Lorraine Cavanagh KC > Chambers of Frances Heaton KC and Richard Norton > Manchester, England > Barrister Profile
St John's Buildings Offices
St John's Buildings
24A-28 ST JOHN STREET
MANCHESTER
M3 4DJ
England
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Lorraine Cavanagh KC
Work Department
Family - Children, Court of Protection, Public/Administrative
Position
Lorraine practises in all areas of children law, in the health and welfare law field of the Court of Protection and conducts judicial review and Human Rights claims with a focus on community care provision and child rights.
Lorraine has acted in complex care cases including fatal injury cases and catastrophic injuries to children. She has dealt with a number of NAHI and non-accidental injury cases with areas of medical complexity. She has a wealth of experience acting on all sides of these applications.
Lorraine’s practice in medical treatment law has caused her to become involved in end of life care cases for children with profound illness and/or disability. This includes a case involving the force feeding of children and their detention for the purposes of medical treatment. Lorraine acts for children directly without a Guardian and through their Guardian.Lorraine also acts, in these cases, for local authorities, Hospital Trusts and parents.
Due to her experience as a noted practitioner in the Court of Protection Lorraine has acted in numerous complex care cases involving learning disabled parents and children, including concurrent care proceedings for the child and COP proceedings for the parents. She has extensive experience of acting through the Official Solicitor.
Lorraine has also acted in a number of High Court public law cases involving linked Human Rights Act claims and Judicial Review proceedings in which she also acted on behalf of the clients.
Lorraine has also acted in cases involving Care Proceedings, Adoption, Inherent Jurisdiction/Medical Treatment and Children’s Rights.
She has been junior in the leading case shaping the rights of children in care. The landmark and grave case of A & S v Lancashire County Council was a Human Rights application by two children, represented by Lorraine, and her leader, to bring into account the local government, the national policy and legislation that had come together to permit the boy’s parlous conditions and unlawful legal status to persist.
Lorraine has a specialist interest in cases that involve the marriage and sexual relations of incapacitous persons which have resulted in children (i.e. concurrent care proceedings) or which result in concurrent matrimonial litigation (i.e. petitions for nullity). Lorraine’s background in child law and matrimonial law has led to her representing P in all facets of the family court litigation and the Court of Protection.
Career
Called 2000; Gray’s Inn (The Birkenhead Scholar). Took silk: 2019.
Memberships
- Executive Committee of the Association of Lawyers for Children
- Executive Committee of the Court of Protection Practitioners Association
- Member of the Committee of the Manchester Family Law Bar Association
- Bar representative on the Greater Manchester Family Forum chaired by the designated family Judge
- Family Law Bar Association
- Northern Circuit Administrative Law Association
Education
St Gregorys School; University of Manchester (1999 LLB Hons).
Lawyer Rankings
Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Court of Protection and community care
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Lorraine Cavanagh KC – St John’s Buildings ‘Lorraine is a commanding and authoritative advocate. She always has the ear of the court and will always fight for her client.’
Led by the ‘renowned‘ Joseph O’Brien KC, St John’s Buildings‘ Court of Protection team has established expertise in handling cases concerning deprivation of liberty and medical treatment matters. Lorraine Cavanagh KC is highly regarded for her excellent track record in handling complex health and welfare cases. Among the juniors, Eleanor Keehan is ‘a very eloquent advocate‘, and regularly acts for the Official Solicitor, family members and local authorities, while Lucinda France-Hayhurst is well known for advising on personal welfare, deprivation of liberty and capacity to consent matters. Laura Twist ‘has excellent knowledge of the law relating to mental capacity and is always exceptionally well prepared‘.
Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Administrative and public law (including civil liberties and human rights)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Lorraine Cavanagh KC – St John’s Buildings ‘Lorraine is a commanding and authoritative advocate, she always has the ear of the court, and she will always fight for her client. She is very knowledgeable and experienced, and her advocacy is excellent and very persuasive.’
Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Family: children and domestic violence
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Lorraine Cavanagh KC – St John’s Buildings ‘Lorraine is unrelenting with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law. She is incredibly reassuring for any anxious or bewildered client, and she is generous with her knowledge and time.’
The members of ‘go-to chambers’ St John’s Buildings handle cases at all levels of courts, including the Family Division of the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, and they are praised for ‘extensive experience in the field’. Frances Heaton KC is instructed by local authorities, parents, grandparents, children, and interveners in complex public law children proceedings, and she has expertise in parental alienation cases. Karl Rowley KC is skilled regarding cases that concern complex medical evidence, and Lorraine Cavanagh KC has a thriving practice, frequently handling complex brain injury cases and medically challenging fatal injury cases. Shaun Spencer KC made Silk in 2023 and has substantial experience in cases regarding child deaths and sexual abuse.