Biography
Zoe is a Solicitor in the Risk & Regulation team.
Zoe works with clients in highly regulated sectors, providing advice on investigations and prosecutions, crisis management and complex regulatory compliance issues, including regulatory crime.
Zoe’s practice specialises in health and safety and environmental law, providing advice to clients in a broad range of sectors with her practice covering inquests, public inquiries, environmental risk management and marine regulation. She was named as ‘Legal 500 Rising Star’ for Environmental Law in the South West.
Zoe also regularly works with the energy, commercial and corporate teams, providing regulatory and litigation due diligence advice on large-scale mergers and acquisitions.
Zoe’s work covers regulatory crime, including motoring offences, manslaughter and working closely with Marine and Transport Partner Lara Moore to lead prosecutions on behalf of port and harbour operators.
Relevant experience
Health and Safety
- Conducting health and safety due diligence to the seller of a major UK supported living / learning disability care business being sold by auction.
- Providing advice and representation for a police and HSE investigation, following a fatality of a young boy after being trapped in farm machinery.
- Assisting with the successful defence of a company director charged with gross negligence manslaughter following the death of a worker carrying out glazing installation at a retail park. The trial took place in Bristol Crown Court in January 2022.
- Providing advice and representation for inquests (detailed below).
- Providing submissions on behalf of a highly regarded and reputable licenced professional participant in horse racing, following an application for withdrawal of his licence from the British Horse Association for failure to comply with health and safety responsibilities.
Environmental
- Advising on environmental regulations and waste permits for large scale waste companies.
- Providing advice and representation in respect of EA investigations and prosecutions.
- Conducting environmental due diligence on the acquisition of three major anaerobic digester sites, recycling companies.
Inquests and Inquiries
- Providing advice and representation for high-profile witnesses for the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
- Providing advice and representation for a core participant of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
- Providing advice and representation for a scout leader at a high-profile, 7 week inquest, following the death of a scout in August 2018 in the Great Orme in North Wales.
- Providing advice and carrying out the advocacy for family members in respect of inquests concerning the death of family members at care homes.
Other
- Successfully leading prosecutions against individuals for breaches of byelaws and harbour laws in ports and harbours on behalf of Harbour Authorities.
- Providing advice and representation in respect of motor offences.
- Advising Port and Harbour operators in relation to a range of regulatory matters.
- Providing advice on conducting due diligence for identifying and preventing modern slavery in the supply chain.
- Providing advice for Freedom of Information Requests and Environmental Information Requests.
