Lucy Taylor

Degree:

M-Law (Masters) Northumbria

Year of call and Inn:

2016; Inner Temple

Professional Membership:

Western Circuit, CBA, ELA

Email:

lucy.taylor@albionchambers.co.uk

Specialist Areas:

Court of Protection

Crime, including Courts Martial

Employment and Professional Disciplinary

General common law including contract and tort, Landlord and Tenant, and other land and property disputes

Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence

Regulatory, including Health and Safety

Practice Overview:

Lucy Taylor became a tenant in Chambers in 2018 after completing her pupillage at Albion. Her pupillage covered all areas of chambers work and her supervisors were drawn from the employment, crime and family teams.

Lucy practises in these primary areas and has begun to develop her profile in Court of Protection matters as part of this growing team.

Client Recommendations:

“excellent in a very difficult matter”
“really impressed… involved cross examination of two youth witnesses via video link… sympathetic but very effective”
“able to hold her own against two very experienced advocates”

Areas of Practice

Crime

Tab 1 Title:

Lucy is instructed for both prosecution and defence in Magistrates’ and Crown Courts across the West Country. This has given her a broad foundation in criminal litigation and court advocacy, including being instructed in Crown Court jury trials.

Her instructing solicitors have particularly noted her down-to-earth approach and her real expertise and talent in dealing with youths, vulnerable witnesses and clients.

Lucy has a keen interest in cases with a modern-slavery aspect and delivers seminars on the subject. She is a CPS Grade 2 prosecutor.

Cases of interest:

R v Ravenhill (2020) – prosecution of a stalking offence involving putting an ex-partner in fear of violence on at least two occasions.

M v Chief Constable of Avon & Somerset Constabulary (2019) – Lucy was instructed by the Constabulary to conduct a number of pre-trial hearings and a multi-day appeal hearing in relation to an appeal of a Community Protection Notice. This involved advising on the evidence to be collated to defend the appeal and on the issuing of CPNs.

R v FL (2019) – defence of a youth charged with being concerned in the supply of class A. Involved a referral to the National Referral Mechanism to determine if the defendant was a victim of modern slavery or human trafficking.

Avon & Somerset Police v Lopresti (2019) – obtained a Slavery and Trafficking Risk Order against a defendant charged with modern slavery offences. The order is understood to be the first in the region.

R v Davis (2019) – prosecution of a £17,700.15 benefit fraud. The defendant was claiming DLA on the basis of being virtually unable to walk after alleging she was wheelchair bound and needed assistance seven days a week from 1999. The defendant failed to disclose a change in circumstances. This was uncovered following an investigation into her business, which transpired to be a brothel. Photographs of her undertaking activities on holiday were discovered along with CCTV of the Defendant climbing stairs without assistance.

R v Bottle (2019) – defence of a woman charged with a public order offence. After lengthy legal argument about the admissibility of CCTV evidence the case was dropped against five defendants.

R v Jory (2018) – trial in North Somerset Magistrates’ Court concerning an allegation of assault on two young girls. Lucy was instructed for the defence, she undertook her cross examination of the two complainants who appeared via video-link carefully and sensitively, the bench acquitted in under 20 minutes.

R v Martin (2018) – Swindon Crown Court. Instructed by the prosecution. The defendant was charged with various breaches of a restraining order stemming from an incident where the victim was pushed from a moving vehicle. The defendant was convicted and sentenced.

R v White (2018) – prosecuting a breach of Sexual Offences Prevention Order made in 2005, the order was based on the defendant’s long history of sexually-related offending and offences of the most serious kind including the killing of a child. Lucy prosecuted the defendant for the subsequent breaches of the order, the defendant was convicted and received a term of imprisonment.

R v Millard (2018) – defence of a man charged with using a mobile telephone whilst driving. After Lucy cross examined the two police witnesses, the bench acquitted.

Article:

When credibility is not the determining factor

Crime Clerks:
Bonnie Colbeck
E: bonnie.colbeck@albionchambers.co.uk
T: 0117 311 0301

Ken Duthie
E: ken.duthie@albionchambers.co.uk
T: 0117 311 0368

Joanna Cload
E: joanna.cload@albionchambers.co.uk
T: 0117 927 1253

Employment

Tab 2 Title:

Lucy has a growing employment practice and is instructed by claimants and respondents in equal measure. She has garnered a national practice over the last year, having been instructed for cases in Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds covering a wide range of issues, including:

Unfair dismissal;
Discrimination: race, sex, age and disability;
Equal pay claims;
Wrongful dismissal;
Breach of contract.

Lucy is frequently instructed at the outset of a case to advise as to prospects of success. Recent examples include:

M (2019) – advice on prospects of success of disability discrimination, sex discrimination and victimisation claims. Involved analysing communications between colleagues and previous feedback on the promotion process to determine whether the claims had prospects.

L (2019) – advised on whether there was an unfair-dismissal claim arising out of private group Whatsapp messages with colleagues. Involved discussing the status of private messages against the backdrop of various company policies.

J (2018) – instructed for the claimant in a case concerning allegations of unpaid commission/unpaid unlawful deductions. The case focussed upon the interpretation of a complex claw-back contractual term.

C (2018) – employment claim regarding a civilian security officer working at a military base. The claimant was dismissed for gross misconduct after allegedly leaving an entrance to the military base unsecured. The claimant relied upon a custom and practice in relation to this entrance, and argued dissimilar treatment.

Seminars:

Lucy has recently presented an in-house seminar on directors’ bonus payments and 'strike out, deposit orders and costs'.

Articles:

Massages and mixed messages

Disability, deadlines and data: time limits, how strictly must they be adhered to?

Employment status: Varnish, Velodromes and Vento

Back to basics: calculating compensation in unfair dismissal claims

Cases of interest:

RG, C v PI, C, M & M (2020) – instructed on behalf of the third and fourth respondent in a TUPE case involving a public house. The public house was closed for a period of three months instead of the anticipated two weeks. The previous landlady was informed that there would no longer be a transfer. The claim was issued. One month later the third respondent leased the public house and subsequently entered into a joint lease with the fourth respondent. The case also involved changes in how the business was run behind the scenes despite the public house operating under the same name and providing the same services.

S v F (2019) – instructed on behalf of the claimant in relation to an unfair dismissal case. The issue was whether there had been a fair investigation into allegations of sexual harassment in the work place.

M v D (2019) – advised and conducted the preliminary hearing on behalf of the claimant. Drafted correspondence for the Tribunal to further particularise the claim. The claimant worked for a government organisation that failed to make reasonable adjustments upon her return to work following disability absence. The claimant was subjected to an oppressive absence procedure that did not take into account her disabilities, despite purporting to do so. The case involved delving beneath the surface to establish that the respondent had acted inappropriately, and unlawfully.

M v C (2019) – instructed for the respondent. The main issue in this case was jurisdiction. The claim was significantly out of time and the claimant was an agency worker, so could not claim for unfair dismissal.

G v I (2019) – instructed for the respondent; a large multi-office organisation. The heads of claim were constructive unfair dismissal, failure to make reasonable adjustments and failure to pay severance pay. Initially the judge wanted to determine jurisdiction only at the preliminary hearing, but Lucy effectively argued that all issues should be dealt with at a preliminary hearing on the basis that none of them have reasonable prospects of success.

B v J (2019) – instructed for the claimant through the Bar Pro Bono Unit in a case against a well-known supermarket. The central issues were disability discrimination including failure to make reasonable adjustments, constructive unfair dismissal, harassment and victimisation. Lucy was instrumental in narrowing the issues and shaping the separate heads of claim.

Testimonials:

“her abilities at such a junior stage of her career far outstripped many more experienced advocates”. Employment Judge

Clerk:
Stephen Arnold
E: stephen.arnold@albionchambers.co.uk
T: 0117 311 0310

Court of Protection

Tab 3 Title:

Lucy's Court of Protection case-load is increasing, appearing throughout the West Country either in-person or as part of telephone hearings.

Cases of interest:

A (2018) – instructed by the agency with education-related oversight, involving a severely disabled woman. Four separate agencies; government bodies and parties were involved, including the official solicitor. The parties were seeking to secure the most appropriate accommodation and education for the protected party and an effective transition process was required.

Clerk:
Stephen Arnold
E: stephen.arnold@albionchambers.co.uk
T: 0117 311 0310

Civil

Tab 4 Title:

Lucy's practice includes MOJ stage 3 hearings, fast track trials, civil applications, injunctions and small claims.

H (2020) – instructed by the defendant in a small claim concerning an RTA on a residential street.

S (2019) – instructed by the claimant recruitment company in relation to a contractual dispute. The claimant supplied teachers to schools to cover temporary absences. They issued a claim for the fees due if the school recruits the teachers directly or via another agency within a set period, defined within the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations. Lucy’s role also included advising on the prospects of success.

W (2018) – the claimant brought a claim for damages against a government department arising out of personal injuries sustained as a result of RTC caused by negligent driving. After liability had been admitted by the government department the defendant sought to re-open the issue of liability based on allegations of ‘fundamental dishonesty’. Lucy also made successful submissions as to costs following the court’s decision.

D (2018) – Lucy represented the defendant in this Stage 3 hearing relating to the assessment of damages for multiple injuries, including an assertion of psychiatric injury. By cross-referencing multiple medico-legal reports, Lucy was able to establish a pre-existing psychiatric condition, resulting in the final award being substantially less than that originally claimed.

M (2018) – instructed by the applicant Housing Association, Lucy sought and obtained a possession order of a house as part of social housing, following significant and disruptive anti-social behaviour by the occupant and her associates.

Clerk:
Stephen Arnold
E: stephen.arnold@albionchambers.co.uk
T: 0117 311 0310

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