BA and BCL (Oxon); Licence Droit (Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas)
BA and BCL (Oxon); Licence Droit (Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas)
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Ciar is a sought-after junior tenant whose practice spans all areas of Chambers’ work, including competition, information, EU, sports, tax, and administrative and public law. Ciar is regularly instructed both as junior and sole counsel and has appeared in a range of tribunals, including the Competition Appeal Tribunal, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
Ciar sits on the executive committees of the Human Rights Lawyers Association and the Bar European Group.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Ciar worked at the Court of Appeal as Judicial Assistant to Lord Justice Briggs (as he then was). She was also a Legal Fellow at JUSTICE, an intern at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, and spent time working as a quantitative market researcher.
Ciar has experience across the whole spectrum of competition law, and is regularly instructed as junior counsel in high-profile and complex competition litigation.
Highlights of Ciar’s current and recent instructions in this field include:
Ciar has extensive academic and practical experience of public and administrative law. She is regularly instructed in judicial review proceedings, both as joint and sole counsel.
Ciar’s public law cases often raise issues concerning equality and human rights.
Highlights of her current and recent public law instructions include:
Ciar accepts instructions in relation to all aspects of EU law. She regularly advises private clients, NGOs and regulatory bodies on the interpretation of EU legislation.
Recent instructions include advising on the likely impact of Brexit on various regulatory regimes, the rights of data subjects under the GDPR, and the regime for the transportation and/or sale of artworks containing endangered animal products.
In her first year of practice, Ciar also completed a secondment in the Bank of England’s EU Withdrawal Unit, where she advised on Brexit-related issues in the financial sector.
Ciar maintains a general commercial and arbitration practice. Most recently, she has acted for the successful party in two arbitrations relating to contractual disputes between football clubs (led by Paul Harris KC). Ciar was also instructed as junior counsel (led by Gregory Pipe) in PTNZ v AS [2020] EWHC 3114 (Ch), which was concerned with the construction of the trust deeds of a number of large family trusts.
Other recent work includes drafting a petition of unfair prejudice on behalf of a minority shareholder (led by Gregory Pipe) and advising on the interpretation of a company’s articles of association. Ciar also regularly appears in the County Court in a range of commercial cases, including successfully representing an expert witness in a claim for unpaid fees.
Ciar is rapidly gaining experience in both data protection and freedom of information law. She is instructed in FOI proceedings by both the Information Commissioner and requestors. She also advises individuals who are concerned that their data may have been processed unlawfully.
In addition, Ciar has acted in a number of judicial reviews with a data protection aspect (including JCWI v Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Ofqual algorithm challenge, discussed in the ‘Public and Administrative Law’ section above).
Ciar appears in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal on behalf of children and young people appealing the contents of their Education, Health and Care Plans. She also has extensive experience of judicial review claims involving discrimination in the access to education and/or special educational provision, as set out in the ‘Public and Administrative Law’ section above.
Ciar has been instructed in a range of procurement matters on behalf of both claimants and defendants (including both local and central government bodies).
Her recent instructions include:
Education
Scholarships and prizes
Professional Memberships
Languages
Leading junior in Competition: “Ciar McAndrew is fantastic and has great advocacy skills. She is doing things well above her years of call.” “Ciar is absolutely fantastic – I would work with her again in a heartbeat.” “Ciar is a very talented junior and an invaluable member of the counsel team.” – Chambers UK, 2025
Leading junior in Competition: “Ciar’s drafting is excellent, be it pleadings, first drafts, letters, submissions or research notes.” – Legal 500, 2025
Up and Coming in Competition: “She is hands on, proactive, and responsive, and I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.” “Ciar was an excellent junior on the case and provided brilliant support throughout.” “Ciar is an integral member of the defence team and is amassing considerable technical knowledge of all aspects of competition litigation, including collective proceedings.” “Her technical ability is consistently impressive, as is her written advocacy.” “Ciar is excellent and delivers a top-rate service.” – Chambers UK, 2024
Leading junior in Competition: “An excellent team player and willing to get involved in all aspects of the case, Ciar has a good eye for detail and is great to work with.” – Legal 500, 2024
Up and Coming in Competition: “In her output and her judgement she is far, far superior to her year of call. I would value her opinion on everything.” “She is incredibly bright and a very good team player.” – Chambers UK and Chambers Global, 2023
Leading junior in Competition: “Despite being junior, Ciar is extremely knowledgeable and provides valuable insights. She works extremely hard to always deliver high quality work and always remains calm and collected in high pressure situations.” – Legal 500, 2023