News & Events
News & Events
On 12 December 2017, James Counsell QC represented the Bar Standards Board to respond to an appeal brought by Howard Godfrey QC against a decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Council of the Inns of Court. The Tribunal had found that Mr Godfrey was guilty of professional misconduct as a result of comments he had made in the Criminal Court of Appeal about a 16 year-old sexual assault victim which were offensive, unnecessary and implied that she bore responsibility for the assault committed on her by her stepfather. The High Court (Lady Justice Sharp and Mr Justice Spencer) heard that Mr Godfrey, a criminal barrister, called in 1970 and a QC since 1991, had told the Court of Appeal, during…
News 19 Dec, 2017
On 2 May 2017, Mrs Justice Lang DBE dismissed the appeal of Damian McCarthy from a decision made by the disciplinary tribunal, disbarring him after a finding that he had acted dishonestly by providing forged client care letters to the BSB after he had acted for a client in employment proceedings (see here for more on the hearing). James Counsell QC acted for the BSB, on a pro bono basis, both at the four-day hearing and at the latest appeal but did not appear at earlier hearings. The dismissal of Mr McCarthy’s appeal is the culmination of long-running proceedings brought against the former barrister arising out of his misconduct in 2008. The previous Tribunal had disbarred him in 2011 before…
News 4 May, 2017
James Counsell QC is a widely recognised silk in the fields of personal injury and clinical and professional negligence. He specialises in acting for survivors of historic sexual abuse. To raise further awareness of this, James is speaking at a conference being held in London to address the Jehovah’s Witnesses child safety crisis on 26 April. The conference aims to highlight the issue of abuse to ensure the future protection of members, whilst addressing the legal responsibility of elders and their duty of care. Panelists will be discussing the issue of how the Watchtower hides child sexual abuse from secular authorities and has stonewalled both the media and the legal system. As lead counsel, James recently represented the claimant in the…
News 26 Apr, 2017
Mr Charles O’Sullivan, formerly a member of an LLP, member of Lloyd’s and a managing director of the special risks division of Besso Limited, was found guilty of charges of discreditable conduct. A disciplinary tribunal was told by James Counsell QC representing the Council of Lloyd’s, how Mr O’Sullivan, whilst acting as a placing broker in a series of insurance transactions between 2009 and 2012, deliberately misled other parties as to how much and what type of remuneration was being or had been earned by his company for financial gain. In all, he earned for those companies sums in excess of US$1.7m as a result of his deception. The Tribunal banned him from Lloyd’s, declared him unfit to be a member…
News 2 Mar, 2017
Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to congratulate three members, James Counsell, Matthew Phillips and Fiona Scolding, on their successful applications to Silk. This is a fantastic personal achievement for James, Matthew and Fiona, given the highly competitive nature of the lengthy competition. James was called to the Bar in 1984 and has built up a leading practice in clinical and professional negligence and in personal injury, acting both for claimants and for defendants. Matthew’s practice focuses on Clinical Negligence, Personal Injury and Sport. Called to the Bar in 1993, he specialises in asbestos related disease claims and catastrophic head and spinal injuries. Fiona was called to the Bar in 1996. She is a specialist public law barrister, who has particular…
News 12 Jan, 2017
James Counsell acted for the Bar Standards Board in disciplinary proceedings brought against Dr Shaun Wallace, a criminal barrister based in London, who also stars in the TV quiz show “The Chase”. At the hearing Dr Wallace admitted four charges relating to the advice and representation he gave to a defendant and which led to the 22-year old defendant pleading guilty to a section 18 wounding with intent charge, when he thought he was pleading guilty to the lesser offence of section 20. James Counsell described how Dr Wallace had conducted pre-trial conferences at the defendant’s bail address in the absence of a solicitor, but took no notes of the advice which he gave. Having told his client that he…
News 1 Nov, 2016
Floyd LJ has refused the Jehovah’s Witness church permission to appeal against the judgment of Globe J, in which James Counsell and Ben Bradley successfully appeared for the Claimant (see judgment here). In his initial ruling Mr Justice Globe imposed vicarious liability upon the Jehovah’s Witnesses (“JWs”) organisation both for: the acts of sexual abuse committed by one of its ministerial servants, Peter Stewart (“PS”), upon the Claimant (“the abuse claim”); and; the failures, on the part of its Elders, to safeguard the Claimant from acts of further sexual abuse, in circumstances where they knew PS was a paedophile, but viewed him as being repentant for his sins, thereby permitting him to remain in the congregation (“the safeguarding claim”). In…
News 7 Jul, 2016
On 9 June 2016, James Counsell represented the Bar Standards Board in disciplinary proceedings brought against employment barrister, Damian McCarthy, for dishonestly forging client care letters when acting for a public access client. The hearing that took place over four days was the second time that a tribunal has disbarred Mr McCarthy for these actions. He was first disbarred in 2011 in earlier proceedings in which James was not involved. That disbarment was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2015, due to a procedural error made by the BSB during the original disciplinary tribunal. The 2016 independent tribunal found both allegations proved and disbarred Mr McCarthy from practising as a barrister. Click here to read more about the case.
News 24 Jun, 2016
James Counsell acted for the Bar Standards Board in disciplinary proceedings against former Recorder and barrister, Constance Briscoe, arising out of her involvement in the Chris Huhne / Vicky Pryce speedings points investigation, which led to all three being convicted of perverting the course of justice and receiving sentences of imprisonment. A five-person Disciplinary Tribunal of the Council of the Inns of Court, at a hearing on 15 April 2016, heard that Ms Briscoe had made two statements to the police which contained deliberately false information in order to hide the fact that she had been involved in setting up meetings and agreeing a contract between newspapers and her friend Vicky Pryce and to give the impression that she was…
News 25 Apr, 2016
James Counsell reports on a successful claim based on lack of consent, in which a patient was told on the day of the operation that her spinal surgery was not to be performed by the expected clinician.
News 5 Jan, 2016
A v The Trustees of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society [2015] was the first historic sex abuse case to be brought against the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In an article that first appeared in the Personal Injury Law Journal (141, December 2015/January 2016 edition), James Counsell and Ben Bradley discuss the legal implications of the decision in the case, and some learning points arising from their involvement.
News 15 Dec, 2015
James Counsell represented the Bar Standards Board (BSB) in disciplinary proceedings brought against a Bahamas based barrister for dishonestly declaring he had a degree from the University of London when he did not. After a two-day hearing on 2 and 3 November 2015, an independent disciplinary tribunal ordered that the barrister, Mr Shavon Bethel, should be disbarred from the Bar of England and Wales. This decision followed the BSB taking enforcement action against Mr Bethel after it had emerged that he had falsely claimed to have been awarded an LLB law degree by the University of London. To back up this claim, Mr Bethel produced fake degree certificates dated March and July 2005. Mr Bethel made the false claim in…
News 27 Nov, 2015
