Claire Rawle

Claire is a Partner who leads the Health, Safety and Environmental team which is recognised as having one of the leading Health and Safety practices in the UK.

Main areas of practice

Claire leads the firm’s cross-office Compliance, Investigations and Prosecutions team which is recognised as having one of the leading Health and Safety practices in Wales and the South of England. Claire has over 28 years’ experience advising and representing clients in the private and public sectors across a range of industries on a variety of regulatory and criminal enforcement issues and Coroner’s Inquests.

Claire has experience of prosecuting cases in Magistrates’ and Crown Courts but in recent years, she has focussed exclusively on her defence practice and, in particular to advising and assisting clients throughout Wales and England facing investigation by the Police and/or HSE.  A considerable number of her cases have been complex and attracted significant media interest at a local and national level.

Claire and her team provide a 24-7 Critical Incident Response Service for clients and our work includes:

• Advising senior management teams throughout the course of a joint investigation by Police / Regulatory Authorities following a work related fatality including disclosure and interviews under caution;
• Defending criminal prosecutions brought by the CPS for corporate and/or gross negligence manslaughter following a work related fatality;
• Representing clients throughout criminal investigations by Regulatory Authorities including HSE, the Environment Agency (EA), and local authorities on a range of regulatory issues;
• Defending prosecutions brought by Regulatory Authorities in Magistrates’ and Crown Courts;
• Conducting Appeals against enforcement notices issues by Regulatory Authorities; and
• Representing ‘Interested Persons’ at Coroner’s inquests.

Clients

Claire’s clients includes Regulators, health and care providers including NHS bodies, Local Authorities and Central Government and she is Legal 500 as a leading expert in her field.

Expertise

• Regulatory, Disciplinary & Compliance
• Critical Incident
• Health and Safety

Career

Claire qualified as a solicitor in 1992 and has recently celebrated her 30 year anniversary with the firm. Claire heads the firm’s cross office Compliance, Inquest and Prosecutions team and was named in the 2021 Legal 500 Hall of Fame.