Austin Welch > Kate Blackwell KC > Manchester, England > Barrister Profile
Lincoln House Chambers Offices
Lincoln House Chambers
TOWER 12, BRIDGE STREET, SPINNINGFIELDS
MANCHESTER
M3 3BZ
England
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Austin Welch
Work Department
Environmental Law
Health and Safety
Inquests
Professional Disciplinary
Regulatory
Position
Austin Welch specialises in public inquiries, inquests and health and safety and is one of the most experienced and well respected junior barristers in these areas of law. Over a number of years Austin has been consistently recognised by the UK legal directories as being a leading individual in these specialist areas of practice.
Austin has been instructed in some of the most significant, high profile and complex inquests and public inquiries in recent years including: The Manchester Arena Inquiry; The Independent Investigation into Child Sexual Abuse and the Hillsborough Inquests. Austin represents companies and corporate bodies; public and local authorities; government departments; individuals and bereaved families who are granted interested person or core participant status. He has a particular specialism in representing clients in inquests and inquiries that involve health and safety issues.
Austin represents clients in relation to health and safety, fire safety and food safety offences. He is regularly instructed to represent companies and individuals charged with such offences in both the Crown Court and Magistrates’ Court and has an excellent track record for achieving positive outcomes for his clients. Austin is experienced in representing clients from a wide variety of industries and is known for providing clear, commercial advice.
Austin also represents companies and individuals in criminal and professional disciplinary proceedings that follow inquests and public inquiries and successfully represented one of the retired police officers in R v Denton and others, the Hillsborough ‘cover-up’ trial that was dismissed at the close of the prosecution case.
As a member of the Regulatory List, Austin is instructed by the HSE to prosecute health and safety cases. Austin is also a member of the Attorney-General’s List of Counsel and is regularly instructed to represent government departments in complex Article 2 inquests.
Austin represents medical professionals in disciplinary proceedings brought by the GMC. He regularly appears on behalf of doctors in fitness to practice proceedings in the MPTS as well as other professionals charged with disciplinary offences by their regulators. Austin also has significant experience in representing police officers in disciplinary and criminal proceedings.
Career
Called 2005; tenant Lincoln House Chambers 2010 to date. Before being called to the Bar Austin was a commercial solicitor at an international law firm in the City of London. Austin also worked for the United Nations at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Memberships
Health & Safety Lawyers Association
Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers
Northern Circuit
Education
University Of Leeds (LLB (Hons)); The College of Law, Chester (LPC); Manchester Metropolitan University (BVC); Queen Mother Scholarship awarded by the Middle Temple.
Leisure
Mountain biking, attending live music, the cinema, going to the gym.
Lawyer Rankings
Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Business and regulatory crime (including health and safety)
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Austin Welch – Lincoln House Chambers ‘Austin is an excellent advocate. He has an authoritative presence in the courtroom and emits gravitas, he presents clear and well-reasoned arguments with ease, and he is an outstanding strategist and highly respected by clients and peers.’
Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Inquests and inquiries
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Austin Welch – Lincoln House Chambers ‘Austin is an excellent advocate and an outstanding strategist with an authoritative presence in the court room, and he emits gravitas. He presents clear and well-reasoned arguments with ease, and he is one of the best senior juniors in the field of health and safety, inquests, and public inquiries.’
Lincoln House Chambers is praised as ‘a stellar set’ with ‘an extensive pool of highly experienced and talented counsel to choose from’. Its members are instructed by a range of interested parties, from government and professional bodies, to insurance-backed solicitor firms. The set houses Kate Blackwell KC, who appears in high-profile public inquiries alongside her criminal practice. It is also home to Austin Welch, who has a strong focus on inquests and public inquiries concerning health and safety issues, and he represents companies and individuals. Welch has been instructed in the UK Covid Inquiry for the Health and Safety Executive. The junior end of the set was recently bolstered by the arrival of David Pojur in September 2023.