Park Square Barristers

Crime, Family, Civil

Property

Landlord and Tenant

Claire accepts instructions in a range of housing matters including:

• Disrepair
• Possession claims
• Antisocial Behaviour Injunctions

Her practice is driven by her commitment to assist individuals facing challenging circumstances, and she draws on her mediation training to find creative, collaborative solutions that protect her clients' interests while remaining acceptable to the landlord.

As well as assisting tenants, she has experience advocating on behalf of local councils and employs the same pragmatic approach to find common ground and resolve matters amicably and quickly. She also has experience in dealing with disrepair counterclaims brought in response to possession proceedings.

Personal injury & clinical negligence

Having worked as a serious injury paralegal prior to coming to the Bar, Claire's background includes assisting with the bespoke management of Multi-Track PI claims. It was in this capacity that Claire developed a practiced client manner and a tenacious determination to achieve the best outcomes for clients.

Additionally, she is no stranger to supporting defendants, having begun her legal career as an assistant to the Medical Protection Society's litigation department, a team responsible for defending medical professionals against clinical negligence claims.

She prides herself on bringing a broad knowledge base to her practice and utilises her prior experience to identify key issues with a forensic eye.

Noise Induced Hearing Loss

Claire is building a practice in noise induced hearing loss claims, expanding her existing knowledge of personal injury and clinical negligence.

By virtue of her employment prior to coming to the Bar in addition to her subsequent personal injury case-load as a pupil, she is comfortable in approaching issues around causation and contributory negligence as can arise in hearing loss cases.

Credit Hire and Road Traffic Accidents

She is a well-versed credit hire litigator for both the Claimants and Defendants, dealing with hire fees and related quantum claims. Claire thrives in RTA liability dispute cases and is able to insulate clients by highlighting inconsistencies and anomalies in their evidence during the first conference. She also has a working knowledge of the new OIC portal and the quirks particular to this system once these ex-portal matters reach court.

Commercial & Chancery

Wills and Probate

Claire is accepting instructions in relation to wills and probate matters, including will validity disputes and claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Prior to coming to the Bar, Claire spent a period of time employed as an assistant handling workplace pension schemes and gained proficiency in navigating the statutory and procedural complexities where pensions form part of a deceased's estate.

Land law

Having successfully completed her pupillage under the tutelage of Matthew Smith, Claire has benefitted from assisting him with a number of complicated TOLATA, trespass and nuisance matters. She has assisted in drafting pleadings, defences and advice in these areas.

Claire has experience of innovating in the face of unique cases. During her pupillage, she constructed a Part 8 case to remove a Creditors' Notice relating to a historic bankruptcy petition from a title document. She also explored issues relating to waterway dwellings, advising on boat moorings and adverse possession of riverbanks.

Airline Compensation Claims

Claire worked as a legal executive at an airline directly after the 2023 air traffic control outage, dealing with the massive influx of compensation claims from passengers. As a result, she is able to pinpoint the relevant issues and case law efficiently in such claims.

She is currently working on publishing an article relating to the recent case of Lipton v BA City Flyer, in which the Supreme Court ruled that crew sickness was not an extraordinary circumstance under EU Regulation 261.

Crime

Claire is developing a burgeoning criminal practice in both prosecuting and defending. She is accepting POCA instructions and brings to this area her civil expertise in chancery and landlord and tenant law. This enables her to take a broad view of POCA cases and address civil elements such as asset tracing, civil recovery, or the implications of seeking possession of a defendant's property in which third parties reside.

Within the Magistrates' Court, she has acted as an agent for the CPS to prosecute:

• Arson and Criminal Damage
• Assault
• Burglary
• Drugs
• Intimidation, stalking and harassment
• Motoring offences
• Public order
• Possession of Offensive Weapons
• Robbery
• Theft

In addition, Claire has experience prosecuting within the Youth Court, assisted by her training as a mediator, which enables her to work collaboratively with youth case workers to achieve the best rehabilitative outcomes for vulnerable defendants. She addresses issues surrounding modern slavery and gang-related offences proactively, adopting a nuanced approach necessary in prosecuting such cases while balancing public interest considerations.

Additionally, she has experience working with probation and protecting her clients' interests when defending a variety of different breach offences. Most recently, she defended an individual on indefinite recall due to committing a crime while on licence in relation to a historic murder. She has experience running and/or countering a number of defences, including:

• Self-defence
• Necessity
• Duress
• Voluntary and involuntary intoxication

She excels at representing defendants in driving matters, having met with success running exceptional hardship applications. Claire is developing an expertise in defending football-related public order offences, utilising her ample knowledge of case law in this area to robustly oppose the implementation of football banning orders against her clients.

Meanwhile, she is developing her Crown Court practice, having prosecuted and defended clients during committals for sentence and appeals from the Magistrates’ Court. She has assisted in prosecuting and defending bench warrants and recently helped secure the execution of a warrant in a complex case involving an individual who had exaggerated his health conditions to avoid a trial for contempt of court and fraud.

Family finance

Having successfully completed her pupillage under the tutelage of Matthew Smith, Claire has benefited from formal training in family finance matters.

She has attended first directions appointments, financial dispute resolution hearings and final hearings, gaining an invaluable insight into family procedure.

Claire’s civil and chancery focus enables her to tackle cross practice issues that commonly arise in  financial remedy matters. For example, whilst shadowing her supervisor at a FDR hearing, she assisted in a case in which part of the husband’s property was held in a resulting trust.

Her interest in family finance led her to interview a family high court judge and conduct research on the subject of pensions on divorce in light of the new PAG report. She has enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to this ever-changing area, having written an article on the topic in the Michaelmas Edition of the Barrister Magazine 2024.

2020 - Litigation Administrator at the Medical Protection Society

2021 - Serious Injury Paralegal at Minster Law Solicitors

2024 - Pupil Barrister at Park Square Barristers, Leeds

2022 - The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

2023 - International Mediation Institute

2024 - Criminal Bar Association

2019 - The University of York Bachelor of Arts in English Literature

2020 - The University of Law, Leeds Masters in Law

2023 - The University of Law, Leeds The Bar Practice Course