Park Square Barristers

Crime, Family, Civil

Crime

Claire is now accepting instructions in criminal matters following the successful completion of her first six under the supervision of Kitty Colley.

As a pupil she has attended a wide variety of hearings, trials and conferences across the youth courts, magistrates’ courts and crown courts. Alongside her attendance at court, she has gained experience of drafting a number of documents such as trial openings and closings, opening sentence notes, hearsay applications and applications to adduce bad character.

Additionally, she has assisted in drafting a response to a Defendant’s no case to answer submission in the case of R v M in the Crown Court. This case concerned issues regarding the identity of a Defendant for a historic sexual offence and the defence argued that the Crown’s evidence wasn’t sufficient to enable identification of the Defendant.

Claire has attended both appeals against sentence and appeals against conviction from the magistrates. She has attended hearings in which suspended sentences have been activated due to a breach of a suspended sentence order, for example, in R v H where the defendant committed a like public order offence and was sentenced for the new matter along with the suspended sentence.

In preparation for practice, Claire defended a section 33(1)(a) Environmental Protection Act 1990 offence in a mock regulatory trial. As an advocate at this event, she honed her acumen for cross-examination, examination in chief and re-examination whilst training expert witnesses.

Claire’s talent for advocacy was recognised when she was awarded the senior advocacy scholarship by the University of Law.

Civil

Having successfully completed the first part of her pupillage under the tutelage of Matthew Smith, Claire has experience of, and is accepting instructions in, a range of civil and chancery matters including:

• Personal Injury
• Credit Hire
• Anti-Social Behaviour
• Landlord and Tenant Disputes
• Boundary Disputes
• Trespass
• Nuisance

Claire has experience of innovating in the face of unique cases. During her first six months, she constructed a Part 8 case in order 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 river banks.

Before initiating her pupillage, Claire was a Serious Injury paralegal, assisting in the bespoke management of Multi-Track PI claims. It was in this capacity that Claire developed a practised client manner and tenacious determination to achieve the best outcomes for claimants.

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.

Family Finance

Having successfully completed the first part of 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