Public inquiry law – perfect for an inquiring mind

London-based solicitor Anna O'Neil writes about her career path to date, as she's worked towards becoming a specialist in public inquiries such as the ongoing UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Since qualifying as a solicitor in September 2021, I have had the opportunity to work on several high-profile Scottish and UK public inquiries. Whilst public inquiries are still considered to be a relatively new and emerging instrument within legal practice, they are increasingly being recognised for their ability to transparently investigate issues of serious public concern.

Admittedly, my path to becoming a public inquiry lawyer happened by virtue of fortunate timing. Since my days as an undergraduate LLB student at the University of Glasgow, I had always been fascinated by discussions surrounding Medical Law and Ethics, particularly concerning the issues of capacity and medical decision-making in maternity and paediatric cases.

After undertaking legal work experience at the NHS Central Legal Office, in addition to volunteering as a Patient Advocate at my local hospital, I was driven to pursue a career in medical negligence litigation. Upon completion of my traineeship, I continued to work for my training firm within their Healthcare, Public Law and Regulatory team.

Due to a recent staff departure, I was asked to temporarily assist the team’s lead partner with her public and regulatory law caseload. At two months PQE, I was given my first opportunity to work on a public inquiry, acting for my client who was engaged as a Core Participant in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

For several weeks I attended both virtually and in-person at the evidential hearings, listening to witness evidence led by Senior Counsel to the Inquiry. Thereafter, I assisted with the preparation of closing submissions alongside our instructed Senior Counsel. Whilst the issues being explored by the inquiry were emotionally distressing, I quickly realised that I preferred the inquisitorial system as a means of conducting an investigation to determine facts, as opposed to the adversarial system which I had become familiar with during my traineeship.

Eager to gain further public inquiry experience, I joined the Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry in January 2022, this time working as an assistant solicitor to the inquiry itself. At five months PQE, I was the most junior solicitor within the team. My workload was extremely varied, from taking witness statements and instructing expert reports to drafting confidentiality agreements. My favourite part of working within the inquiry’s legal team was the close working relationship the assistant solicitors fostered with Counsel to the Inquiry. I would speak with Junior and Senior Counsel daily, and it was an incredibly valuable learning opportunity at such an early stage in my career.

This year, I decided to further challenge myself and explore public inquiry practice outside of Scotland. In March, I moved to London and joined TLT LLP as an Associate. First established by Zaqia Rashid in November 2021, TLT’s Public Inquiries and Public Law team has since been recognised as the fastest growing and largest public inquiry team in the UK, acclaimed for its expertise in both public inquiry and public law practice. During my short time with the firm, I have had the opportunity to work on two major public inquiries. Currently, I am representing a senior and high-profile client engaged as a Core Participant to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

It's difficult to describe what my day-to-day practice is as public inquiry lawyer, as the beauty of my job is that it is incredibly varied. My workload is also largely dependent on the stage of the inquiry proceedings.

A major theme to my work is the assessment of evidence. As a Core Participant legal representative, I’m regularly tasked with assessing evidence either shared with me from my client or disclosed by the Inquiry from other Core Participants. The volume of evidence can be into the tens of thousands of documents, meaning that it’s extremely important to be conscientious and have an excellent understanding of the issues facing your client. This can be one of the most challenging aspects of my job, trying to perform a thorough review of all available evidence, within the strict timescales set by the inquiry for conducting evidential hearings.

One of my favourite responsibilities is assisting with the drafting of witness statements. The inquiry will typically issue to the witness a Rule 9 request (Rule 8 under The Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007), which sets out specific questions or issues that the witness should seek to address within their statement.

When acting for an inquiry witness, recording a true and accurate reflection of your client’s knowledge/experience of an issue is an extremely important task. It is also an excellent way to gain a deepened understanding of your client’s involvement in the issues being explored. Alongside drafting responsibilities, the solicitor must consider what pieces of evidence are most supportive to the issues addressed by the client, and therefore should be exhibited to their statement. This ties back to my earlier point of the importance of conducting a thorough review of all the available evidence.

For me, the most exciting aspect of my job is the role I play in exploring the most topical and high-profile issues being examined within the legal profession. Each inquiry’s Terms of Reference are unique, meaning I’ve had the privilege to contribute to the examination of issues exploring death in police custody, race, historic child abuse and UK pandemic planning and decision-making – all within my first two years of practice.

My advice to anyone considering a career within public inquiry practice would be to explore some of the current inquiries taking place across the UK. Due to their public nature, there are so many resources available online which showcase the work of all those engaged in public inquiry proceedings.

Whilst it is beneficial to have a background in litigation, I wouldn’t consider this to be a fixed prerequisite for a career in public inquiry practice. There are a number of transferable skills that can also be found in other areas of the legal profession, eg document review, drafting and project management skills. Whilst I am still junior within the legal profession, I’m very proud of the experiences I have gained so far. I would encourage anyone considering a career as a public inquiry lawyer to try it out!