Employment and discrimination

Caitlin acts for both Claimants and Respondents, covering a broad range of both statutory and contractual employment matters. Recent instructions include:

• Kingdom of Spain v Lorenzo[2024] EWCA Civ 1602: junior counsel for the Claimant in the Court of Appeal, confirming that s 4(2)(a) of the State Immunity Act 1978 (barring claims where the Claimant is a national of the Respondent state) is to be disapplied where the Claimant’s employment or the acts complained of is not a ‘sovereign act’ (led by Matt Jackson).

• Successfully acted for a Claimant – the Chief Nurse of a home care service for elderly patients – in her whistleblowing claims for automatic unfair dismissal and detriments, following a series of protected disclosures concerning failures in care and financial irregularities.  Achieved a near six-figure award in the remedy hearing.

• Acted for a Respondent – a small hospital for patients with neurological disorders – in successfully arguing that an ex-employee was neither harassed nor constructively dismissed. Required careful cross-examination of a vulnerable Claimant on sensitive matters of mental health and childcare.

• Successfully acted for a Claimant – an employee in his 60s who was dismissed during the Covid pandemic – in a three-day trial, showing that he had been unfairly dismissed and that his employment had been transferred under the TUPE Regulations (acting pro bono).

• Conducting an investigation into possible health and safety risks and intimidating behaviour during a period of industrial action.

• Junior counsel for a sensitive investigation into complaints of antisemitism at a high-profile, public facing organisation (led by Rachel Crasnow KC).

• Advised an ex-employee on the enforceability of wide-ranging restrictive covenants set out in an amendment to his employment contract.

• Drafted particulars of claim for a Claimant solicitor in her multi-year claim for sexual harassment against a partner of the Respondent firm.

• Caitlin is also a member of the Government’s ‘Junior junior’ scheme and has advised the Government on aspects of discrimination-related retained EU law.

Goods and services discrimination

• Successfully defended (in full) a wide-ranging discrimination claim against a small charity serving those with lived experience of mental illness and trauma brought by a former service user (acting pro bono).

• Provided advice for a major, multinational tech company on responding to a goods and services discrimination claim.

Personal injury and clinical negligence

Caitlin acts exclusively for Claimants in personal injury and clinical negligence matters. Recent instructions include:

• Acting for a Claimant with overlapping physical and mental disabilities in her Human Rights Act claim against the Defendant council for failures in nursing care, including representation in two interim applications. A procedurally complex claim involving contested psychiatric evidence on the interaction between the Claimant’s EUPD and capacity.

• Acting for a Claimant in a claim for alleged failure to diagnose a heart attack, leading to life-altering injuries.

• Advising a family on the apportionment of damages following a fatal accident resulting from a failure to treat his condition (including representation at an infant approval hearing).

During her pupillage, Caitlin was supervised by Chesca Lord, assisting on drafting complex Schedules of Loss for multi-million pound catastrophic injury claims, and by Linda Jacobs, where she gained experience in legally and medically complex claims.

Before the Bar

Before coming to the Bar, Caitlin spent eight years in international finance. She started her career as an investment banker before transitioning to private equity, making and managing investments in developing economies. She worked at the World Bank and subsequently at a social impact fund in London, focusing primarily on financial services companies in Africa.