Personal Injury, Crime, Civil Fraud, Regulatory & Public and Commercial & Chancery

Call 2016

North Eastern CircuitCriminal Bar AssociationPersonal Injuries Bar Association

Personal Injury

Laura has a busy personal injury practice, acting for both Claimants and Defendants, including on conditional fee agreements where appropriate.

Laura has considerable experience of claims arising from road traffic accidents, and also of claims arising from accidents involving employer’s liability, occupier’s liability (including Highways Act claims) and holiday sickness. Her involvement in such claims is not limited to trial only but includes a range of pre-trial applications and hearings.

Laura also has considerable experience in credit hire claims, familiar with all of the usual arguments and all recent developments in case law, and this is an area in which she seeks to expand her practice.

Laura is available for instruction on a wide range of hearings including, but not limited to:

Small claims hearings Fast track trials Disposal hearings Case management conferences Costs case management conferences Interlocutory applications Stage 3 hearings

Crime

Laura both prosecutes and defends in trials in the Magistrates’ Court involving serious assaults, sexual offences, fraud and domestic violence. Laura also appears in the Crown Court in a range of hearings including appeals against sentence and conviction. Recently, Laura appeared to make a bail application in respect of a defendant charged with attempted murder.

Recently, Laura defended in a case of dangerous driving. The defendant was said to have driven at excessive speed, whilst disqualified and without insurance, in an attempt to evade the police. This caused a collision, and the defendant’s baby was present in the back of the car. Laura secured a suspended sentence for her client.

Laura has also defended a charge of possession of extreme pornography by a prison officer. She secured her client a non-custodial sentence, the defendant receiving a community order with a requirement to complete a sex offenders’ programme.

Laura is also undertaking secondment work with South Yorkshire Police, which involves advising on a number of issues including those surrounding custody and bail. She has drafted various orders including sexual harm prevention orders and domestic violence prevention orders, appearing in applications for the same.

Prior to commencing pupillage, Laura was selected to work with Lawyers Without Borders in their Washington, D.C. office, supporting projects primarily focused on building capacity in respect of access to justice and the rule of law worldwide. In particular, Laura worked in collaboration with Nepalese legislators for several months, aiming to eliminate child labour within Nepal. She has also volunteered with both the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Personal Support Unit, working with individuals without legal representation for civil and family matters.

Civil Fraud

Laura has experience of civil insurance fraud cases. She has acted in a range of matters in relation to suspicious or fraudulent claims arising from road traffic accidents in which fundamental dishonesty is pleaded. Laura is familiar with the workings of Section 57 Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 and is content to robustly defend in such suspicious or fraudulent claims.

Laura’s experience includes cases involving staged accidents, low-speed impact, exaggerated personal injury and exaggerated credit hire. Laura has also acted in High Court proceedings for contempt of court, resulting from a fraudulent claim.

Regulatory & Public

Laura accepts instructions in a variety of regulatory and public law matters. Laura both prosecutes and defends in a range of cases involving prosecutions brought by private agencies including local councils, the RSPCA and the DVLA. Laura recently assisted in training Wakefield Metropolitan District Council on how to bring successful prosecutions.

Laura recently defended a commercial waste business in a Local Authority prosecution for section 34(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Laura has also undertaken secondment work with the NHS, providing advice on a wide range of matters including conflict of interest, responsible commissioner queries and procurement queries.

Commercial & ChanceryLaura’s work involves a variety of contractual and commercial disputes. She represents clients from pre-action stages through to trial and ably advises on all aspects of potential breaches and/or causes of action.

Laura is also familiar with liability orders and has frequently been instructed to oppose the making of the same.

Laura is also routinely instructed in chancery matters. Laura’s recent work has included representing clients in respect of insolvency proceedings, winding up petitions and bankruptcy orders.

2016 University of Northumbria, First Class LLB (Hons) Exempting

BPTC ‘Outstanding’