News & Events
News & Events
Outer Temple’s Health and Safety law specialist, James Leonard KC, represented Melfort Construction Services Ltd in a four-week trial at Lincoln Crown Court following the death of an employee on site. James Leonard KC represented Melfort Construction Services Ltd in a four-week trial at Lincoln Crown Court. The allegation was a failure on the part of Melfort, a specialist groundworks contractor, to ensure the health and safety of an employee who sadly died at a construction site in Lincoln in 2020. The employee was working for Melfort Construction as a dump truck driver and Melfort Construction had been sub-contracted to the Lindum Group to carry out groundwork. The employee was driving his front-loaded dump truck when he opened the barriers…
News 6 Dec, 2023
Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted as an ‘Outstanding Set’ in Diversity & Inclusion, by the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2022. Congratulations also to James Leonard, Naomi Ling, Matthew McDonagh, and Justina Stewart, who have been shortlisted for individual awards. Chambers & Partners announced the shortlist ahead of the Awards Ceremony on 17th November in London. Naomi Ling, Employment Naomi Ling has been shortlisted as ‘Employment Junior of the Year’ in recognition of her outstanding Employment practice last year. She is a highly sought-after employment barrister with over 20 years of experience in this area. Recent instructions of note include; Abdar v Morrisons, McCloud v Lord Chancellor, Turley v Port of Felixstowe James Leonard, Health…
News 1 Sep, 2022
James Leonard and Oliver Powell, instructed by Chris Baranowski of DAC Beachcroft, appeared on behalf of Mr Gary Robinson, the former director of Complete Demolition Ltd, at the Central Criminal Crown Court. Mr Robinson was indicted on two counts: (1) gross negligence manslaughter; and (2) section 37 of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (‘HSWA 1974’). Background: On 23 August 2018 Robert Stoian went to work as a labourer for Complete Demolition Ltd (‘the Company’). The Company been contracted to remove the internal fittings on the fifth floor of the Global Switch Building in Docklands, East London. This included; the studded partition walls, the suspended ceiling and raised floor. Embedded in one of the partition walls was a glazed unit which was 5.1m wide,…
News 9 May, 2022
We are delighted to announce that the Third edition of Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption has been published by LexisNexis Butterworths. The practitioner’s book was edited by Fiona Horlick QC and Richard Lissack QC, and was contributed to by a number of Outer Temple members. In 2010, the UK’s law on bribery changed from a collection of ancient statutes, distorted in some cases by contradictory authority, to a single statute often regarded as one of the most rigorous, and wide-ranging in application, in the world. Since coming into force in 2011, numerous prosecutions were brought on the basis of the Bribery Act as well as five of the eight deferred prosecution agreements reached in the UK to date. It…
External Publications 30 Sep, 2020
James Leonard successfully defended the Master of the Isle of Wight Red Funnell ferry in relation to charges brought by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency following a collision in September 2018, just outside Southampton Water, between his vessel, the Red Falcon and a 30 foot motor cruiser named the Phoenix. The collision risked the lives of four people on board the Phoenix but the Court was persuaded that fault for the collision lay with the helm of the Phoenix and that it was satisfied Capt Drummond had kept a proper lookout within the meaning of the International Regulations relating to Collisions at Sea and was not in breach of section 58 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The Court ordered…
News 12 Dec, 2019
James Leonard appeared at the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry in London on the 6th June 2018 and made an Opening Statement on behalf of CS Stokes Associates Limited, one of the Core Participants. James invited the Chair, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, to consider, amongst other issues, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and Fire Risk Assessments. His address can be found here. James’ Health & Safety and Environmental work leads to appearances in Courts at every level but his caseload is at the higher end of the scale of seriousness. Those cases invariably include fatalities in the work place, allegations of gross negligence manslaughter and offences under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. His work is extensive and nationwide,…
News 12 Jun, 2018
A number of members of the Health & Safety Team at Outer Temple Chambers have been invited to give seminars as part of The Health & Safety Lawyers Association (‘HSLA’) spring seminar programme. This year, the programme will attract over 200 delegates across five separate seminars. On 26 April 2018, Ben Compton QC and Tim Green gave a seminar on Dismissal & Disclosure. The event was hosted by DWF in Birmingham, and will be repeated at Osborne Clarke in London on 14 June 2018 and at Eversheds in Leeds on 21 June 2018. The talk covers the powers of the Crown Court to dismiss charges before arraignment, disclosure before arraignment, defence statements, and digital & expert disclosure. On 17 May…
News 30 May, 2018
In a recent Health & Safety case heard by the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, the Court accepted submissions that the Judge had wrongly characterised the culpability of ATE Truck & Trailer Sales Ltd as ‘high’, and reduced it to ‘low’. The Court of Appeal also reduced a finding of High Likelihood of harm to Medium leading to a reduction in fine from £475,000 to £200,000. Some useful and informative remarks were presented on the approach to be taken when the Prosecution and Defence reach agreement about issues relevant to a sentencing Guideline. James Leonard represented ATE Truck and Trailer Sales Ltd and was instructed by Sean Elson and Louise Mansfield of Pinsent Masons, Birmingham. am. The full judgment can…
News 13 Apr, 2018
We are delighted to announce that Outer Temple was awarded ‘Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Set of the Year’ and that James Leonard won the ‘Health & Safety Junior of the Year’ Award at the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2017. We are proud of our barristers and clerks and their well-deserved accomplishments. The Chambers UK Bar Awards ceremony was held last night at The London Hilton. Further details are available here.
News 27 Oct, 2017
We are delighted to announce that Chambers has been shortlisted for ‘Personal Injury/Clinical Negligence Set of the Year’ in the 2017 Chambers UK Bar Awards. In addition, Andrew Short QC has been shortlisted for ‘Employment Silk of the Year’ and James Leonard is listed for ‘Health and Safety Junior of the Year’. The 2017 Chambers UK Bar Awards will be held on Thursday, 26th October 2017.
News 30 Aug, 2017
The Health and Safety Lawyers Association (“HSLA”) spring seminar programme attracted over 150 delegates across three separate seminars this year. James Leonard, Paul Rogers, Tim Green and Oliver Powell of Outer Temple Chambers provided key talks across the three seminars. They addressed the impact of the new sentencing guidelines and the increased prosecution by the HSE of individuals, to audiences in Bristol, London and Birmingham, with a Glasgow seminar scheduled for June. Links to the slides used in the Birmingham event on 25 April can be found here and here.
Events 3 May, 2017
Outer Temple Chambers and Shepherd and Wedderburn will be jointly leading an Investigations Master Class training programme – a series of ‘learning by performing’ seminars. By taking part in this programme, people will have the opportunity to learn “how to properly scope and plan an investigation, how to question witnesses and review evidence, and how to report on the findings of the investigations” Judy Krieg, Shepherd and Wedderburn partner, advises. The seminars will start this Autumn on a first-come, first served complimentary basis. A preview night and demonstration of the programme will be delivered by a panel of experts on Tuesday 5 July 2016, starting at 5.30 pm. Chief compliance officers, General Counsel and other business leaders with responsibility for internal…
News 1 Jul, 2016
