
Joe is described as “a class above” and “Joe Ferrigno is very much behind the Essex Court success story, and the leading senior clerk at the bar. Beneath his understated and collegiate, affable engagement lies a visionary approach dedicated to engineering the best service delivery and a set geared for the demands of 21st century, complex global disputes” in the Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2025
In 2023 Joe won the ‘Senior Clerk of the Year’ award at the Legal 500 Bar Awards.
Joe is responsible for the strategic management and development of all Members of Chambers and has comprehensive knowledge of their specialist practice areas. He is also responsible for the development and implementation of the Essex Court Chambers strategic business plan and the management and development of client relationships in the UK and worldwide.
Joe primarily manages the overall clerking of Chambers, the practice management of the senior King’s Counsel and fee negotiations, work allocation and practice development. He is also responsible for the administration of Chambers which includes; Clerks, Finance, Marketing, IT, Human Resources, Facilities and secretarial staff.
Members of Essex Court Chambers are known for their global reach, with barristers travelling across the world to represent clients. This committed international approach means that Joe regularly visit clients overseas including the Caribbean (BVI, Cayman Islands and Nevis), Bermuda, Geneva, Greece, Singapore, Hong Kong, Middle East, US (New York, Miami and Washington) Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg).
He is recognised by clients for his responsiveness and adaptability in matching their expectations and requirements. He has a flexible approach to fee negotiation and is happy to discuss fee requirements to suit individuals and cases.
Joe is regularly recognised by the leading legal directories:
‘Joe Ferrigno, senior clerk, is one of the best clerks at the Bar. He has a magic touch when it comes to managing relationships and making things work. He is very straightforward, transparent and collaborative.’
‘Senior Clerk Joe Ferrigno is transparent, very straightforward and collaborative. If you have any issues or problems, he’ll help address them with a light touch. He knows all the barristers and they all respect him. Joe runs the clerking team brilliantly – when things are difficult he steps in and resolves them. You can always rely 100% on him to deliver.’
‘Joe Ferrigno leads by his utterly professional (but friendly) and highly communicative example. The whole team is therefore unsurprisingly amazing.’
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2025
‘Very ably led by Joe Ferrigno who has a clear vision of the level of service that Chambers should provide and where the future of dispute resolution lies’
‘Joe Ferrigno is very much behind the Essex Court success story, and the leading senior clerk at the bar. Beneath his understated and collegiate, affable engagement lies a visionary approach dedicated to engineering the best service delivery and a set geared for the demands of 21st century, complex global disputes. He understands how the market works on an instinctive level.’
‘Joe Ferrigno is very smooth and is a real operator – very responsive and commercially savvy.’
The Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2025
“Joe Ferrigno, is the best clerk at the bar. He has a magic touch around managing relationships and making things work.” “Senior clerk Joe Ferrigno, a man of unquestioned experience and skill, leads a team with strength in depth.” “I would single out Joe Ferrigno, senior clerk, who is a star among clerks, he is very professional and feels like part of our team.”
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2024
“Stand-out” “he’s everything you’d want in a clerk.” Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2023
“fantastic senior clerk,” “he sets the standard for modern clerking” and is described as ”very good and straight forward to deal with,” “he is proactive, available, and nothing is too much trouble.” The Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2023
“Stand-out” “runs a very smooth operation, provides an excellent service in terms of communications around fees and availability and has a real can-do attitude.” “He has a very ‘can do’ attitude, he makes sure you are provided with a proper service and he tries to accommodate fees in a way that keeps everyone happy.” “he’s everything you’d want in a clerk.”
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2022
“A fantastic senior clerk,” “he is a force of nature,” “highly responsive and engaged,” “he has a hands-on approach and can-do attitude,” “he wants to find ways to be innovative.” “outstanding.”
The Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2021
“He knows his barristers in every respect and is highly approachable. He is really excellent and very commercially minded.”
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2021
“A leading clerk.” “leads a gold standard clerking team from the front,” “Takes a modern and business-orientated approach.”
The Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2020
“The best in the business,” “Highly efficient, easy to deal with and someone who runs a very slick operation”
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2020
“A class act- very well connected, good to deal with,” “always finds a pragmatic, sensible way of resolving any issues”
The Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2019
“Recognises fees constraints and is someone who is prepared to think creatively.”
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2019
“A fantastic clerk. He is very professional and also very engaging – he is practically working with you to get what the clients need,” “A delight to deal with.”
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2017
“Top notch and understands the commercial complexities solicitors’ face when instructing counsel.”
The Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2016
“The best of the best in the clerking world – he’s someone whose judgement you trust implicitly.”
Chambers and Partners UK Bar Guide 2016
“The most effective clerk in the business,” “always delivers,” “really makes the effort to learn what individual solicitors need from a clerking team,” “Very astute at matching the particular requirements of a case to the right barrister.”
The Legal 500 UK Bar Guide 2015
Memberships
- Crypto Fraud and Asset Recovery (Founding Member) (CFAAR)
- Legal Practice Managers Association (LPMA)
- Member of the Russian/CIS Arbitration Network (RCAN)
- Institute of Barristers Clerks (IBC)
- British Association for Sport and Law (BASL)
- London Maritime Arbitrators Association (Supporting Member)