News & Events
News & Events
Outer Temple’s James Counsell QC and Justina Stewart will be providing advocacy training as part of the DIFC Laws Certificate programme. This talk will take place on 25th-26th July 2022. The DIFC Academy are hosting a course named ‘Advanced Advocacy Skills’ which is part of the Certificate in Common Law, DIFC Laws & Courts Practice programme. The course will explore the application of traditional advocacy skills to activities routinely performed by lawyers. There will be three parts to this course, all being given by Outer Temple Chambers Barristers. The first of the three talks will be performed by James Counsell QC and Justina Stewart. They will be focusing on ‘Trial advocacy and witness handling and examination’ and their training will involve:…
Events, International 20 Jul, 2022
James Counsell QC and Olinga Tahzib have recently contributed to an article, entitled ‘Picking up the Pieces’, in the June edition of APIL’s ‘PI Focus’. The article draws practitioners’ attention to ‘must read’ guidance provided by Johnson J in the case of TVZ and Ors v Manchester City Football Club Ltd [2022] EWHC 7 (QB). In eight conjoined claims for psychiatric injuries caused by non-recent sexual abuse by Barry Bennell, the Court ruled that the Claimants would have been entitled to separate awards for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and for the abuse itself, had they been successful on liability and two of the Claimants would have been awarded substantial damages for loss of earnings as professional footballers. Please…
Legal Blog & Publications, News, Personal Injury 16 Jun, 2022
James Counsell QC will be speaking at the APIL Abuse Conference 2022, which is being held in association with ACAL. The event will take place on 23th June 2022. Outer Temple’s James Counsell QC, is due to be speaking at this year’s 14th annual APIL Abuse Conference 2022, held in association with ACAL. The conference will be held at the Marriot Marble Arch Hotel in London on the 23rd of June. This will be a hybrid event; delegates and attendees will choose whether they would like to attend in person or virtually. Topics for this event include: Survivors of sexual abuse and the criminal justice systemClient welfare and the role of the ISVAVicarious liabilityThe latest on failure to remove claimsClaims…
Events, Personal Injury 31 May, 2022
The charity ‘Advocate’ has congratulated James Counsell QC and Imogen Egan for having recently completed their ’25 for 25: Pro Bono Challenge’. In order to complete this challenge, they both had to conduct 25 hours of pro bono work between June 2021 – June 2022, although James Counsell QC completed an impressive 40 hours. Advocate is a charity that connects volunteer barristers with those who require free legal assistance. This ensures that those who cannot afford legal assistance can still receive justice. Advocate recently ran a challenge called the ’25 for 25: Pro Bono Challenge’. This challenge requires barristers to complete a total of 25 hours of pro bono work between June 2021 – June 2022. We are pleased that…
News 25 May, 2022
Four Claimants, all represented by James Counsell QC and Benjamin Bradley, have settled their claims for damages against Chelsea Football Club for undisclosed six figure sums in abuse proceedings. The Claimants settled their claims for damages against Chelsea Football Club for undisclosed six figure sums on 7th February at a pre-trial review hearing. The claims, which were listed for a six week trial, involving 62 witnesses, in four weeks’ time alleged that two former employees, Graham Rix, the former England international footballer, and Gwyn Williams, whilst working for the club’s youth training programme in the 1990s, racially abused these four young black footballers when they were aged between 14 and 18. At a court hearing in May 2021, the High…
News, Personal Injury 8 Feb, 2022
We are pleased to invite you to a virtual open day for the 4th edition of the ‘DIFC Laws Certificate’ programme where James Counsell QC will talk about Advocacy Skills. The DIFC Academy of Law offer the Laws Certificate programme which aims to provide education and training in Common Law and DIFC laws and procedures to Emirati advocates, civil law trained lawyers and other professionals whose work involves exposure to common law systems and jurisdictions. This is produced in association with Middlesex University Dubai and Outer Temple Chambers. DIFC Laws Certificate modules The course consists of several sections that can be taken together as a whole or as individual components: Unit 1- English Common Law by Middlesex University Dubai- Faculty of Law…
News 17 Jan, 2022
Convicted paedophile Barry Bennell, is to give evidence for the first time, in the ongoing trial against Manchester City FC. James Counsell QC and Ben Bradley continue to act in this ongoing trial for eight victims. On Tuesday 30 November, Manchester City FC will open its case, relying on evidence from the perpetrator himself, Barry Bennell. Bennell is serving a 34-year prison sentence for around 90 separate sexual offences perpetrated against children. Bennell is likely to say that he played no part in Manchester City FC’s youth operations. The case will be the first time that Bennell has ever given live evidence about the circumstances surrounding his crimes; having elected not to give evidence (despite, at times, entering not guilty…
News, Personal Injury, Sports 29 Nov, 2021
James Counsell QC and Ben Bradley represent eight victims in the High Court, seeking damages from Manchester City FC after suffering sexual abuse from one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders. James and Ben represent eight claimants who were subjected to sexual abuse by Barry Bennell whilst they were playing for Manchester City FC junior or ‘feeder teams’. These teams were set up by the Defendant, Manchester City FC, for the purpose of seeking to recruit a steady source of highly talented young footballers who were then of an age (under 14) when they could not be formally signed up to schoolboy contracts. James told the Court that Barry Bennell was recruited by the Defendant to scout promising young…
News, Personal Injury, Sports 25 Oct, 2021
“Football club vicariously liable for historical sex abuse but a girls’ boarding school is not.” LexisNexis PSL invited James Counsell QC to analyse his recent high profile sexual abuse cases. Following on from the judgment in BXB v Watch Tower (handed down on 30 January) come two more historical abuse judgments in claims brought against institutions—one against Blackpool Football Club and the other against a girls’ boarding school. Both claims raised very similar issues and were tried by the same Judge (Griffiths J) but they ended with diametrically opposite results. James Counsell QC acted for the claimants in all three cases and examined their implications for other cases in the pipeline, for Lexis Nexis PSL. Excerpt from article DSN v…
News 30 Mar, 2020
Hard on the heels of the indemnity costs order made against Blackpool FC, comes a second judgment against Jehovah’s Witnesses relating to sexual abuse offences. James Counsell QC has secured yet another judgment on Monday 23 March (BXB v Watch Tower and Bible Tract Society of Pennsylvania and Another [2020] EWHC 656, LTL 24/3/2020 : [2020] 3 WLUK 321) just three days after he obtained judgment against Blackpool FC where the Defendant, this time the Jehovah’s Witnesses, refused to negotiate in the face of repeated efforts by the Claimant’s solicitors to engage them in settlement negotiations. Jehovah’s Witnesses Liable for Rape Chamberlain J had previously given judgment against the organisation on 30 January 2020 after he had found the organisation…
News 24 Mar, 2020
In a judgment handed down on 20 March 2020, James Counsell QC obtained an indemnity costs order against Blackpool Football Club after the Judge, Griffiths J ,was critical of the Club for the way it refused even to enter into settlement discussions for its liability for sexual abuse offences by Frank Roper. The Court had earlier given judgment on liability and quantum on 13 March 2020 (read the earlier judgment here) in favour of the Claimant, known as DSN, in a claim for damages arising out of sexual abuse which he had suffered at the hands of Frank Roper, who worked for the club in the 1980s as a scout. In that earlier judgment, Griffiths J had criticised the club for…
News 23 Mar, 2020
In the first of many cases in the pipeline to reach trial, James Counsell QC has obtained judgment against Blackpool FC for its liability for sexual abuse offences by scout Frank Roper in the 1980s. The case involved the responsibility of English professional football clubs for sexual abuse committed on young footballers in their charge. James Counsell QC has obtained the first judgment of its kind against Blackpool Football Club for damages for its liability for sexual abuse committed by a convicted sex offender, Frank Roper during the time when Roper was working for the club as a scout in the 1980s. The Trial The Court heard that the Claimant, known as DSN at trial, was sexually abused when on…
News 16 Mar, 2020
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