Professional discipline

Hall of fame
Leading partners
Next generation partners
Leading associates

Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.

Bradley Albuery

Hall of fameBlake Morgan LLP

Bradley is the Head of Professional Regulation and a partner in our Regulatory Group which advises public and private sector organisations and individuals on investigations, compliance, reviews, prosecutions and risk management.

Melanie Carter

Hall of fameBevan Brittan LLP

John Gould

Hall of fameRussell-Cooke LLP

Senior Partner John Gould's area of particular expertise is regulation and public law. He specialises in the analysis and solution of complex regulatory problems, advising regulators, government departments, law enforcement agencies, charities and statutory and professional bodies. One of John's particular areas of interest is complex financial schemes. He has played a leading part in investigations relating to investment, tax and pension schemes, international financial frauds, money laundering, organised criminality and the corruption of public officials. He has been appointed as an 'expert person' under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), a court appointed partnership receiver and a court appointed supervisor of search and freezing orders. He has advised and served as an expert witness for, among others, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Magistrates Association (MA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in a variety of courts and tribunals including the Old Bailey. He holds rights of audience in the higher civil courts. John provides advice on and drafts legal structures, statutory powers, royal charters and professional rules. He is Board Solicitor to the Architects Registration Board. He prepares independent reports for organisations where things have gone wrong including on governance and related issues. He has advised more than 40 sets of barristers' chambers on structures, mergers, dissolutions and disputes, and has advised in relation to political donations and expenses at the highest level. Many of his cases have attracted significant media interest. He often advises and reports in relation to situations which involve both legal and reputational issues for organisations.

Iain Miller

Hall of fameKingsley Napley LLP

Iain is a Partner in the Regulatory team specialising in legal ethics, investigations, and public law matters. Iain has acted in many leading cases relating to the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales. His experience covers not only disciplinary proceedings but also business structures, investigations, public law challenges, liability and restructuring. He advises a number of large law firms on SRA related issues and provides advice to law firm partners.

Julie Norris

Hall of fameKingsley Napley LLP

Julie is a partner in the Regulatory Team and predominantly advises in the legal services sector. Her clients include law firms, solicitors, barristers and judges. Julie has particular expertise in advising in internal investigations, on #metoo related issues, in respect of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing and in responding to threatened or anticipated regulatory proceedings.

Nigel West

Hall of fameWeightmans LLP

Nigel is a Partner at RadcliffesLeBrasseur, where he heads the litigation department. He has a niche practice specialising in defence work for solicitors and firms facing SRA investigations and disciplinary proceedings, and has over twenty years’ experience of work in the field. Most of his work is carried out without any publicity at all, but he and his team have represented solicitors and firms in a number of the leading reported cases on solicitors regulation in recent years including SRA v Wingate and Malins (definition of integrity), SRA v Scott (definition of integrity), SRA v Bryant & Bench (right to rely on character references), SRA v Ebhogiaye (SDT restriction orders), SRA v Moosavi (using client account as a banking facility) SRA v Sheikh (interventions), SRA v Neumans (interventions) and Yussouff v SRA (right to oral hearings on adjudication).

Mark Whiting

Hall of fameCapsticks LLP

Mark heads Capsticks professional regulatory sector team. Since qualifying in 2001, he has acted for a number of national regulatory bodies as well as acting for NHS bodies in their roles as local regulators.As Head of Sector Mark has overall responsibility for, and strategic overview of our work for all our regulatory clients. He has hands-on experience of conducting sensitive and complex fitness to practise cases, and he oversees statutory appeals and judicial reviews. Mark also provides advice to regulatory clients on a broad range of issues including the implementation of new policy and guidance, discrete areas of complex law and practice, statutory interpretation and ways to improve processes.Mark has led on the development and implementation of a bespoke case management system for our work for regulators. This enables us to deliver state of the art management information to monitor the progress of cases and has ensured that cases are prepared to meet and exceed contractual key performance indicators.

Nicola Hill

Hall of fameKingsley Napley LLP

Matthew Lohn

Hall of fameFieldfisher

Simon Eastwood

Hall of fameHempsons

Senior Consultant

Ros Foster

Hall of fameHill Dickinson LLP

Leading partners

The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Melinka Berridge

Hall of fameKingsley Napley LLP

Melinka is a litigation specialist with expertise in the fields of private prosecutions, professional discipline and Health and Safety. Melinka heads up the team responsible for private prosecutions. She helps individuals, corporates and charities bring criminal prosecutions, especially when the State fails to act. Melinka has over twelve years’ experience of investigating and presenting high-profile fitness to practise cases. She also advises regulatory clients on the suitability of their enforcement regimes. Melinka acts for directors and senior officers accused of committing health and safety offences. She also advises them on what constitutes effective governance over health and safety within their organisations. Prior to joining Kingsley Napley, Melinka was the Head of Licensing for JD Wetherspoon plc. She continues to help operators in the leisure sector to comply with their regulatory responsibilities or respond to enforcement action.

Partner

Will is a Partner in the Healthcare department, specialising in advising medical and dental defence organisations, healthcare professionals and other professionals in regulatory, disciplinary and criminal matters. Will is a skilled advocate, frequently appearing before statutory regulators, disciplinary panels and coroners with challenging cases involving complex clinical and legal issues. He has particularly strong experience in cases of alleged sexual misconduct and impropriety.Some of his notable cases include Kulkarni v Milton Keynes Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which established the contractual right for medical staff to be legally represented in disciplinary proceedings, Chauhan v General Medical Council guiding professional and disciplinary panels that they must restrict themselves to the ambit of the charges faced by the practitioner, and Abdullah v General Medical Council regarding the nature and duration of interim restrictions placed upon a practitioner by a regulatory body.

Richard Creamer

Gordons Partnership 2020 Limited

Partner

Sam Flew

Weightmans LLP

Sam is a Partner and Head of the Healthcare Professionals team, specialising in the representation of medical defence organisations (MDOs) and healthcare professionals in regulatory, disciplinary and criminal investigations and prosecutions. He is a skilled advocate, with extensive experience in the High Court, Crown Court, inquests, Performer's List hearings and General Medical Council (GMC) and General Dental Council (GDC) proceedings. He also undertakes judicial review applications. Two of his notable cases include Cheatle v The General Medical Council and Lim v Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust. Sam has recently defended a doctor accused of manslaughter and a surgeon facing serious allegations at the GMC.

Andrew Lidbetter

Hall of fameHerbert Smith Freehills LLP

Partner

Julie Matheson

Kingsley Napley LLP

Julie is a partner in the Regulatory Team. She has a breadth of experience in both prosecuting and defending professionals across all sectors, but now specialises in advising regulated individuals and firms in the financial and built environment sectors. She has particular expertise in acting on behalf of accountants and accountancy firms in high-profile proceedings brought by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA and CIPFA; and on behalf of surveyors in proceedings brought by RICS. She regularly advises senior public sector finance officers on their statutory roles and on challenges brought in respect of them. She also advises the FCA in relation to lessons learned reviews, for example the Davis Inquiry and the Connaught review, and the IFoA in relation to cases brought under its Disciplinary Scheme.

Senior Partner

ExperienceJames leads Capsticks’ regulatory team. He joined Capsticks in 2007 and has extensive experience of advising statutory regulators, principally the General Dental Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health and Care Professions Council and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. ExpertiseJames is responsible for the delivery of our work to the General Dental Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council and he’s often involved in complex, high profile and sensitive cases. James handles regulatory cases in the High Court, including judicial reviews, appeals and challenges to interventions into solicitors’ firms. In addition, James provides advice on a broad range of legal issues in regulatory cases, including policy and guidance, and the application of the Data Protection Act, the European Convention on Human Rights and the common law duty of confidence. James delivers bespoke training sessions to in-house teams and has also appeared as an advocate before the committees of regulators.

Partner and Head of the Regulatory & Health & Safety Teams A specialist in health and safety, regulatory and criminal litigation, Gary regularly defends organisations and individuals, including directors and senior managers in complex Police, HSE and HMRC investigations and prosecutions. He has extensive experience of defending those accused of gross negligence manslaughter and health & safety breaches, arising from workplace fatalities across a wide spectrum of industries including railways, construction, electrical & engineering, gas and the medicine and care sectors. He is currently instructed in a number of high profile work place fatality cases and represented the driver of the Tram in the Croydon (Sandilands) tram crash during the police investigation. Gary also acts for a number of clients in the Grenfell Inquiry and associated police investigations. Previous high profile cases include defending the train drivers following the Watford & Southall train crashes and appeared in the Southall & Ladbroke Grove public rail inquiries. Gary was instructed to represent the machine operator in the Tebay disaster where 4 trackworkers were fatally injured, and acted in the corporate manslaughter charge of a construction company and health & safety charges of its’ senior director at the Old Bailey in 2017, for the fatality at Cadogan Square when a balustrade collapsed during the lifting of a sofa killing two operatives. In December 2007 Gary represented the Purley train crash driver in his successful appeal against conviction for manslaughter following the crash in 1989. This was unique as the appeal was made 17 years out of time and the driver had pleaded guilty. He is currently acting for client’s in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Gary also advises and represents companies, directors and senior officers, both self-employed and employees in relation to enforcement action taken by regulatory bodies and represents proper interested parties at Coroner’s Inquests, including Article 2 inquests where there has been a death at work or in police custody. He is currently instructed for the tram driver in the Sandilands Inquests (Croydon). Commanding a thorough understanding of regulatory and disciplinary codes of conduct, Gary represents police officers, professionals including Doctors, nurses, paramedics and social workers at disciplinary hearings. This experience has proved invaluable when instructed in serious criminal cases where there has been significant overlap between the criminal liability and regulatory and employment matters. Gary also has several years experience of representing police officers and police staff in Post Incident Procedures where there has been a fatality involving police contact. He has over 20 year’s experience of representing clients in the police station, Magistrates and Crown Court.

Ian Sadler

Weightmans LLP

Ian is a Partner in the Healthcare team advising and representing medical defence organisations (MDOs) and doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals with criminal, employment and regulatory matters. Ian’s practice includes: appearing regularly before Tribunals and disciplinary panels on behalf of clients, considerable experience of General Medical Council/Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service Panels, and General Dental Council committees, appeals to the High Court from decisions of health regulatory bodies including those involving the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, Crown Court trials including appeals to the Court of Appeal Criminal Division, NHS employee disciplinary proceedings and appeals, First Tier Tribunal Primary Health List hearings and subsequent appeals, and Employment Tribunal hearings and High Court claims for breach of contract and injunctive relief for healthcare professionals. Ian frequently receives plaudits from clients for the quality of his work and the commitment given to individual cases. He also advises on claims for judicial review arising out of the above and undertakes such proceedings on behalf of clients. One senior healthcare professional wrote in 2015: “I am very grateful for your help with my [...] problems and thankful that your expertise resulted in the successful outcome. I was impressed by your insightful opinions and clear thinking and mostly by your articulate delivery at the hearing.”

Clare Strickland

Blake Morgan LLP

Partner.

Andrew Blatt

Rachel Cooper

Nicole Curtis

Sarah Ellson

Fergal Cathie

Clyde & Co

Insurance, Financial & Professional Disputes

Tania Francis

Hempsons

Tania advises doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals with all sorts of issues – GMC/GDC/GOC/GPhC/HCPC registration and regulatory issues, specialist registration/specialist lists, litigation, associate disputes, CQC registration, difficulties with NHS England and more. Tania is a qualified doctor and works in a team which also includes a qualified dentist, and they therefore offer a unique approach to our clients’ problems. The team regularly contributes to Independent Practitioner Today and Dentistry magazine, and offers training and seminars to our clients. Tania is also on the council of the Medico-Legal Society.

Clare Hughes-Williams

DAC Beachcroft LLP

Sarah Naylor

Keoghs LLP

Claire Petts

Clyde & Co

Healthcare

Rosie Shapiro

DWF

Adam Smith

Hempsons

Adam joined Hempsons in January 2020 as part of our merger with Eastwoods, having originally trained at Hempsons. Adam was one of the three founding solicitors at Eastwoods and became a partner in 2008. Adam’s defence practice covers regulatory and disciplinary (GMC/MPTS, GDC, HCPC and others), crime (particularly sexual assault and gross negligence manslaughter) and inquests, as well as representation of police officers in criminal (IOPC) and gross misconduct proceedings. Adam sits part time as an Assistant Coroner in both Milton Keynes and Inner North London.

Nick Leale

Armstrong Teasdale

Next Generation Partners

Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Partner

Hannah is a partner in the Regulatory team. She is head of the Regulatory team of advocates. She specialises in professional discipline, regulatory, criminal and fire safety law. In the area of professional discipline Hannah has acted for some of the leading regulatory bodies in high profile and complex cases. These regulators include the Health and Care Professions Council, the Teaching Regulation Agency, the Education and Workforce Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Architects Registration Board, CILEx Regulation and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. Having acted for both the prosecution and defence throughout her career, Hannah fully understands the effect that proceedings may have on the individual or prosecuting body. She is known for being a thoughtful and fair advocate, whilst always seeking the best outcome for the client.

Partner

Shannett has a varied client base which consists of regulators, individual registrants, entrepreneurs, care homes and other businesses. In the healthcare sector, she is regularly instructed to conduct investigations on behalf of regulatory bodies in relation to allegations of a serious nature. In respect of individual registrants, the majority of her defence work is on behalf of doctors, nurses and therapists relating to all the stages of the fitness to practise process from initial complaint to appeal. She also appears as an advocate before both interim order and conduct and competence committees on behalf of her regulator clients. In the education section, she acts in respect of cases where a decision may be made to prohibit teachers from the profession. She also advises and represents students in respect of investigations, largely relating to academic and sexual misconduct. Shannett has contributed to publications by LexisNexis, Lexology, Cannabis Wealth, the Journal of Professional Negligence and City Wealth Magazine. She is an avid commentator and has features in newspapers and blogs. Shannett is also a diversity and inclusion advocate, winning the Chambers Outstanding Contribution Award 2021 – Diversity and Inclusion Private Practice and Judges Choice Award – Women for Africa 2022.

Ben Bentley

James Danks

Delme Griffiths

Anna Holdsworth

Sadie O’Reilly

Samantha Paxman

Keziah Pearson

Mark Rogers

Yvonne Screene

Michael Stacey

Kate Steele

Lee Biddle

Clyde & Co

Laura Hannah

Stephensons Solicitors LLP

Sam Holden

Clyde & Co

Healthcare

Hannah Stephenson

Hempsons

Adam Weston

Clyde & Co

As a partner at BLM since May 2018, Adam acts for healthcare professionals and businesses in regulatory, disciplinary, inquest and criminal matters.His regulatory cases brings him before the GMC, GDC, NMC, GOC, GPhC and HCPC as well as NHS England and NHS Hospital Trusts. He is routinely instructed in lengthy and complex investigations into serious allegations of misconduct, dishonesty and clinical incompetence and is frequently involved in CQC investigations on behalf of registered managers and organisations. Adam heads up the London medical crime team for BLM and defends healthcare professionals in cases involving gross negligence manslaughter, neglect, medicines act offences, sexual assault, common assault, fraud against the NHS, racially motivated public order offences, perverting the course of justice and indecent images of children.He also routinely advises clients in relation to DBS matters following the closure of criminal and regulatory investigations.

Claire Whittle

DLA Piper

Louise Wiltshire

DAC Beachcroft LLP

Leading associates

Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.

Senior Associate

Antonia has practiced for over 20 years, and is dual qualified in New Zealand and the UK. Antonia has worked on professional disciplinary cases for the majority of key health care regulators including the General Medical Council (GMC), the General Dental Council (GDC), the General Optical Council (GOC), (then) General Social Care Council (GSCC), and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Senior Associate

Senior Associate (Barrister)

Rachel Warren

Charles Russell Speechlys LLP

Legal Director

Louisa Atkin

Capsticks LLP

Katie Clarke