bench, Tony returned to Quadrant Chambers as an arbitrator, where he was again a valued colleague and presence within Chambers.
Tony will always be remembered as an extraordinary advocate and judge, whose happiness and enjoyment of life left a lasting impression on all who worked with him. We are fortunate to have known him as a colleague and a friend in Chambers. We will shortly be penning a longer tribute to share more of his extraordinary achievements and attributes with you. In the meantime, our thoughts, prayers and love to Rosy, their three children and their grandchildren.
Tony at his
retirement lunch, 5 December 2019
L-R Michael Howard KC, Luke Parsons KC, Nigel Cooper KC, Poonam
Melwani KC and James M Turner KC
Belinda Bucknall KC, Lord Clarke, Simon Kverndal KC