Mary Cowe

Crime.

Mary is a criminal barrister and a fraud specialist with a reputation for incisive advocacy and high calibre legal analysis. Now often called upon to provide pre-charge advice, clients compliment her ability to master complex issues of fact and law rapidly and to provide advice that is clearly expressed and comprehensive. Mary is sought after for her advocacy, and for her ability to pursue a good point tenaciously but graciously, taking the Judge or jury with her. She was described in a recent legal directory recommendation as ‘a class act – precise, considered, clever and persuasive’.

In addition to her fraud practice, Mary appears for both defence and prosecution in cases where expert evidence is central, including understanding and challenging clinical evidence in cases involving sudden infant death and traumatic brain injury to children. She has a built a reputation as someone who can confidently lead a team and understands when and how medical experts may assist in the building of a case. Mary also appears in cases of rape and serious sexual offences, often instructed when issues relating to a defendant’s functioning arise, given her professional and academic interest in ensuring defendants’ effective participation in trials. This interest prompted a sabbatical in 2011, in which Mary pursued an MPhil in criminology with a dissertation concerning mental health and the criminal process.

Mary is currently a member of the Criminal Bar Association Law Reform Committee and has recently co-edited a book about criminal advocacy. She has been a pupil supervisor and currently acts a mentor with the Inner Temple and as an advocacy trainer on the Western Circuit.

Keble College, Oxford (2005 MA (Hons) in Jurisprudence); University of the West of England (2006 Bar Vocational Course); St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge (2012 (sabbatical) – MPhil in Criminology). Qualified Inner Temple 2006; pupillage under the supervision of Anna Vigars 2006-07