Inquests and inquiries

Leading Juniors
Leading juniors are those with significant experience of key cases, strong market recognition from both peers and clients, and are seen as future candidates for silk.
1
Elizabeth Dudley-Jones
Deans Court Chambers
 'Elizabeth is a fantastic advocate who has a great understanding of prison procedure. She has a particular skill in empathising with officers who find themselves giving evidence at inquest, which can often be as traumatic as the incident they are giving evidence about, and she puts them at ease and is able to speak to them on their own level, which works wonders in putting them at ease.'
1
Leila Ghahhary
Lincoln House Chambers
‘Leila has excellent judgement and insight and is able to think through particularly difficult problems with ease and good humour. She is particularly skilled at being able to see the big picture in matters where it is often easy to get lost in granular detail, and she is also an absolute pleasure to work with, including under highly stressful and pressured conditions.'
1
Laura Nash
Serjeants’ Inn Chambers
 ‘Laura is an impeccable advocate. She prepares cases inside out and her questioning is succinct and concise, she quickly establishes a rapport with the bench, other advocates, and client and witnesses alike, and her calm and engaging nature means she has the court room in the palm of her hand.’
1
David Pojur
Lincoln House Chambers
‘David knows coronial law incredibly well and he has excellent understanding of processes through his position of Assistant Coroner for North Wales, and this is very beneficial to both clients and instructing solicitors. David has excellent people skills and puts clients' minds at ease in difficult proceedings.'
1
Kate Stone
Garden Court North Chambers 
‘Kate is an outstanding inquest lawyer. She works exceptionally hard and she is prepared to argue difficult points fearlessly, she is forensic in her examination of witnesses and completely committed to uncovering the truth, and she is fantastic with clients and instils their confidence.'
1
Austin Welch
Lincoln House Chambers
‘Austin is unflappable and combines a grasp of technical detail with an excellent client demeanour which instils confidence in both those instructing and the lay client. His approach in court reflects this and he has a calm and collected approach to advocacy.'
2
Richard Borrett
Kings Chambers
‘Richard is excellent with clients in inquests and he is very sensitive in his dealing with local authority clients and social workers. He gets to grips with a large amount of documentation very quickly and is very good on his feet, getting to the issue quickly.’
2
Patrick Cassidy
Kenworthy’s Chambers
 ‘Patrick has an easy charm with clients and builds a rapport with them from the outset. Always impressive in how he picks up on small details with a witness in cross-examination and develops those points with precision.'
2
Virginia Hayton
Deans Court Chambers
 'Virginia is able to isolate the key evidential points from a complex set of facts and apply them to the points of law in issue, and she is able to achieve this in a speedy manner without compromising the quality of her written evidence. Another strength is her oral advocacy, as she deals with cross-examination in a forthright manner, eliciting the necessary information without coming across as aggressive.'
2
Peter Smith
Deans Court Chambers
 ‘Peter is an outstanding barrister and advocate who is highly recommended, responsive, and excellent in conference with clients and in court. He is excellent in front of a jury, excellent with his papers, and excellent on technical points with coroners and in dealing with broader aspects around disclosure.’
2
Christian Weaver
Garden Court North Chambers
 ‘Christian has a natural attention to detail. He sees issues that other team members may not identify, he is confident with clients and knows the law, and he is a star in the making.'
3
Tom Gent
Deans Court Chambers
 'Tom is extremely knowledgeable, experienced, and committed to ensure a case is thoroughly prepared and leaves no stone unturned. He will always go the extra mile for clients, he is empathetic towards clients and witnesses alike, his advocacy skills are second-to-none, and his skill in getting to the point is understated but packs a punch.'
3
Lee Hughes
Lincoln House Chambers
 ‘Lee is excellent with clients, he is clear and straightforward in his advice, and he does not shy away from difficult conversation, and as a result, clients trust his judgement. He is always well prepared and grasps the detail and issues in his cases with ease, in even the most difficult cases, and he is not afraid to roll his sleeves up and get stuck into the case preparation.’
Rising stars
Rising stars at the Bar are defined as barristers between four and eight years’ call who are seen as up-and-coming members of the Bar in their respective practice areas by clients and peers alike. They will already be instructed in high-profile, complex, and high-value contentious and non-contentious matters, working with and opposite more experienced leading counsel.
Ciara Bartlam
Garden Court North Chambers
 ‘Ciara brings to the table her experience and passion in relation to the issues around supported accommodation, children in care, and young care leavers into her inquest practice, leading the way to create real change through submissions about prevention of future death reports and persuading coroners to look at these issues with the level of detail that they deserve. She is a fierce advocate on her feet and has continued to fight for her clients.’
Oliver Carr
Deans Court Chambers
 ‘Oliver has an eye for detail and understands the key legal points to a case. He is able to appropriately and sensitively talk through the inquest process with families, discussing the process, together with extracting any information that the family themselves may wish to address, and in terms of advocacy, he is very to the point and clear in questioning, keeping in mind the key points of contention.’
Lily Lewis
Garden Court North Chambers
 ‘Lily has an excellent understanding of policy and parliamentary advocacy, and she has brilliant insight into how to bring together the evidence from her advocacy on behalf of bereaved families and the opportunities to influence law, policy, and practice. A key part of inquest work is highlighting examples from inquests to show the need to reform the coronial service, and Lily always quickly understands the specific brief and is ready with multiple case studies to use to make policies work more effectively.'
Rebecca Titus-Cobb
St John’s Buildings
 'Rebecca has great interpersonal skills when speaking with clients, which is helpful as this can be a difficult area, and she has a compassionate approach. She is always well prepared for conferences and hearings and can talk the clients through difficult evidence and complex legal concepts, her advocacy is to the point and she is able to draw out the key issues in a case, and she is a safe pair of hands.'

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