Barrister Profile

Main Areas of Practice

Commercial Law
Coroners or Inquests
Insolvency
Personal Injury

Biography

The bulk of my practice centres on civil litigation including commercial law, chancery matters, ‘Legacy’ litigation arising from the Troubles, claims on behalf of those who suffered abuse as a child and judicial review. I have been practising law since 1997 and work in a broad range of legal areas.

Qualifications

I have attended all levels of court including the Magistrates Court, the County Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. I practise primarily in Northern Ireland, but am also called to the Bars of England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Trinity College, Dublin LL.B Hons.

University of Cambridge LL.M (First Class Honours).

Whilst at Cambridge I was awarded the Clifford Chance CJ Hamson Prize for highest thesis mark in the class, the Kemp-Gooderson Prize for Law for outstanding exam performance and was elected a Scholar of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge for exceptional academic achievement.

2012 - 2013; Practised at 4 Paper Buildings chambers,Temple, London.

2011 - 2013; Lectured undergraduate family law tutorials, University of Cambridge.

1998 - 2010: Practised as a commercial law solicitor in London, Singapore and Tokyo.

Experience

Commercial Law

Regularly instructed to advise on high value and complex commercial litigation. I have a broad practice advising on commercial and contractual disputes, insolvency, banking disputes, insurance law and general corporate disputes.

Prior to the Bar I worked as a commercial solicitor for 12 years with leading international law firms Slaughter and May and Herbert Smith in London, Singapore and Tokyo. Notable cases include the Barings Bank collapse, the Enron insolvency, the purchase of Jaguar Land Rover Plc by Tata and the Sumitomo Corporation billion dollar copper trading scandal.

Legacy Litigation

Instructed on a number of leading cases relating to The Troubles including: the Birmingham Pub Bombings 1974 Inquest; the Guildford Pub Bombings Inquest 1974; the actions of the alleged agent ‘Stakeknife’; the detention and treatment of the ‘Hooded Men’; the Dublin Monaghan bombings 1974; the bombing of Frizzell’s Shankill Road 1993, the ‘Glenanne Gang’ activities, the role of security force agents and alleged security force collusion with paramilitaries and counsel to a witness on the Ballymurphy Inquest 1971.

I am regularly instructed to advise bereaved families in their search for justice on inquests and civil litigation where there have been human rights violations.

Child Abuse Litigation

I have an established practice representing childhood victims of historical physical, emotional and sexual abuse while in state and religious institutions. I also advise groups who campaign for justice and redress for childhood victims of abuse in institutions.

I have also advised on behalf of Liberty (National Council for Civil Liberties) and Amnesty International and other groups who represent the interests of children.