ESG: experts and extractive industries
The High Court recently reiterated restrictions on the use of expert evidence,…
Chambers & Partners
“Isabel is an absolute star. Her attention to detail and grasp of the issues is exemplary, and she is calm and reassuring with clients”
Isabel practises in Professional Negligence, Product Liability, Property Damage, Group Litigation work, Commercial Fraud, Commercial Dispute Resolution and Private International Law.
She frequently appears as sole Counsel against KCs. In addition, she has been lead junior in complex cases for several years, is adept at dealing with technical expert evidence, and has a real aptitude for absorbing large amounts of information quickly.
She was nominated for Professional Negligence Junior of the Year at the Chambers Bar Awards 2022, and for Group Litigation and Consumer Junior of the Year at the Legal 500 Awards 2022 and 2023. She is recommended in the directories as a leading practitioner for Professional Negligence, Product Liability, Property Damage and Group Litigation work.
Isabel is Associate Editor of, as well as expert contributor to, Mark Simpson, Professional Negligence and Liability (Informa, updated twice yearly), and she is an expert contributor on product liability to Howard Palmer KC, Property Damage (Bloomsbury, 2023). She is also joint General Editor of Bloomsbury’s ‘Journal of Professional Negligence’, published quarterly, and a member of the PNBA Executive Committee.
Prior to coming to the bar, Isabel worked in the charitable sector. She graduated from Cambridge with a BA (Hons) in History. She was also a Major Scholar of the Inner Temple.
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Isabel was nominated for Professional Negligence Junior of the Year at the Chambers Bar Awards 2022.
She has been recommended for several years in both legal directories for professional negligence, described as “immensely bright, tenacious and easy to work with” in Legal 500, where she is ranked as Band 1, and as “a real rising star. I would want her involved in any professional negligence case” in Chambers & Partners UK Bar Guide.
Isabel’s professional negligence practice encompasses a wide range of professions, including accountants, auditors, receivers, solicitors, barristers and construction professionals. She acts for both claimants and defendants and is frequently instructed as sole Counsel.
She is Associate Editor of, as well as expert contributor to, Mark Simpson, Professional Negligence and Liability (Informa, updated twice yearly). She is also joint General Editor of Bloomsbury’s ‘Journal of Professional Negligence’, published quarterly, and a member of the PNBA Executive Committee.
Isabel is currently acting for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and its Tenant Management Organisation (led by David Turner KC and Clare Dixon KC) in relation to recovery actions arising out of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Notable Professional Negligence cases
Isabel was shortlisted for Group Litigation & Consumer Junior of the Year at the 2022 and 2023 Legal 500 Bar Awards.
She is recommended in the Directories as “the best product liability junior out there for complex claims. She is phenomenally bright and hard-working, and a delight to deal with. Great strategic mind” (Legal 500) and as having a “a first-class intellect combined with… a thorough understanding of technical evidence” (Chambers UK Bar).
Her product liability practice covers disputes arising from medical devices and pharmaceuticals, construction products, industrial and IT equipment, automotive products, white goods and other household goods. Isabel also deals with claims with a cross-border element.
Isabel is currently acting for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and its Tenant Management Organisation (led by David Turner KC and Clare Dixon KC) in relation to recovery actions arising out of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Isabel has also provided evidence of product liability law for the Polish courts.
She is an expert contributor on product liability to Howard Palmer KC, Property Damage (Bloomsbury, 2023).
Click here for a link to Isabel and others at 2TG’s Practical Guide to the Consumer Protection Act 1987
Notable Product Liability Cases
Isabel’s property damage work frequently involves damage to domestic and commercial premises caused by fire, floods and explosions, in addition to cases involving nuisance and igniis suus.
She has been recognised in Chambers UK as being a “very thorough and technically able barrister” who “gets to grips with the facts and the legal issues quickly, and provides clear and concise advice”.
Isabel is currently acting for Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Tenant Management Organisation (led by David Turner KC and Clare Dixon KC) in relation to recovery actions arising out of the Grenfell Tower fire, and in relation to a multi-million pound fire led by Neil Moody KC.
Other notable cases include Wilson v Beko Plc [2019] EWHC 3362 (QB), [2019] 12 WLUK 105 concerning whether a consumer could make a claim for property damage under safety regulations/s.41 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
Isabel is a contributor to Howard Palmer KC, Property Damage (Bloomsbury, 2023), an Associate Editor of, and also expert contributor to Mark Simpson, Professional Negligence and Liability (Informa, updated twice yearly). She is also joint General Editor of Bloomsbury’s ‘Journal of Professional Negligence’, published quarterly.
Isabel was shortlisted for Group Litigation & Consumer Junior of the Year at the 2022 and 2023 Legal 500 Bar Awards. She was recognised recently in Legal 500 as “very clever and good to work with, highly organised and an effective project manager of a large group action”.
She is an experienced lead junior and is adept at managing teams of juniors in complex cases.
She has been involved in significant mass tort claims such as recovery actions arising out of the Grenfell Tower, and in several product liability claims including vaginal mesh claims (where she frequently appears as sole Counsel for a manufacturer), intraocular lenses, hips (Allen v Depuy [2015] EWHC 926 (QB), [2015] 2 WLR 442) and beauty products. In addition, Isabel has experience of group litigation claims with a private international element, including involving parent companies in the UK in relation to actions of its foreign subsidiaries.
Isabel has an extensive commercial fraud expertise. This often stems from her professional negligence practice (in particular receivers, tax advisers, and approved inspectors) and from her product liability practice (where dangerous products are alleged to have been placed and/or kept on the market knowingly).
Notable Commercial Fraud cases
Isabel has a well-developed Commercial Dispute Resolution practice. She has particular expertise in construction, manufacturing and professional services claims. This includes claims arising out of the supply of complex products (including IT products) and construction products, contractual ‘chains’ and profit-sharing agreements.
She has a special interest in questions of employers’ vicarious liability having appeared in Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc [2016] UKSC 11, [2016] AC 677 in the Supreme Court.
Recent cases include: questions of jurisdiction, applicable law and service out in relation to products imported into (and out of) the UK including Regent Superbowl & Others v Slush Puppie acting (led by Neil Moody KC) for a defendant supplier of an iced drink machine said to be the cause of a multi-million pound fire (ongoing); the territorial scope of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (Allen v Depuy [2019] EWHC 3362 (QB), [2019] 12 WLUK 105); complex issues arising out of large multinational contracts, and claims brought against holding companies for, inter alia, the actions of their foreign subsidiary.
Professional Liability and Regulatory Conference 2024
We are delighted to announce that Amanda Savage KC has commenced her…
We are delighted to announce that “rising star” Isabel Barter has joined…
• BVC (Outstanding), BPP Law School
• GDL (Distinction), City Law School
• BA (Hons) History, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University
The High Court recently reiterated restrictions on the use of expert evidence,…
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