Ranked as a leading barrister in the categories of Inquiries & Inquests and Business & Regulatory Crime:
“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.” Legal 500, 2025
‘Leila’s written advice is comprehensive yet succinct and written in a way that is accessible to both lay and professional clients. She has a commanding court room presence and is clear in her oral argument and submissions; one of the go-to counsel for inquests operating on the Northern Circuit.’ Legal 500, 2024
“Leila is a superb leading junior in inquests and inquiries. She is a highly skilled advocate who presents well-reasoned arguments, captures the attention of the tribunal and always considers the bigger picture. She is meticulous in terms of approach and a fantastic team-player who will take on board the views of others.” Legal 500, 2023
“Leila is incredibly approachable and communicative, and it is very easy to develop a positive working relationship with her. Her written and oral advice is both concise and comprehensive, and provided in a manner which is appropriate to the recipient, be that a lay or professional client. She is brilliant on her feet and has a commanding presence in court.” Legal 500, 2023
“Leila is a fantastic addition to any team. Her attention to detail and knowledge of niche regulatory areas is worth its weight in gold. Leila is refreshingly hard working and gives masses of time and attention to any job” Legal 500, 2022
“Leila’s attention to detail and thoroughness are outstanding. Leila is a fantastic team player and ensures that everyone’s view is considered. Leila’s view is invariably sensible and clear” Legal 500, 2022
“A ‘commanding and authoritative presence on her feet’, Leila Ghahhary is also one to watch in this area of practice” Legal 500, 2021
“Leila is an exceptional find! She has a background in local authority work which ideally suits some of the issues that arise in inquests and inquiries. Leila is an extremely competent advocate, compelling and impressive on her feet, always meticulously prepared and provides her clients with utmost confidence.” Legal 500, 2021
“Leila is becoming a true expert in this field. Her background is superbly suited to the difficult and unusual regulations that appear in many cases. She is an absolute delight to work with and often has razor-like insight into complex cases. Her client care is second to none and she is always a real help.” Legal 500, 2021
“She has good judgement and a commanding presence in court” Legal 500, 2020
Overview
Leila is a highly regarded international barrister who specialises in public, regulatory, international and human rights law. The professional guides rank Leila as a Tier 1 advocate. She practises in the UK and Canada and is regularly instructed to represent and advise local and central government departments, individuals and a variety of public and private organisations before a range of courts, tribunals and constitutional panels across a multitude of jurisdictions, legal areas and issues arising under public, regulatory, international and human rights law.
Leila has been appointed onto:
- The Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel. She regularly receives instructions from the Government Legal Department to represent and advise a variety of government departments on a range of public law and civil matters.
- The Panel of Specialist Advocates in Health and Safety and Environmental Law providing advice and representation to the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency, the Office of Rail and Road, the Care Quality Commission, the Office of Nuclear Regulation and Natural Resources Wales.
- The Equality and Human Rights Commission Panel of Counsel providing advice and representation to the Commission on matters relating to equality, public and human rights law.
Leila regularly acts in complex, high-profile public inquiries of national significance representing government departments, public and private organisations, individuals, and acting as Counsel to the Inquiry.
Leila is currently acting as Counsel for the UK Government’s Cabinet Office and No.10 Downing Street in the UK Covid19 Public Inquiry and as Counsel to Canada’s Foreign Interference Inquiry.
Leila was instructed in the Manchester Arena Inquiry as Counsel to several of the bereaved families of those who died as a result of the bombing at the Manchester Arena in 2017. The Inquiry was established to investigate the circumstances of the deaths of the victims of the 2017 terrorist attack.
Leila was appointed by the Secretary of State for Health, as Counsel to the Gosport Independent Panel. This panel was constituted by the Minister to examine and report on historical events which relate to the care, treatment, and deaths of the patients of the Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Portsmouth.
Leila was instructed by the UK Information Commissioner on matters relating to UK data protection law arising from the Northern Ireland Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry (the ‘Cash for ash’ scandal). This Inquiry related to a controversial renewable heat incentive scheme and the actions of politicians, their special advisors, and members of the energy industry. The controversy led to the collapse of Stormont.
Leila was instructed as Counsel for an Interested Party in the Hillsborough Inquests which related to the events during and after the well documented Hillsborough football stadium tragedy in April 1989. This case is one of national importance and significance and is the largest and longest Inquest proceedings ever to be held in the UK.
Leila also has extensive experience acting in large complex regulatory cases, including the recent largest ever UK trading standards prosecution in which Leila, along with other members of the prosecution team, received high praise from the trial judge for their management and conduct of this especially complex, voluminous and challenging case.
Leila’s international practice encompasses public international law and international human rights. Her work has involved matters concerning ICJ proceedings, the application of universal jurisdiction and atrocity crimes. It also includes acting as the Senior Legal Advisor for an international NGO. Leila also undertakes pro-bono projects with a number of international law and human rights organisations based in the UK, Canada, and USA.
In 2023, Leila completed her second Master of Laws with Honours at Columbia Law School in New York City, graduating with Kent Scholar status and having been awarded the Parker School Certificate of Achievement in International and Comparative Law. Leila’s scholarship was focused on Public International Law, Global Governance, and International Human Rights and Leila was selected to undertake a lawyer leadership programme. Alongside her studies, Leila served as an editor for the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, as a Board Member for the Columbia Society of International Law and was also selected to undertake a UN Externship with UN Women: Peace and Security, during which she spent time working at UN Headquarters New York on matters relating to UN Women’s role on the Security Council.
Prior to joining Lincoln House Chambers, Leila spent 10 years working in-house as a Local Government Lawyer within the Common Law Department of a Greater Manchester Local Authority. The work Leila undertook in this role was varied, complex, voluminous and covered the whole range of common law and statutory and corporate functions of a local authority, in relation to a wide range of legal issues relevant to all departments and levels of seniority within local government. Leila regularly represented the Council conducting court proceedings on a wide range of civil, criminal and regulatory matters, in all manner of courts and tribunals. Since joining the independent Bar, Leila continues to enjoy instructions from many local authorities on all aspects of local government business.
Leila’s experience covers both the enforcement and administrative aspects of Public and Regulatory Law. Leila provides advice and assistance to both prosecution and defence on all aspects and stages of the regulatory enforcement process including enforcement notices, the investigation, the decision to prosecute, PII and disclosure issues.
Leila accepts instructions on all types of public and regulatory law matters, her practice is not limited to the above list of areas. In this regard, Leila’s background of experience brings to any case the added advantage of first hand understanding of the wider statutory, public law and corporate issues which affect governance in a public law and regulatory arena.
Leila also regularly delivers seminars and provides training to other legal professionals. These training courses are prepared and presented by Leila and have covered a variety of legal areas and issues. In particular, she regularly provides such training to Local Government Officers on all stages of criminal investigations, disclosure and the preparation of a case for prosecution. In this regard, Leila is accredited in Investigation Management.
Leila’s practice includes a wide range of public and regulatory law, including:
Public Law & Human Rights:
- Public Inquiries & Inquests
- Public International Law & International Human Rights
- Central and Local Government Law
- Equality and Human Rights
- Judicial Review
Regulatory Law:
- Health and Safety
- Licensing
- Trading Standards
- Food Safety
- Environmental Protection
- Fraud
- Professional Disciplinary
- Housing, Planning and Highways (Enforcement)
