Speaker details

Biography

Kathleen has a wide-ranging commercial practice with particular expertise in group actions, product liability, environmental claims, and employment litigation. She is known for her meticulous preparation, strategic thinking, and powerful advocacy, attributes consistently recognised by the legal directories. Kathleen has acted in some of the most significant class actions before the English courts. She represented the 555 subpostmasters in their civil claim against the Post Office relating to the Horizon IT system. The litigation exposed systemic flaws in the Post Office’s approach and led to the quashing of 93 wrongful convictions, described as the largest miscarriage of justice in UK legal history. Kathleen acted in the high-profile VW NOx emissions litigation and continues to be instructed in environmental and large-scale group litigation. She has experience in major environmental claims, including the OCENSA pipeline case (which culminated in a five-month trial), private nuisance disputes, and occupational disease claims. She also acted for a key party in the Potters Bar inquest. Her commercial litigation practice includes acting in the complex and high-value aviation dispute between Qatar Airways and Airbus, as well as the Stirling Mortimer litigation involving fraud and professional negligence claims. In the employment sphere, Kathleen acts for NEXT in a high-profile equal pay claim which is the first of its kind in the private sector. She is regularly instructed in employee competition disputes and has acted extensively for international civil servants against the African Development Bank. Kathleen also has experience in multi-party arbitration, including in the financial technology sector. She has particular expertise in cases involving complex technical evidence and expert witnesses. She is frequently instructed in litigation requiring detailed engagement with expert disciplines, and is recognised for her skill in managing and cross-examining expert evidence across scientific, engineering, medical, and financial fields. Kathleen is consistently ranked by Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 across multiple practice areas. She is described as “absolutely stellar,” “hugely impressive,” “a real strategist,” and “frighteningly intelligent.” She is commended for her “exceptional cross-examination,” clarity, commerciality, and deep understanding of detail in complex cases. Clients and peers praise her courtroom presence, tenacity, and team spirit, describing her as “a stand-out barrister,” “an expert in environmental law and group litigation,” and “the engine room of the case.” She studied Law at Oriel College, Oxford, and holds a postgraduate law degree from Queens’ College, Cambridge.