What’s new in lawyers’ liability in autumn 2024?
Returning from the summer break is a good time to take stock…
Legal 500
“She provides technically excellent advice and is a real fighter.”
Helen Evans KC is a leading barrister practising in professional liability, disciplinary, regulatory, insurance coverage, fraud, contempt of court and commercial work.
Helen believes in cutting through complexity and bringing a rigorous strategy to her cases. She is a clear and robust advocate, calm under pressure, and relishes working in a team.
Helen is ranked by the legal directories in the fields of professional liability, insurance and professional discipline. She has been noted as being “formidable on paper, on her feet and in cross-examination”, “able to make the judge see exactly what she wants” and having a “wonderful ability to drill down to the core facts, paring away all that is irrelevant and presenting things in a clear and reasoned manner”. She has also been described as “intellectually brilliant, a clear thinker who cuts to the chase” and as someone who can “unpick the most complicated of cases”. In addition, she has been commended as “hands on and approachable”, operating “very much as part of the team”, and as being “efficient and available” despite being in “huge (and well-deserved) demand”.
Helen’s recent accountancy and audit related work includes acting for a Big 4 Firm being sued over tax advice by a hedge fund billionaire, and representing the main KPMG partner in the FRC proceedings arising out of the collapse of Carillion (which was named by the Lawyer as one of the top 20 cases of 2022). She is proficient in financial services related matters, as well as in dealing with the fallout of corporate collapses and failures by directors.
Helen is also involved in high-profile cases involving solicitors and barristers. In recent years she he has appeared in notable lawyers’ claims in the Court of Appeal, such as the leading case on abuse of process in claims against solicitors (Allsop v Banner Jones), the insurance coverage dispute arising out of the Jirehouse fraud (Discovery Land v AXIS) and a challenge to the disbarment of a barrister (Bar Standards Board v Sophia Cannon).
Helen regularly undertakes regulatory and disciplinary work. She has represented a number of solicitors in investigations or in proceedings before the SDT, particularly involving the anti-money laundering regime or misuse of client accounts. She has both prosecuted and advised barristers in disciplinary matters. She has also acted for numerous accountants and auditors in FRC and other disciplinary investigations and proceedings.
Helen has particular expertise in obtaining freezing and other injunctions in claims involving professionals, as well as bringing and defending contempt of court proceedings (including in the Court of Appeal). She also has considerable experience of insurance coverage disputes, (both in court and in arbitration) and litigation arising out of share purchase agreements.
Helen is co-editor of the solicitors’ and barristers’ chapters in Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability. In 2024 she was appointed as the Chair of the Appeal Committee of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Prior to taking silk Helen was named Chambers and Partners Junior of the Year in the Professional Negligence category. She was also a Deputy District Judge and a member of the former BSB panel of prosecuting counsel.
In 2022 Helen was “Lawyer of the Week” in The Times for her work on a claim against lawyers and arbitrators.
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“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).
In 2024 Helen was appointed as the Chair of the Appeal Committee of CIMA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, a part-time role involving hearing appeals against disciplinary tribunal findings.
Featured Regulatory & Disciplinary cases
Accountancy/Audit
Solicitors and Barristers:
She acted for a firm of solicitors and insurance company which first obtained freezing and proprietary injunctions against a partner for misappropriating funds, and then successfully applied to commit her to prison for breach of those orders (Law House and Great Lakes Insurance v Adams). The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the term of imprisonment.
Recent examples of her work defending contempt proceedings include:
Helen has published two recent articles on contempt: Why are there so many cases against lawyers for contempt of court? and What’s gone wrong with the law of contempt?
She also has experience of seeking injunctions and other orders which often give rise to contempt proceedings, and allied recovery actions.
“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.
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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.
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