Nicholas Bowen KC KC > Doughty Street Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Doughty Street Chambers Offices
53-54 DOUGHTY STREET
LONDON
WC1N 2LS
England
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Nicholas Bowen KC KC
Work Department
Position
Nicholas Bowen KC specialises in damages claims in tort and under the Human Rights Act against the police and a range of other public authorities. He is also very well known for his administrative and public law work, particularly in the fields of education, community care and the legal rights of children, the family and vulnerable adults; He public authority liability practice focuses on preventable homicide, serious wrongdoing by public bodies; negligence and misfeasance by the police, psychiatric and health services and social workers.
His private law work has helped to establish many principles in education and tort law which though controversial at the time are now widely accepted. He is one of the few barristers with a genuine expertise in the crossover between private and public law duties on statutory bodies and has numerous reported cases in the specialist and official law reports. He acts mainly for Claimants but is frequently instructed by Defendants.
Career
Year of Call: 1984; Gray’s Inn; Year of Silk: 2009. Current directorships: National Federation for Children with Visually Impaired Children (‘LOOK’)
Nicholas joined Doughty Street Chambers in 2005 and took silk in 2009. He is committed to pushing the boundaries of the law in the interests of his clients and his empathy with family battles against public authorities has been informed by his own family’s fight to ensure a suitable education for his blind sister and niece who has multiple disabilities; this makes him a very popular choice with parents. His earlier career was in family and general common law work and has conducted many complex child care cases. He is acknowledged as a powerful, effective and confident advocate.
Memberships
ALBA; HRLA; Liberty; Committee member of the Law Society Mental Health & Disability Committee, 2001-08; member of the Editorial Board, Community Care Law Reports.
Education
Cardiff High School; Sussex University (1983 BA Law); Council for Legal Education (1984).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Education
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Nicholas Bowen KC – Doughty Street Chambers ‘Nicholas is always very well prepared, ensuring he understands the smallest details of a case. His work is of a very high standard and he is excellent with clients.’
London Bar > Police law (claimant)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Nicholas Bowen KC – Doughty Street Chambers ‘Nicholas has a huge depth of knowledge in the field of police and wider public authority claims, and is the go-to counsel in the field. He is a hugely respected, a fierce yet persuasive advocate, with the ear of the court.’
‘One of the leading sets in claimant police law’, Doughty Street Chambers draws on its wealth of experience in human rights and public law to handle the most complex police law cases, both at first instance and on appeal. A number of members represent core participants of the high-profile Undercover Policing Inquiry, which continues to unfold this year with opening statements and the second phase of evidence. In June 2024 Nicholas Bowen KC will appear before the Supreme Court in Tindall v Thames Valley Police, with the outcome determining if the Court of Appeal erred in finding the police did not owe road users a duty of care to protect them from harm. Adam Straw KC is ‘one of the best claimant silks out there’ and represents the family of Sean Fitzgerald, who was fatally shot by a police officer, in the on-going inquest and civil claim for damages against the police. Fiona Murphy KC and Nick Brown remain involved in the Hillsborough Victims Misfeasance Litigation.