PROFESSIONAL DISCIPLINE & REGULATORY

Our award winning professional discipline and regulatory law team is vastly experienced  and comprises 57 members at every level of call. They are regularly instructed to act on matters in the medical, dental, police, legal, accountancy, financial services and sports sectors in particular. The team is led by Jon Holl-Allen KC.

Chambers’ standing in this field is frequently underlined by nominations for leading industry awards.  In 2023 we  were awarded Professional Discipline Set of the Year by both Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500. Nine members of our team have also been recognised as Professional Discipline Silk or Junior of the Year: Sir Robert Francis KC, John Beggs KC, Gerard Boyle KC,  David Morris,  Andrew Hockton, Tony Haycroft, Simon Cridland, Elliot Gold and James Berry. John Beggs KC won the Silk of the Year Award for the second time in 2018.

Sir Robert was knighted in June 2014 in recognition for services to healthcare and patients following his inquiry into failings at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. He subsequently chaired the independent review, Freedom to Speak Up, which considered how to remove the obstacles and create the right environment for an open and honest reporting culture in the NHS.

Three of our barristers are Specialist Regulatory Advocate in Health and Safety and Environmental Law: George Thomas, Alexander dos Santos and Rachel Spearing.

Our team provides first rate forensic advocacy skills, expert knowledge of the law and procedure, medical knowledge honed over years in the field and the ability to handle highly sensitive matters. We have genuine strength in depth from the most experienced silks to our most junior barristers, all of whom work together in a supportive way, sharing knowledge and experience across the team.

We have unrivalled experience of prosecuting and defending at police misconduct and performance hearings and at appeals to the PAT. We have been involved in many of the judicial review challenges to police disciplinary decisions. We deal with officers and staff of all ranks and in recent years have advised and acted for officers and PCCs in cases involving chief officers. Please see our Police practice page here for full details of this work.

‘Serjeants’ Inn Chambers stands out as the cream of the crop in this area, and is the first name on the lips of solicitors when looking for counsel. Sarah Clarke KC has a solid track record in representing clients from medical professions in disciplinary proceedings involving allegations of dishonesty, fraud and sexual misconduct, and Mark Harries KC garners praise as a go-to counsel for professional discipline cases. Gerard Boyle KC is representing a consultant in an ongoing GMC investigation; the consultant is also a core participant in a large-scale public inquiry. Among the junior end of chambers, Alan Jenkins is sought after for his expertise in acting for dentists, doctors, actuaries, pharmacists and solicitors, to name a few, in disciplinary tribunals.‘  –  Chambers & Partners

CASES OF DISTINCTION

Our members are instructed in some of the most complex and high profile cases in the professional discipline and regulatory field. Notable examples include:

• misconduct proceedings arising from the death of Sean Rigg;
• the first appeal by the GMC under the new section 40A of the Medical Act 1983 in GMC v Dr Jagvivan [2017] EWHC 1247 (Admin);
• disciplinary proceedings relating to former England football captain John Terry’s alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand;
• the conjoined appeals in the Supreme Court of Nicklinson and Lamb v MOJ and R (AM) v DPP. This case is at the forefront of developments in the disciplinary and regulatory ethics field;
• GMC v Dr Waney Squier, one of the largest ever cases brought against one doctor, concerning the giving of expert pathological evidence in cases of serious harm or death of children;
• disciplinary proceedings following the Ellison review into undercover policing relating;
• disciplinary proceedings arising out of the Plegbate affair, as well as the judicial review arising out of the IPCC’s decision to investigate alleged leaks by West Midlands police about the row to the media; and
• contributing to the parliamentary process which led to the decision that gross misconduct hearings in the police sector would be held in public from May 2015.

24 Hour Urgent Advice

Our Professional discipline & regulatory team provides a 24 hour service, 365 days a year to arrange for urgent advice and representation on applications including injunctions. For more details about our emergency service please click here.