Courtney Daley
07-12-2009Proprietary estoppel claims: Avoiding the “Er…” and the “um….” with reference to Davies v. Davies [2016] EWCA Civ 463
05-10-2016
Laura Gardner
Laura joined Unity Street Chambers in 2014 following the successful completion of her pupillage. She has excellent client communication skills and thrives working under pressure.
2012 Gray's Inn
“Laura’s legal expertise cannot be faulted, and she stands out from the crowd on the basis that she is an absolute pleasure to work with. An incredible ability to sift through reams of paperwork and identify the key issues with precision”
“Laura prepares her cases in staggering detail. She has great client care skills and is highly recommended.”
- 2011-2012: BPTC (Outstanding)
- 2007-2011: Law and German LLB (Hons) University of Bristol
- 2014: Ann Felicity Goddard Scholarship (Gray’s Inn)
- 2012: Western Circuit Advocacy Prize
- 2011: Gray’s Inn Junior Award
Asylum and Immigration
- C v SSHD: Involved an appeal of the refusal of the asylum claim of a Somalian national (minority clan member). Adverse credibility findings had been made against the appellant in respect of his substantive account at a previous hearing and those findings had been preserved by the Upper Tribunal. Laura successfully argued that new country and linguistic expert reports which addressed the significance of the appellant’s ability to speak Swahili and inability to speak Somali rendered it appropriate to depart from findings made in the previous determination. The appellant’s minority clan membership was accepted at the De Novo hearing.
- N v SSHD: Successful appeal to the Upper Tribunal following a decision of the First-Tier to refuse an asylum appeal of a Ugandan national based on sexual orientation. The Home Office conceded the appeal at the De Novo hearing following the submission of Laura’s skeleton argument.
- N v SSHD: Laura successfully appealed the Home Office refusal of asylum in a case involving a child victim of human trafficking.
Family
- Re W: Laura represented the mother in public law proceedings who was accused of being involved in arranging the kidnap of the child while in the father’s care.
- P v M: Laura acted for the mother in private law proceedings, all 5 of the mother’s allegations were either conceded in cross-examination or found proved during a fact-finding hearing.
Personal Injury
- S v BLL: Laura represented the claimant child in respect of injuries to his foot in an incident involving the pedal of a go-kart. Liability, causation and quantum were in dispute. Laura successfully argued that rather than for want of parental supervision, the Defendant’s own procedures and systems were inadequate and it had not taken all reasonably practicable steps to discharge the duty owed under section 2 of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957.
Landlord and Tenant
- F v W & R: Laura represented Defendant tenants in a claim for possession. Once instructed, Laura identified a point of law that invalidated the s21 Notice thus ending proceedings in the Defendants’ favour without the need for a trial.
- M v T: Laura represented the Claimant in a claim for unpaid rent and defended the counter-claim for compensation for improvements in respect of a dispute arising under the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995.
Details
Laura joined Unity Street Chambers in 2014 following the successful completion of her pupillage. She has excellent client communication skills and thrives working under pressure, particularly in court where her expertise as both a firm and persuasive advocate is admired. Her attention to detail and rigorous preparation has made her increasingly sought after by clients.
Family
Laura has a thriving family practice with a focus on private and public children proceedings. Her approach to dealing with and managing anxious and often vulnerable clients is complemented by her immigration and asylum work.
Laura represents both applicants and respondents in roughly equal measure through all stages of private law children matters including at multi-day fact-finding hearings, final hearings and enforcement hearings.
Laura frequently deals with cases involving domestic abuse and is regularly instructed to represent applicants and respondents in applications for non-molestation and occupation orders.
Laura has a quickly expanding public law practice and is instructed by local authorities and parents in respect of ICOs, IRHs, CMHs and final hearings.
Landlord and Tenant
Social housing: Laura accepts instructions from claimants and defendants in a wide range of cases such as anti-social behaviour injunctions and possession proceedings (including cases featuring Equality Act 2010 issues).
Private landlord and tenant: Laura acts for both landlords and tenants in disputes arising out of residential tenancies. She has particular experience in possession proceedings, disputes arising out of lack of protection of tenancy deposits and service/management charge disputes.
