SUSAN GROCOTT QC

BA (Oxon)

Call 1986     Middle Temple

Queens Counsel 2008
 

Family and private client

grocott@deanscourt.co.uk

 

‘Clever, conscientious and dedicated to her work’
– Chambers UK 2007
‘Calls a spade a spade and has a fantastic grasp of issues’
– Chambers UK 2008
‘Applauded for her sensible and hard-working attitude.’
– Chambers UK 2009
'in her element with medical issues in childcare proceedings'
- Legal 500, 2009
'recommended for [her] sensitivity in care cases.'
- Legal 500, 2010
"she talks the same language as her clients, which enables her to forge strong relationships with them."
- Chambers UK 2011
'recommended for childcare matters'
- Legal 500, 2011
'offers no-nonsense advocacy, phenomenal memory and thorough preparation.'
- Chambers UK, 2012 

Legal 500

Individual 

Education

Oulder Hill Community School

Exeter College, Oxford (BA)


Profile

Susan undertook her pupillage in London in Fountain Court where she was the pupil of Peter Goldsmith, the former attorney general and David Railton, and at 5 Pump Court with Michael Jennings.

In 1988 Susan joined Queens Chambers in Manchester and soon established a busy family law practice being in demand for both money work and care proceedings. Susan moved to the family team at Deans Court Chambers in 2002 from where she built a formidable reputation as a leading family practitioner particularly in both money and public law children work. Susan’s practice has always encompassed all aspects of family and related work including professional negligence claims in the family field, TOLATA, declaratory work and judicial review.

In 2008 Susan was appointed to the rank of Queens Counsel. She was leading counsel for the local authority in the seminal case of Re S-B which was one of the first family cases to be heard by the Supreme Court. 

She has developed a reputation for a meticulous eye for detail and powerful, straight forward advocacy.  In silk Susan continues to undertake both money and care work but she increasingly undertakes advisory work for various public bodies on practice/policy issues.

Susan is a speaker in demand and gives seminars on a variety of topics in chambers and to a number of organisations in the North.

 

Notable Cases

Re S-B (Children) [2009] UKSC 17 [2010] 1 FLR 1161

Lancashire County Council v R [2008] EWHC 2959 (Fam) [2010] 1 FLR 387

Re AB (Care Proceedings: Disclosure of Medical Evidence to Police) [2002] EWHC 2198 (Fam) [2003] 1 FLR 579

 

Appointment

2004 Recorder (Northern Circuit) – Crime & Family (Public and Private Law)   2010 Deputy High Court Judge

 

Professional Associations

Family Law Bar Association, Joint Chair Manchester Committee

Manchester Family Justice Council, FLBA representative

Silk representative on the Bar Council

Northern Administrative Law Association

4 Jurisdictions Organising Committee Northern Circuit