25 Bedford Row

Clare Wade KC is an experienced silk who specialises in murder, manslaughter, sexual offences and serious violence (in the context of domestic homicide or gang associated killings) at trial and appellate level.

She can think ‘outside the box’ combining excellent client care with legal acumen and attention to forensic detail. She has extensive experience defending in historical sex cases. She acted for the first defendant in Operation Lytton – the first in a series of ongoing Rochdale grooming trials.

Clare is a highly experienced and successful appellate advocate. She regularly advises on out-of- time appeals against conviction and sentence often where trial counsel has advised that there is no prospect of a successful appeal. She has been instructed in some of the most high profile appeals of the last few years.

In 2021, the Lord Chancellor appointed Clare as the Independent Reviewer on Sentencing in cases of Domestic Homicide. Clare conducted the Review alongside her regular practice and presented it to the Justice Secretary in June 2022. The Review was published in March 2023 and has resulted in secondary legislation (coercive control as a mitigating and aggravating factor and overkill as an aggravating factor in murder). The present Government has committed to enacting Clare’s recommendation that killing by strangulation and killing at the end of a relationship  should be an aggravating factor in murder.

She is a specialist on women and the criminal justice system. She is often instructed to provide pre-charge advice or to advise on  one-off matters such as drafting representations. She gave oral evidence before the Public Bills Committee on the Criminal Justice Bill 2023-24.

Clare is ranked in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners 2025 and was shortlisted for Crime Silk of the Year 2020 by the Legal 500. Clare won Barrister of the Year at the Women in Law Awards 2020.

Called 1990 Appointed Silk 2018

Criminal Bar Association Amnesty International Justice for Women Women in Criminal Law Bar Council Law Reform Committee (2003- 2011)

BA Hons English Language and Literature Durham University  (First Class) Diploma in Law City University, London BVC, ICSL