Sarah is a Partner, Head of the Eversheds Sutherland Public Inquiries and Investigations team.
She is also Co-Head of Propel, which is the Litigation Technology and Legal Project Management team for Eversheds Sutherland International.
In terms of her public inquiry experience, Sarah has worked on a number of high-profile public inquiries, and she leads the team who is currently acting on a wide range of matters, including public inquiries and nonstatutory investigations. She led a team of lawyers acting as solicitors to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (investigating allegations of abuse of children in care), acting for a core participant in the Leveson Inquiry (investigating the role of the press and the police in the phone-hacking scandal), had a lead role on the Rosemary Nelson Public Inquiry (a prominent human rights solicitor who was killed by an under-car explosive – there were allegations of state collusion in her death), and a lead role in Eversheds Sutherland’s work for the Baha Mousa Inquiry.
Sarah was also Deputy Solicitor to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. Her role involved advising the Inquiry’s Secretariat Team and the Chairman on procedural and project management matters, avoiding adjournments and managing the Eversheds Sutherland team. Sarah was instrumental in developing and managing the bespoke IT systems used by the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry to manage the inquiry’s rolling timetable. Eversheds Sutherland was awarded second place in the Financial Times awards for innovation in recognition of these systems, which ensured that the inquiry finished in record time.
She acts on behalf of inquiries and also represents organizations or individuals with an interest in an inquiry. Sarah is currently leading the teams representing clients who are core participants to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the Infected Blood Inquiry. She has liaised with and interviewed a wide range of witnesses through her work on public inquiries, including politicians, lawyers, senior civil servants, police officers, members of the armed forces and members of the security service. Sarah has had a key role in setting up Eversheds Sutherland's IT and internal processes when working on these inquiries. She holds a higher level security clearance (Developed Vetted clearance) and is conversant with the protocols for handling protectively marked material.
Sarah is also involved in nonstatutory inquiries. She led a team appointed by Birmingham City Council to assist and advise an independent investigator (Ian Kershaw) on the Trojan Horse Inquiry. Sarah currently leads the team who have been appointed as the Commissioning Body for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Telford.
In addition to her public inquiry work, she is Co-Head of the Propel team, which delivers legal technology and project management solutions. She is Prince II qualified and has been instrumental in both the development of the Propel offering (both technology solutions and LPM) and of the team, which consists of legal project managers and technology analysts.
Sarah was recognized by The Lawyer as one of the “Hot 100” lawyers for 2017 and 2020. Sarah and the team on the Trojan Horse Inquiry were nominated for the Legal Business Awards 2015 “Litigation Team of the Year” award.
Sarah is a co-author of the book titled "The Practical Guide to Public Inquiries" published by Hart in December 2020.
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