Jim Duffy > 1 Crown Office Row > London, England > Barrister Profile

1 Crown Office Row
Temple
London
EC4Y 7HH
England

Position

Jim Duffy has extensive experience across clinical negligence, inquests and inquiries, personal injury, human rights, tax and employment and discrimination.

He is a member of the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel (‘B’ Panel) and has particular experience of prison law and employment claims, acting on both sides.

Career

Called 2012; Inner Temple. Judicial assistant to Lord Reed and Lord Hodge, Justices of the Supreme Court 2013-14, returning to full-time practice in August 2014. Non-practising solicitor (dual-qualified: Scotland, England & Wales). Solicitor at Public Interest Lawyers 2009-12, taking judicial review cases on behalf of Iraqi civilians alleging ill-treatment and unlawful killing by British forces and representing them in ongoing investigations by the UK state. Also represented: the families of British soldiers killed during the Iraq War; jobseekers required to work for free at Poundland and elsewhere as part of the government’s ‘Back to Work’ schemes; asylum seekers and their children detained unlawfully at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre; Kenyan nationals accused of involvement in the 2010 ‘World Cup’ bombings in Uganda. Council of Europe/European Union – combating impunity and the effective investigation of ill-treatment: research assistant in the preparation of a country report on Ukraine (2009), Kiev. Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP, trainee solicitor 2007-09; intern at Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 2007; Geneva (University of Toronto Fellowship). University of Toronto International Human Rights Clinic, student advocate 2006-07; University of Glasgow, tutor in Sources and Institutions of Scots Law and researcher 2005-06.

Languages

French (fluent).

Education

Universite Aix-Marseille III (2004 Erasmus programme); University of Glasgow (2005 LLB (Hons) Law with French Language (First Class), Dr John MacCormick, Prize for the Most Distinguished Graduate in Law); Glasgow Graduate School of Law (2006 Diploma in Legal Practice – Criminal Advocacy Prize); University of Toronto (2007 LLM – Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar).

Leisure

Guitar, football, running, diving, travel.

Lawyer Rankings

London Bar > Inquests and inquiries

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4

Jim Duffy – 1 Crown Office Row ‘Jim is a first choice of barrister in relation to inquest work. His advocacy is clear and persuasive, and he has a sensitive approach with clients.’

London Bar > Personal injury

(Personal injury - Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 2

Jim Duffy1 Crown Office Row ‘Jim really does have all the skills you want in a barrister he is organised, responsive and brainy. He really thinks about the issues in a case and solicitors trust him to advise on complex points of law.’

1 Crown Office Row fields ‘outstanding practitioners at all levels’, and advises on a range of cognitive, spinal and orthopaedic injuries stemming from workplace or traffic accidents, but sees significant specialism in sexual abuse claims, including those involving children in educational and faith organizations. This is an area that Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel KC is notably proficient in, evident in her recent involvement in the Supreme Court case YXA v Wolverhampton CC, which saw the failure of the council to remove children from abusive parents the primary object of contention. Jim Duffy also typically acts on behalf of child abuse survivors.

London Bar > Clinical negligence

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4

Jim Duffy1 Crown Office Row ‘Jim is fantastic – he has a real way with clients that puts them at ease and feel confident in his abilities. He is superb with experts and really gets to the crux of cases.’