Brendan regularly appears in private and public law children cases, particularly those where international or complex medical issues arise. By way of example, he has recently acted for parents whose son refused life-saving medical treatment on religious grounds; for a young baby in whose medical treatment his mother was accused of interfering; and in several cases where child abduction is alleged. He is instructed on behalf of local authorities, parents and children’s guardians. Brendan is a member of the Family Law Bar Association and the International Bar Association.
Ranked as a leading junior in personal injury law in The Legal 500 (2009), Brendan is regularly instructed in high value personal injury claims. He has particular expertise in group litigation and social work/education negligence cases. He is a member of the Personal Injury Bar Association.
Brendan also specialises in clinical negligence cases, including cases of obstetric negligence leading to cerebral palsy or Erb’s palsy, negligent psychiatric care, and negligent surgery. He is a member of the Professional Negligence Bar Association.
Brendan speaks on his areas of expertise, recent examples including lectures on defending social services claims, child abduction, and the Adoption and Children Act 2002. In September he spoke on recent developments in International Child Relocation (a topic on which he recently made a podcast ‘Recent Developments in International Child Relocation’ ) and in November 2010 he spoke on recent important cases in public law children cases.
Brendan has a special interest in the needs of those with a learning disability and is developing a practice in Court of Protection cases.
Key cases
Barrett v Enfield LBC [2001] 2 AC 550, House of Lords
S v Gloucestershire; L v Tower Hamlets [2001] Fam 313, Court of Appeal
W v S County Council [2001] EWCA 691
Maddock v Devon CC [2004] EWHC 3494
Re K (a child) [2006] EWCA Civ 1881
Forde Park Approved School Child Abuse litigation
Recent Articles
Brendan recently wrote about the limits of expertise in the SJ Expert Witness Supplement. A link to the article is here.
'International Relocation: Case for a Payne-less future' Family Law September 2010
Contact Brendan Roche
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7242 3555
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7242 2511
Email: clerks@7br.co.uk