Park Square Barristers

Children Law and Regulatory & Law

Court of Protection & Adult Care

Kate McKinlay is a Court of Protection specialist.

She is regularly instructed by all parties in health and welfare cases including those concerning contact with others, care residence, deprivation of liberty applications. She acts for the protected party ('P'), statutory bodies and family members and regularly receives instructions from the Official Solicitor.

She is accustomed to appearing before Tier 1, 2 and 3 judge in contested capacity hearings, contested welfare hearings and final hearings as well as case management hearings. As a specialist practitioner she is also usually able to support with Round Table Meetings and the drafting of case management documents.

Kate has a good understanding of complimentary fields having maintained a broad public law practice prior to specialising in the Court of Protection which encompassed family law, social housing, special educational needs, human rights and inquests, and understand the interplay that often arises between these areas.

Her sensitivity, her compassion and her solution-oriented approach underpin her drive to provide high levels of service and engagement with the client and the issues at hand.

She brings a sensitive, solution-oriented and pragmatic approach to her cases combined with a robustness and commitment to justice when the facts of the case demand it.

She regularly lectures in this area, previous topics include the practicalities of s.117 aftercare and the assessment of capacity in young people to make decisions about medical treatment.

Regulatory & Public

Having spent some time working in the Government Legal Department in their Prison Inquests and Human Rights Litigation Team, Kate retains an interest in these areas of work. She acts in natural causes and non-natural deaths including those which were self-inflicted. As a former personal injury practitioner, and current community care practitioner, she also has experience in healthcare and other inquests. She has a particular interest in care provision in relation to the neurodivergent community and will consider pro-bono instructions in this area. She accepts instructions to act across the range of coronial law specialisms and represents clients in final hearings, PIRs and by way of written advices when required.

Kate also has experience of representing parents and families in legal challenges to Special Education Needs provision in the First Tier Tribunal and is passionate about equal access to education for our most vulnerable and disadvantaged, and in particular for those young people who are the subject of corporate parenting.

Lecturing

A former freelance lecturer at BPP Law School on the Bar Professional Training Course; Kate is an experienced trainer. She has lectured to large groups and run workshops with small groups on both knowledge areas and soft skills. More recently she has led the in-house knowledge programme for psychiatric injury across the Government Litigation Department. Kate enjoys lecturing and would be pleased to assist with in-house training. Please contact her clerks with your requirements.

Call 2000

1996 University of Leeds Bachelor of Arts - English (with Philosophy and Development Studies)

1998 BPP University (formerly known as BPP Law School) Post-Graduate Diploma in Law

1999 BPP University (formerly known as BPP Law School) Bar Vocational Course - Very Competent