Professional Liability and Coverage Update: 2023 in review and a look ahead to 2024
Overview Many of the significant professional liability cases in 2023 dealt…
Helen Evans KC is a leading barrister practising in professional negligence, fraud, disciplinary, commercial and insurance work.
Helen is ranked by the legal directories in the fields of professional liability, insurance and professional discipline. Prior to taking silk, she was named Chambers and Partners Junior of the Year in the Professional Negligence category and was also “Lawyer of the Week” in The Times. Recent comments from the directories include:
Helen is particularly known for her expertise in claims against accountants, auditors, other financial professionals and lawyers as well as her fraud and disciplinary work. Her work increasingly has an offshore, corporate or insolvency element.
Accountants, auditors and other financial professionals: Helen’s recent experience includes claims about a wide variety of negligent tax and investment advice, and numerous claims against auditors arising from frauds. Helen’s professional liability practice sits alongside her disciplinary work in the field, and she has in depth knowledge of both accountancy and financial services regulation. She has acted for several of the UK’s leading accountancy firms as well as many other national firms. She has appeared before the FRC and been involved in advising on FRC investigations, as well as those of other accountancy regulators. She acted in the FRC proceedings arising out of the collapse of Carillion, named by the Lawyer as one of the Top 20 cases for 2022. In 2023 she acted in a multi-million pound negligence claim against one of the Big 4 accountancy firms.
Lawyers: Helen is involved in high profile claims against solicitors and barristers. Many of her cases have a very high value and some involve offshore or cross-border elements. Examples of her work include the leading Court of Appeal proceedings relating to abuse of process in claims against solicitors (Allsop v Banner Jones), and acting successfully for the defendant firm in a 5 week trial claim brought by the former CEO of Inchcape against his solicitors (Brearley v Higgs & Sons). Helen has acted on a wide range of claims against lawyers and is co-editor of the solicitors’ and barristers’ chapters in Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability (with Hugh Evans). She also undertakes disciplinary work, including proceedings before the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal and the Bar Tribunal.
Other professionals and corporate/commercial work: Helen has experience of a broad range of disputes against surveyors and valuers (many of which have involved alleged large scale frauds). She also handles litigation by and against insurance brokers, insolvency practitioners, companies and company directors as well as commercial disputes such as claims arising out of SPAs.
Civil fraud: Helen is known for her work handling complex long running fraud cases as well as numerous urgent applications for freezing and proprietary injunctions, Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust orders. Since 2020, Helen has been involved in committal proceedings before the County Court, High Court and Court of Appeal against both solicitors and a barrister. Helen also appeared for the insurers in the claim brought by Discovery Land Company arising out of alleged fraud at the Jirehouse practice.
Insurance: Helen’s practice involves a number of insurance disputes but particularly those involving business interruption, credit risk, professional indemnity and other management insurance. Examples of her current or recent work include appearing for the insurers in the claim brought by Discovery Land Company arising out of alleged fraud at the Jirehouse practice, managed arbitrations arising from Covid-19 business interruption, and a multi-party, multi-million pound claim against insurance agents.
Privacy Policy
Click here for a Privacy Policy for Helen Evans KC.
“Helen is extremely bright, organised and a real asset to any legal team. She is able to get straight to the nub of thorny issues and execute the most detailed of strategies and police them all.” “Technically very strong and a pleasure to work with.” “Helen is a capable and experienced barrister providing sensible commercial advice.” “Helen’s intellect and experience in professional negligence matters shines through in her excellent advocacy and written work.” – Chambers & Partners, 2024
“Helen is very hands on and approachable. Her technical skills are exceptional. She is able to make the judge see exactly what she wants.” – Legal 500, 2024
“She is fantastic on her feet. Knows the detail inside out and unflappable, but not arrogant. In fact she is the opposite of that and is incredibly kind and personable. She is a technician as well as showing being commercially sensible and astute. It is always a pleasure working with her.” “Helen is very hands on and approachable; she operates very much as ’part of the team’. Her attention to detail is second to none and you are always confident that she has thought through every point and angle. Her technical skills are exceptional. Her advocacy is clear and precise; she is able to make the judge see exactly what she wants.”– Legal 500
“Helen is great to work with. She is efficient and available despite being in huge (and well-deserved) demand.” – Chambers & Partners
“She is such a pleasure to work with. Clients really like her; frankly it’s impossible not to. She’s impressively on top of the detail, she grasps issues very quickly and her drafting skills are second to none. She takes a very tactical, sensible and commercial approach.” “Helen is incredibly astute, not afraid to really get into the details of a case and excellent with clients.” “Fantastic. She gives clear, effective advice and is a pleasure to work with.” – Chambers & Partners
“She is in a class of her own: wonderfully hands-on and pitch perfect in her ability to grasp the issues” – Legal 500
“She is brilliant at getting stuck into a claim and working as part of a team with solicitors. Her drafting and technical ability are excellent and she never misses a trick.” “She is very good on the detail, gets to grips with the case quickly, is very good at managing clients and building rapport, and her advice is very commercial and realistic.” – Chambers & Partners
Helen has been described by the Legal Directories as “one of the most highly regarded barristers in the field”, “highly sought after for her professional negligence expertise” and “considered a go-to by solicitors.” She has been recommended for her professional liability work for some years in the Legal 500, Chambers and Partners, Who’s Who Legal and Legal Experts. Comments include that Helen is “not afraid of standing up and fighting for a point”, that “she provides technically excellent advice and is a real fighter” and that she is “formidable on paper, on her feet, and in cross-examination”. Her work is described as being of “exceptionally strong quality” and “commercial”, and she is commended for her “first-rate service.”
Helen handles a broad variety of claims against solicitors. Examples include Allsop v Banner Jones (a leading Court of Appeal case on abuse of process) and Brearley v Higgs & Sons (relating to the application of loss of chance principles to allegations of dishonesty). Helen has acted in several pieces of large multi-party or managed litigation (including large frauds and “right to buy” schemes). Helen has also acted in numerous barristers’ negligence cases and has experience of wasted costs claims and civil restraining orders. Helen is the co-editor of the solicitors’ and barristers’ chapters in Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability (with Hugh Evans). She also undertakes disciplinary work and acts in proceedings before the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal and Bar Disciplinary Tribunal.
Helen has particular expertise in claims against financial professionals, including accountants, auditors, insolvency practitioners and IFAs. Such claims have encompassed a wide variety of negligent tax and investment schemes, due diligence, business valuation and advice about financial products. She has considerable experience of claims with a financial services, insolvency or auditing element. In recent years, Helen has acted in relation to several sets of proceedings brought by the Financial Reporting Council, and has also represented clients in ICAEW and ACCA matters.
Helen also acts in disputes against surveyors and valuers (many of which have involved alleged large scale frauds). She has represented banks bringing claims against a variety of professionals arising out of property frauds as well as for the professional defendants. She is well regarded for her expertise in obtaining freezing injunctions and other urgent interim remedies arising from fraud.
Helen is co-editor of the chapters on solicitors and barristers in Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability, and her lawyers’ liability practice has a broad scope:
Helen is well regarded for her work involving accountants and auditors, which has included the following:
Helen has been involved in a number of claims against independent financial advisors including claims arising from a range of financial products such as equity release schemes and various mortgage, insurance and pension vehicles as well as offshore investments and tax schemes. She has also been involved in cases of allegations of mis-selling as well as negligent advice and investment strategy.
Recent examples of her work include:
Helen has acted in a number of disputes involving the alleged wrongdoing of directors and officers. Recent examples of her work include
Helen has experience of defending insolvency practitioners from claims arising out of the allegedly negligent conduct of administrations or liquidations. Such claims have involved issues such as:
Helen has extensive experience of defending professionals against claims initiated by insolvency practitioners, including direct claims and misfeasance proceedings under the Insolvency Act.
Helen has acted on a number of claims both for and against valuers, involving residential and commercial premises (and both one-off and portfolio valuations);
Examples of Helen’s work include the following:
Helen also has wide experience of claims both for and against insurance brokers, from disputes arising over one-off policies to placing larger insurance schemes. Her work involves a wide range of insurance products, from property and professional indemnity insurance to medical and disability insurance.
Recent examples of Helen’s claims include:
Helen’s insurance practice spans professional indemnity, financial lines, D&O, construction, property, and other types of cover. Much of her work involves a fraud, corporate or insolvency element. She acts for both insurers and insured. Helen is at home in both litigation and arbitrations and has experience of acting for insurers in freezing injunction applications, including against their own fraudulent insureds.
Helen has been recommended for many years for insurance work in the Legal 500. Recent editions describe her as:
Professional indemnity, financial lines and related insurance
Helen has extensive experience in coverage disputes arising out of professional practice, in particular involving solicitors and financial professionals. Helen represented AXIS (along with Patrick Lawrence KC) in the Court of Appeal in its coverage dispute arising out of the fraud at the Jirehouse practices (Discovery Land LLC v AXIS).
Other examples of Helen’s recent work in this area include:
Helen’s insurance coverage work tallies well with her extensive experience of professional liability, disciplinary, corporate, financial services and injunctive matters.
Other types of insurance
Helen is also frequently called on to advise on other types of insurance dispute, most frequently with a construction, financial, insolvency, motor or property damage connection. Examples of this type of work include:
Helen’s disciplinary and regulatory practice is primarily focused on solicitors, barristers, accountants and auditors. She frequently acts in high profile Financial Reporting Council and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal proceedings, as well as in disciplinary proceedings against barristers. Helen is often brought into matters early, at the confidential investigation stage, to advise on and help shape the strategy. She also has a specialism in dealing with contempt of court applications against professionals.
Helen has recently been described by Chambers & Partners as “a very well-respected and very capable silk” in the field of professional discipline. Other comments in the directories include “a name to note as she is instructed in high-profile disciplinary matters”, “unflappable under pressure” and “she knows her stuff in regulatory issues like no one else” (Legal 500).
Featured Regulatory & Disciplinary cases
Accountancy/Audit
Solicitors and Barristers:
“Absolutely brilliant technically; she has certainly developed a niche in freezing orders and injunctions” – Chambers & Partners
Helen is sought after for her extensive experience in numerous multi-million pound claims arising from solicitors’ misappropriations of client funds. In recent years Helen has acted in multiple sets of complex litigation arising out of frauds by solicitors, one of which led to contempt proceedings before the Court of Appeal and another involved multi-party litigation in the Chancery Division.
Helen has also recently been involved in pursuing a high value insurance coverage dispute arising out of an underlying large-scale fraud by a solicitor at the Jirehouse practice (Discovery Land v Axa).
Helen regularly advises on the liability of accountants, auditors, directors, insolvency practitioners and others for frauds. Her cases often involve a company law or insolvency element and she is experienced at dealing with fraud in both the corporate and partnership context. She is adept at dealing with complex forensic accountancy evidence. Helen has extensive experience of obtaining urgent orders, including freezing injunctions, proprietary injunctions, orders to restrain parties from leaving the jurisdiction, committal and Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust orders. She often handles multiple connected applications in quick succession. She is calm under time pressure and strategic in her approach.
There has been a spate of recent cases where professionals involved as…
We were delighted to see Helen Evans KC featured this morning as…
In this latest episode of our back to basics Conversations in Professional…
M.A. (Oxon.) (First Class) C.P.E. (City) (Distinction) M.A. Administrative Law (City)
Prior to joining chambers, Helen read English Literature at New College, Oxford, where she was Galsworthy scholar and obtained a first class degree. She then spent a year at the University of Aix-Marseille III in France. Helen studied law at City University, where she gained a distinction in the CPE exams. During her Bar School year, Helen was Astbury Scholar of the Middle Temple, won the Inn’s Helena Normanton QC Prize for her performance in the Bar Vocational Course and also obtained an MA from City University. In 2004 Helen was awarded a Pegasus scholarship to work at Gowlings in Toronto, Canada.
For 10 years from 2013, Helen was a Deputy District Judge (and held both civil and family tickets). Until it was disbanded in 2020, she was a member of the Bar Standards Board’s Panel of Prosecuting Counsel for disciplinary proceedings and still prosecutes cases for the BSB on an ad hoc basis. Helen has been involved in various pro-bono organisations and is active in the Equality & Diversity work in chambers. Helen regularly publishes articles on legal matters and is a sought after speaker on legal topics.
Overview Many of the significant professional liability cases in 2023 dealt…
On 15 November 2023, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (“the…
4 New Square
Lincoln's Inn
London, WC2A 3RJ
BARRISTERS REGULATED BY
THE BAR STANDARDS BOARD
Accessibility | Cookies | Disclaimer | Equality & Diversity | Privacy Policy | © 4 New Square Chambers – All Rights Reserved | Site by Tela.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
wp_law_pdfbuilder_bespoke | 1 Year | Used for the portfolio builder |
wp_law_pdfbuilder_list | 1 Year | Used for the portfolio builder |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_ga_DJZVZPQ3PF | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. |
_gat_gtag_UA_196640177_1 | 1 minute | Set by Google to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
Select the expertise that you would like to download or add to the portfolio
Title | Type | CV |
---|
Click here to share this shortlist.
(It will expire after 30 days.)
Need more information about the above People and Expertise?
Talk to one of our clerks: +44 (0)20 7822 2000