Sophie is developing a broad practice across Chambers’ specialisms, with particular emphasis on employment and discrimination, public law, commercial law and personal injury and clinical negligence. Sophie joined Chambers in September 2025 following the successful completion of her pupillage.
During her pupillage Sophie was exposed to the full range of Chambers’ core areas. In her first six, she trained in employment and pensions law under the supervision of Naomi Ling, and personal injury and clinical negligence under William Young and Robert Dickason. During her second six, Sophie undertook a seat with Alexander Line in education and public law, and in commercial law under the guidance of Oliver Powell KC.
Before joining chambers, Sophie was a caseworker at a Legal Aid services firm in London, where she specialised in statutory appeals brought under Housing Act 1996. Sophie’s in-depth knowledge of judicial review principles makes her especially well placed to act on matters engaging the crossover between public and private law.
Sophie holds a PhD in modern Spanish and Argentinian literature, which she was awarded by the University of Cambridge in 2019. Prior to achieving her doctorate she attained a first-class degree in Spanish and German at the University of Cambridge, as well as an MPhil in Modern European and Latin American Literature. Thanks to her linguistic background, Sophie has professional fluency in Spanish.
Sophie is also a named contributor to the Fourth Edition of Lissack and Horlick on International Bribery and Corruption, where she helped to draft chapters on Unexplained Wealth Orders and Asset Freezing Orders, and on bribery in the transport and logistics sector.
Sophie is building a busy practice in employment law, with particular emphasis on equality and discrimination.
Sophie regularly appears before the Employment Tribunal on contested applications and case management hearings. She has successfully represented Claimants in multi-day trials involving allegations of serious racial harassment and discrimination. Sophie also succeeded in resisting an application for interim relief brought by multiple claimants in a claim of automatic unfair dismissal contrary to section 103A Employment Rights Act. Sophie is also instructed to represent a Catholic primary school at a forthcoming seven-day trial in a legally complex claim related to unlawful sexual orientation discrimination in the its headteacher recruitment process.
Sophie’s practice also engages matters under the TUPE Regulations 2006. Early in tenancy, Sophie advised a firm of solicitors in relation to a claim brought by a lawyer alleging that his employment had been transferred to the firm under a service provision change. Sophie also successfully defended an employer at trial against a claim for breach of the duty to inform and consult employees before effecting a transfer.
In 2026, Sophie is also due to appear as sole counsel on appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The appellant has been granted permission to appeal on all five of its pleaded grounds, and the case has the potential to clarify the law on ignorance of crucial or fundamental facts when claims are brought outside of the primary time limit.
Sophie also has an interest in the crossover between employment and commercial law. During pupillage she assisted Oliver Powell KC in drafting a skeleton argument in an application for an interim restraint of trade injunction before the High Court.
Sophie has particular expertise in public law. She has appeared before circuit judges on statutory appeals brought on a point of law under section 204 Housing Act 1996. She regularly drafts advices and pleadings in cases related to local authorities’ duties under homelessness legislation. Sophie has also succeeded in defending tenants of social housing against applications for anti-social behavioural injunctions brought against them by their local authorities.
Sophie also has experience of bringing public law challenges in the education sector. During pupillage she appeared as counsel before an Independent Review Panel, where she succeeded in quashing a secondary school’s decision to permanently exclude a pupil on the grounds of procedural and substantive irrationality. Sophie also succeeded in an action against a local authority which had upheld a local grammar school’s refusal to admit a pupil who lived in the catchment area. The challenge succeeded on the grounds of unjustified departure from policy, unlawful fetter of discretion and pre-determination.
Sophie has acted for clients in the higher education sector. She secured the reinstatement of a final-year medical student to her degree course on the basis that the decision was discriminatory and in breach of the university regulations. She has also acted for a postgraduate student who had been found by his university to have wrongly used Artificial Intelligence during an assessment, in a case involving issues of rational decision-making and natural justice.
Sophie is developing a busy practice in personal injury and clinical negligence. She has a particular interest in claims engaging the relationship between public and private law. Sophie is currently instructed on a number of related claims brought against police services for failure to prevent police officers from committing suicide while on duty. The cases all engage the relationship between the employer’s primary duty of care in negligence and its duties under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Sophie is also developing a practice in travel law. She has interviewed expert witnesses in Spanish related to local standards in Latin American countries, including in a claim brought by an English tourist who suffered an injury while trekking the Inca Trail in Peru. Sophie is well-placed to assist with claims arising from accidents across the Spanish-speaking world.
Sophie also regularly drafts advices and pleadings in claims related to clinical negligence and industrial accidents. She also has experience of advising in conference with experts and lay clients alike.
Sophie is keen to develop her commercial practice. She has succeeded for both claimants and defendants on contested applications in contractual disputes before the civil courts. She has also drafted pleadings in matters related to breaches of consumer contracts and unjust enrichment.
During pupillage Sophie assisted Oliver Powell KC in drafting an advice and pleadings in a high-value commercial construction dispute which raised complex issues of contractual interpretation. The case was referred to expert determination, with the client ultimately succeeding on their defence and counterclaim. Sophie also assisted Oliver Powell KC in drafting an advice for an international consultancy firm on a planned share reorganisation.
Sophie has a burgeoning practice in the area of regulation and sanctions. She secured an acquittal for Ocado before the Magistrates’ Court on a charge of failing to provide information under section 172 Road Traffic Act 1988. Sophie has also acted as prosecutor on private prosecutions brought under Education Act 1996. Sophie also successfully defended the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency at an impounding hearing before the Traffic Commissioner.
Sophie is instructed to represent a defendant in civil contempt proceedings related to allegations of an attempted breach of an order of the Family Court. She also drafts disciplinary warning notices for the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is eager to strengthen her practice in this area.
To find out more, contact Chris Rowe on +44 (0)207 427 4911 or Oscar Wilkins on +44 (0)20 7353 6381 for a confidential discussion.
