Laura Phillips

Laura is ranked as a leading junior for consumer law in Chambers & Partners (Band 2) and the Legal 500 (Tier 3).

She advises and acts for regulators and traders across the spectrum of consumer law. She has particular expertise in regulatory enforcement and crime and is experienced in providing strategic and often highly technical advice to businesses and local authorities on the interpretation of legislation and guidance and on regulatory compliance and enforcement.

Recent instructions and notable cases include:

• Prosecuting the large scale fraudulent mis-selling of numerous different types of purported energy saving products and warranties to elderly and vulnerable consumers (led by Jonathan Goulding).
• Advising a local authority in relation to a significant national ‘rogue trader’ investigation (led by David Travers KC).
• Defending a national neighbourhood retailer prosecuted in relation to a serious rodent infestation.
• Defending a national pub bar and restaurant chain prosecuted in respect of food safety offences arising from a fatal food poisoning (led by David Travers KC).
• Advising and acting for Ofgem in a mis-selling investigation against one of the ‘Big Six’ electricity and gas suppliers (led by Stephen Hockman KC and Mark Watson (now Mark Watson KC)).
• Advising an international retailer on quality marking and product certification following Brexit.
• Advising in relation to the regulation of novel medical devices/IVDs.
• Advising on package travel related claims.
• Numerous food safety/hygiene prosecutions including in relation to rodent or insect infestations, contaminated food and poor hygiene at restaurants, shops and factories.
• Numerous appeals against enforcement notices and RANs.
• Defending a trader prosecuted for miss-selling loft insulation.
• Defending traders prosecuted for consumer protection breaches arising from construction work resulting in serious damage to a consumer’s home.
• Numerous other fraud and CPUTR prosecutions.

Laura is ranked as a leading junior for health & safety in the Legal 500 (Tier 3).

She acts for regulators, businesses and individuals across all aspects of health & safety, fire safety and building safety law. She is on the List of Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health & Safety and Environmental Law (List B) (the regulatory equivalent to the CPS Advocate Panel).

She has represented a wide range of clients including regulators, businesses and individuals including in cases involving fatalities and serious injuries. Her clients include national and international businesses and VLOs.

She was part of the team instructed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

She is the author of ‘A Practical Guide to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005’.

Recent instructions and notable cases include:

• A health and safety prosecution involving multiple fatalities (lead by Pascal Bates).
• A health and safety prosecution involving a serious injury (lead by David Travers QC).
• Representing the successful appellants in R v Butt [2018] EWCA Crim 1617, the leading case on sentencing fire safety offences and in another fire safety sentencing appeal.
• Advising in relation to the discovery of asbestos at a school.
• Advising a property and construction company in relation to a fire safety investigation following the renovation and refurbishment of a hotel.
• Advising a property management company on refurbishment and fire safety liabilities.
• Defending a major supermarket chain prosecuted in respect of health and safety liabilities (lead by Stephen Hockman KC).
• Defending a company prosecuted in relation to a serious electrical injury on a construction site for an Olympic venue (lead by Stephen Hockman KC).
• Advising or acting in relation to numerous health & safety prosecutions and investigations in a wide variety of contexts including construction sites, hotels, boats, factories and warehouses, leisure facilities and shops.
• Advising or acting in relation to a wide range of fire safety enforcement investigations or prosecutions or in relation to enforcement notices.
• Advising or acting in relation to prosecutions of fishing vessels by the MCA.
• Inquests concerning breaches of health and safety legislation.

Laura’s wider practice includes environmental, planning and housing law and she has a good understanding of how these practice areas overlap with health & safety, fire safety and building safety legislation.

See also inquiries and inquests.

Laura represents individuals, companies and local authorities in relation to housing and HMO enforcement, including prosecutions and tribunal appeals.

Recent instructions and notable cases include:

• HMO prosecutions including where it is alleged there are serious deficiencies relating to fire safety.
• Acting for a national firm of estate agents at a First-Tier tribunal appeal against civil penalties.
• Appeals against civil penalties and RROs.

Laura’s wider practice includes environmental, planning and building control law and she has a good understanding of how these practice areas overlap with housing and HMO legislation.

Laura acts for regulators and duty holders in relation to all aspects of environmental enforcement and related proceedings, proceedings relating to public and private nuisance and disputes over rights of navigation and fishing rights.

She is regularly instructed to act in environmental prosecutions for offences including fly-tipping, permit breaches and breaches of enforcement notices and statutory nuisance proceedings. She is on the List of Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health & Safety and Environmental Law (List B) (the regulatory equivalent to the CPS Advocate Panel).

She acts in civil disputes involving environmental issues including nuisances, pollution, private rights of navigation and riparian/fishing rights.

Recent instructions and notable cases include:

• Advising a public sector body in relation to a challenging contaminated land issue (lead by David Travers KC).
• Waste prosecutions.
• Representing an angling club in a successful claim for damages following negligent works to a fishing lake resulting in the death of numerous fish.
• Advising on a historic multimillion-pound nuisance/negligence claim arising from pollution from a factory which involved complex arguments about limitation and causation (lead by Stephen Hockman KC).
• Multiple civil disputes involving private rights of navigation and riparian/fishing rights.
• Numerous abatement notice appeals appearing for and against local authorities.

In addition to her expertise in regulatory enforcement and crime (see Consumer and Food and Health & Safety, Fire Safety and Building Safety), Laura is is instructed to provide strategic and often highly technical advice to local authorities and businesses on the interpretation of legislation and guidance and on regulatory compliance and enforcement. She is also instructed in relation to public law matters including judicial and statutory review, in relation to planning disputes, appeals and prosecutions, and licensing matters.

Recent instructions and notable cases include:

• Advising a group of local authorities in relation to the provision of shared statutory services in a constitutionally sound and cost-effective manner (lead by David Travers KC).
• Defending a well-known housebuilding company in relation to a prosecution for damage to protected trees.
• Statutory review of a multimillion-pound cycling scheme.
• Advising a local council on the lawfulness of licensing fee schemes for licensed sex establishments.
• Numerous planning enforcement appeals, prosecutions and related confiscation proceedings.

Laura is instructed in relation to public law matters including judicial and statutory review arising from local authority licensing schemes. She also acts for local authorities, businesses and individuals in relation to applications for licences, licence variations and reviews and licensing appeals.

Recent instructions and notable cases include:

• Advising a local authority on the lawfulness of licensing fee schemes for licensed sex establishments.
• Advising a local authority on the lawfulness of its taxi/PHV licensing scheme.
• Alcohol licensing appeals and prosecutions.
• Taxi/PHV appeals and prosecutions.

Laura acts for the Nursing and Midwifery Council at disciplinary hearings for allegations of misconduct by nurses.

Laura represents licence holders and applicants at public inquiries and hearings before Traffic Commissioners.

Laura acts for regulators, companies and individuals at inquests, including Article 2 inquests and inquests concerning deaths apparently arising in connection with breaches of health & safety legislation.

She was part of the team instructed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Recent instructions and notable cases include:

• Representing a major supermarket at inquests into the deaths of a customers at its premises.
• Inquests investigating deaths in custody.
• Inquests involving the deaths of rail workers.
• An inquest into the death of a vulnerable individual following a fire.
• Inquests into the deaths of vulnerable individuals at nursing homes.
• An inquest into the death of a vulnerable patient at a hospital following injury caused by restraint by security guards.
• An inquest investigating the death of a young mother murdered by her abusive husband where it was alleged that failures by the police had contributed to her death.
• An inquest into a death at a lakeside leisure complex following the drowning of a spectator at the World Darts Tournament.
• A highly unusual inquest (Home Secretary reference in the absence of a body) following a disappearance at a scrap-metal recycling plant (lead by David Travers QC).

Gough Square Live, Episode 37: Due Diligence Defences

January 9, 2024

SAFE 2023

October 5, 2023

Chambers & Partners ranks Gough Square as Number 1 for Consumer Law

November 3, 2023

• R v HMR and Others (2022-3) – Prosecuting scrap metal business and their directors following an incident in which an overloaded bay wall toppled onto five workers, killing them instantly (lead by Pascal Bates)
• R v BCA (2022) – Prosecuting the largest UK retailer of used cars in relation to an incident in which a BCA driver lost control of an auction car and struck two customers, of whom suffered a serious life changing injuries including the traumatic partial severance of his right leg. BCA pleaded on the first day of the trial and were fined £1,100,000. Lead by David Travers KC.
• R v Tesco Stores Limited (2021) – Defending a major supermarket chain in a prosecution arising a slip and trip incident on liquid from a leaking refrigerator. Lead by Stephen Hockman KC.
• R v Butt [2018] EWCA Crim 1617 – the leading case on sentencing fire safety offences
• R v Mitchells & Butlers plc and Others (2015) – Defending Europe’s largest restaurant and bar operator following a fatal food poisoning outbreak at a Christmas lunch which led to many people becoming ill and the death of a young mother. The case, which lasted 6 weeks, is the longest health and safety trial relating to food. Lead by David Travers KC.

‘A Practical Guide to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005’ (2019)

Laura has been a contributing author to Garners’ Environmental Law Encyclopaedia, Atkins Court Forms, Westlaw Insight and Lexis Nexis Practice Guides and the Journal of Trading Standards. She has also lectured at the Bartlett School of Planning at UCL.

• ‘One of the most dedicated counsel around and one who is strategically brilliant.’ Chambers and Partners 2023
• ‘She really looks after clients during what is an extremely stressful time for them, and always has the time to speak to the instructing solicitor.’ Chambers and Partners 2023
• ‘Laura’s preparation is second to none. Her written submissions are hugely helpful and her advice to clients is clear and concise.’ Legal 500 2023
• Very responsive and great attention to detail. Clear advocacy.’ Legal 500 2023
• ‘Laura is a stellar junior barrister and certainly one to watch.’ Legal 500 2022
• ‘Extraordinarily clever, very hard working and has a real grasp of what are the issues in a ’Legal 500 2022
• “Always thinks outside of the box, and is very proactive, willing and approachable.”Chambers and Partners 2022
• “A fine practitioner who is knowledgeable, authoritative in court, very well prepared and a good advocate.” Chambers & Partners 2022
• ‘Laura has the capacity to digest large amounts of material quickly and analyse them logically, she is very knowledgeable about the law and extremely intelligent. The clarity of her written work is exceptional.’ Legal 500 2021
• “She’s very good at managing the expectations of the client, as she is able to foresee potential hurdles for the judge to overcome if he or she is to be convinced of the merits of the case.”Chambers and Partners 2021
• ‘Her naturally relaxed demeanour and her poise hide a steely core, a ferocious appetite for work, and absolute mastery of the detail on any case’.Legal 500 2020
• “Laura is reliable, approachable and always prepared.”Chambers & Partners 2020
• “Personable and very good in court.”Chambers & Partners 2019
• “She has a great style with clients and always delivers good results.” Chambers & Partners 2019

• Called Middle Temple 2009
• MA (Hons) Philosophy and Politics (First Class), University of Edinburgh
• Violence, Conflict and Development, School of Oriental and African Studies
• Memberships: HSLA, Food Law Group

Who I am

I am a specialist consumer law barrister providing legal services at Gough Square Chambers. You can contact me at laura.phillips@goughsq.co.uk, on 0207 353 0924 or at Gough Square Chambers, 6-7 Gough Square, London EC4A 3DE.

How I use your information

As part of my role as a barrister I collect and process the personal data of my clients, and of third parties connected with the cases on which I work. This can include sensitive personal information and information about criminal convictions. I do this so that I can act for my clients.

In some circumstances I may also use contact details for marketing purposes, although you can always opt out of this.

As a barrister I also process information to enable me to practice as a barrister. This can include the personal details of my clerks, other legal professionals, people with who I do business, support staff, and members of the public.

Who I disclose your information to

I will always keep my client’s information confidential, unless my client consents to its disclosure or I am required to disclose it by law. As part of my role as a barrister I may disclose information to my clients, solicitors, other legal professionals, my chambers, regulators or other legal bodies, third party suppliers (such as IT providers), legal advisors, and courts or adjudicators.

Your rights

You have the right of access to your information (a data subject access request), the right to correct inaccurate information, the right to erase information (to be forgotten), the right to object to or restrict my processing of your information and a right to information portability. Please see my full privacy policy at https://goughsq.co.uk/barrister/laura-phillips/ for information on how to exercise these rights.

You also have the right to withdraw any consent that you have given me to use your information (although if I have other grounds on which to use your information I may still do so).

More information

Please see my full privacy policy https://goughsq.co.uk/barrister/laura-phillips/ for more information on how we use your information and your rights in respect of that use.