Laura Stockdale > Doughty Street Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Laura Stockdale

Position

Laura specialises in defending clients accused of serious criminal offences. She came to the Bar after a successful career as a solicitor in criminal practice in Australia.

Laura is a criminal defence barrister who represents clients charged with a wide range of criminal offences in the Crown Court. She is instructed in cases to defend clients accused of serious violence, involvement in drugs and sexual offences. Laura brings a wealth of experience to her criminal practice, having practiced in Australia for several years before moving to the UK.

Alongside her general criminal practice, Laura is instructed in financial crime cases. She represents clients subject to account freezing and forfeiture orders and advises clients from the investigatory to post-conviction stages of proceedings.

Laura is also instructed in cases before disciplinary tribunals regulating the medical professions, including the General Dental Council, the General Optical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She represents both registrants and professional regulatory bodies.

Laura has a keen interest in international criminal law and human rights law. She previously worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague as part of the team prosecuting Goran Hadžić charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the UK she worked at Rights Watch UK (now Rights & Security International) a non-government organisation focused on the human rights implications of counter-terrorist measures. She also contributed to a project on the limits of police powers to regulate peaceful protests by environmental defenders.

Career

Background

Laura qualified as a solicitor in Australia in 2015. Whilst in criminal practice she performed the role of junior counsel in many trials of serious criminal offences, including rape, historical child sexual assault, death by dangerous driving, armed robbery and intentional wounding. She also was previously a judicial assistant in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, working on murder and tax fraud trials, as well as criminal appeals.

Laura moved to the UK in 2018 and was called to the Bar in 2019. She worked at Hickman & Rose Solicitors in the financial and general crime teams, during which she successfully defended a father accused of murdering his young daughter at trial. Before undertaking her pupillage, Laura completed her master’s degree in law at Oxford University specialising in criminal, international, human rights and equality law.

What others say

“Her advice and role [were] both invaluable and key to securing a very successful and favourable outcome for [the client]”

“my client contacted[ed] me immediately after the first court hearing to express his gratitude for having sent an “amazing barrister””

“a rising star in the profession”

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“She was nothing short of fantastic with the client – with the right combination of humour, clarity and compassion”

“quick mastery of a complex set of facts and many thousands of documents”

“Laura’s commitment, drive, determination and integrity are unquestionable”

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“hard working, diligent and forthright when advancing the Defendant’s case, at all times acting in their best interests… a keen eye for detail and quickly assimilates the information she is given enabling her to properly present cases to the Court”

“demonstrated great empathy and sensitivity… her ability which seems to far exceed her time in practice… extremely likeable and approachable”

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“professional, proactive and extremely conscientious throughout our dealings with her and has certainly gone beyond what is required on the cases we have instructed her on”

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“[my client] showered her with praise for the way in which she had conducted herself in court and looked after [him]”

“calm, intelligent and effective in the manner in which she conducted herself”

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“highly organised preparation work that went on both before and after the hearing… I was impressed with the service provided to the client in this matter”

Memberships

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

Women in Criminal Law

Education

Bachelor of Civil Laws (Merit) – Wadham College, University of Oxford (2019-2020)

Bar Transfer Test – BPP University (2019)

Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice – College of Law, Sydney, Australia (2015)

Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) / Bachelor of Arts – Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia (2009-2014)