Kate was a member of Zenith Chambers from 2001 to 2017 where she had a diverse practice encompassing family, mental capacity, community care, benefits, social housing, personal injury and education. She returns to the Bar after a period as an employed in-house barrister representing the Government’s interests in inquests and human rights litigation.
Kate formerly practiced in family law for 5 years before having her own family, and now returns to this key area of interest with a broad experience and understanding of acting for vulnerable clients and public bodies.
A seasoned advocate, she has developed her skills across a number of different jurisdictions and is able to adapt her style as circumstances require.
She is approachable, compassionate and well attuned to the highly sensitive nature of this work.
Public Law Proceedings
Kate has experience of care proceedings and accepts instructions from parents, children and local authorities in a wide range of matters. She provides representation at all stages of proceedings including contested final hearings and finding of fact hearings.
Private Law Proceedings
Kate has experience of complex family conflicts including around residence, contact and specific issue orders. Previous cases have included the following features:- implacable hostility, surrogacy, domestic violence, psychiatric/psychological conditions and vulnerable clients.
Lecturing
A former freelance lecturer at BPP Law School on the Bar Professional Training Course; Kate has delivering training in Advocacy, Drafting, Written Skills, Professional Ethics, Remedies and Personal Injury, 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 and delivered workshops on mindfulness and resilience. Kate enjoys lecturing and would be pleased to assist with in-house training. Please contact her clerks with your requirements.
Contact Kate’s clerks
Kate joins PSQB from the Government Legal Department where she conducted inquests of behalf the Ministry of Justice, most notably on behalf of Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Services. She acted in natural causes and non-natural deaths including those which were self-self-inflicted. As a former personal injury practitioner she also has experience of inquests arising out of non-natural deaths amongst the general public. 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.
Contact Kate’s clerks
Kate has a particular passion for this area of work and has a growing practice within this jurisdiction.
She has a broad experience including health and welfare decisions, deprivations of liberty, including s.21(a) MCA reviews. Her deprivation of liberty practice is complimented by her parallel practice involving young people under the inherent jurisdiction within care proceedings from which she also brings considerable experience of representing local authorities.
She has acted regularly in cases concerning both the elderly and concerning vulnerable younger adults and with varying levels of family involvements and is known for sensitive and pragmatic client-handling skills.
She is regularly instructed by local authorities, the official solicitor, and clinical commissioning groups and appreciates the distinct service needs of each client group.
Kate has a good understanding of complimentary fields. She has a busy family law (children) practice and has considerable prior experience of social housing, special educational needs litigation, and human rights claims which often play into her court of protection practice.
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 maturity, breadth and groundedness to her cases borne out of a varied and rich legal career to date which has included post-graduate level legal training, and some time within the Government Legal Department prison service litigation team.
She is a keen facilitator of the Chambers wellbeing offer and regularly runs work-related events as well as providing soft-skills training in topical areas.