Call: 2007
Patricia Leonard demonstrates experience beyond her year of call; she regularly advises on complex and high value matters. She has acted in two of the largest group actions in the UK and has appeared in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Patricia is astute and conscientious, with a keen eye for detail.
She regularly speaks at seminars and contributes to legal journals.
Education
- BCL (Law with French Law Undergraduate degree): University College Dublin: 1:1
- Diploma in French Law and Diploma in French Legal Language: Paris II (Pantheon - Assas) University, Paris, France
- BCL (Masters): University of Oxford
Prizes & Scholarships
- The Cholmeley Studentship (Lincoln’s Inn, 2008)
- Lord Denning Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn, 2006)
- Hardwicke Entrance Scholarship (Lincoln’s Inn, 2006)
- Freshfields Scholarship (Oxford, 2004)
- Prendergast Bequest (Oxford, 2004)
- Edmund Burke Bursury (UCD, 1999 – 2003)
Recent Practice
- Harris, Lewis, MacDonald, Osborne v Newport City Council (2011): successfully represented (as sole counsel) four Claimants in a 7 day complex multi-track trial.
- Various Claimants, Catholic Child Welfare Society & ORS v Institute of The
- Brothers of The Christian Schools & ORS [2010] EWCA Civ 1106:
Led in the Court of Appeal in one of the UK’s biggest group action litigation. Known as the ‘St William’s litigation’, it was a group action by former pupils who resided at St William’s, a boy’s school. They are claiming in relation to physical and sexual abuse that took place at the school between 1960 and 1992. The case looked to increase the scope of vicarious liability in non-employment related cases. This case is currently on appeal to the Supreme Court.
PERSONAL INJURY AND CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE:
Patricia has been instructed in significant multi-track personal injury cases in the county court, High Court and Court of Appeal. Patricia is currently involved in two of the largest personal injury group actions in the UK (St William’s Litigation and Manchester Children's Homes Group Action).
Patricia has considerable experience dealing with complex cases and expert witnesses. She has particular experience of the following areas:
- Historical sexual and physical abuse
- Abuse and negligence by social workers and mental health professionals
- Liability and quantum in fatal accidents
- Employers and occupiers liability
- Local authority claims
- Prison law
Articles:
“Appeal court verdict could open the door for vicarious liability claimants”: The Guardian, October 2010
‘Assessing the landscape of vicarious liability’: The Lawyer, 6 December 2010