Patrick Lawrence’s principal areas of practice are set out above.

He acts frequently in insurance and general commercial disputes.  He has advised on and acted as an arbitrator in relation to many insurance coverage issues.

He has very considerable experience of claims against professional defendants, and has appeared in a number of leading cases at appellate level.  His work in the field of solicitors' negligence has left him very familiar with the application of equitable and fiduciary principles to professional negligence claims.  Many of his recent solicitors negligence cases have been in the commercial and company law sectors.  This work fits well with his expertise in auditors' negligence and his involvement in claims against investment advisers, tax advisers, pensions consultants and other financial services professionals.  He is relatively numerate (as barristers go).

There is an obvious connection between his professional liability work and disciplinary proceedings involving professionals, and he has acted for complainants and respondents in relation to conduct issues concerning solicitors, barristers, accountants and surveyors. He has conducted three substantial hearings involving allegations of misconduct against auditors on behalf of the JDS and the AIDB, the bodies resonsible for investigating complaints against auditors in cases raising issues of public interest.

Involvement in claims against construction professionals of various sorts has led to the development of a practice in construction cases generally.

His practice in his first few years at the Bar was widely based and often involved him cross-examining at short notice on the basis of sparse instructions. This has left him with a taste for the sharp end of courtroom advocacy. Many of his cases contain allegations of fraud or other impropriety in the commercial world, and he is prepared to read closely large amounts of material in order to find out what really went on, and then – if necessary – to go to court to prove it. He is retained in cases where effective cross-examination is considered critical.  However, he is well aware that arrival at court is in most cases an indication that there has been an earlier failure to achieve a realistic assessment of the case on at least one side of the litigation. In his written advice he aims not to waste paper but to tell his clients in readily comprehensible terms which issues are important and where they stand on those issues.

He has for a number of years appeared as a leading professional negligence junior/silk in the Chambers Directory and the Legal 500.

He is a co-author of the chapter on solicitors’ negligence in the well-regarded Lloyds looseleaf on Professional Negligence.