Juliet Wells

Year of Call: 2016

Practice Areas

Juliet Wells

Year of Call: 2016

Practice Areas

Experience

Juliet joined Chambers in October 2018 after completing her pupillage under the supervision of Marcus Grant, Paul McGrath and Myles Grandison.

She is developing a busy practice across all of Chambers’ core practice areas, with a particular focus on personal injury, inquests and inquiries, public law, extradition, and costs and civil procedure. She is also keen to accept instructions in the fields of employment and education law, having previously undertaken pro bono work in these areas.

During pupillage, Juliet was involved in a wide range of matters, including contempt of court proceedings arising out of fraudulent “cash for crash” claims (Liverpool Victoria Insurance v Yavuz & Others [2017] EWHC 3088 (QB)); advising on the proper construction of s.7 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009; a test case before the Divisional Court on whether extradition to Poland would violate Art. 6 of the ECHR, in light of constitutional changes enacted by the Polish government (Lis, Lange and Chmielewski v Poland, judgment awaited); appeals in the Upper Tribunal concerning the application of Para. 322(5) of the Immigration Rules; and a number of unlawful detention cases and claims brought by prisoners alleging breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the ECHR.

She has been practising in her own right since April 2018, and in that time has appeared in both the County Court and the High Court. She has already been retained as trial counsel in high-value multi-track litigation, and is developing a thriving appellate practice. A recent highlight was appearing as sole counsel in a full-day appeal concerning solicitors’ liability to pay the fees of expert witnesses, which raised complex issues of agency law, costs law, and professional regulation.

Before coming to the Bar, Juliet held research posts at UCL and Oxford University’s Faculty of Law, specialising in constitutional law and civil procedure. Prior to joining Chambers, for the legal year 2016-2017, Juliet was Judicial Assistant to Lord Justices Tomlinson, Flaux and Jackson. During this time, she conducted research and advised on the merits of appeals and permission decisions. High-profile cases in which she was involved included:

Ivey v Genting Casinos Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 1093 (on the meaning of “cheating” at common law, and the relevance of dishonesty to that concept);
Qader v Esure Services Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ 1109 (holding that fixed costs do not apply to cases which exit the RTA or EL/PL Protocols and are subsequently allocated to the multi-track);
Turley v London Borough of Wandsworth [2017] EWCA Civ 189 (holding that it was permissible, under Arts. 8 and 14 of the ECHR, to impose a residence requirement on a cohabitee, in order for her to succeed to her deceased partner’s secure tenancy);
Purcell & Others v Public Prosecutor of Antwerp, Belgium & Others [2017] All ER (D) 113 (an extradition appeal concerning prison conditions in Belgium);
McBride v UK Insurance Ltd [2017] EWCA 144 (now the leading authority on assessing the “Basic Hire Rate” in credit hire claims);
Kamoka & Others v The Security Services & Others [2017] EWCA Civ 1665 (holding that the Hunter abuse of process doctrine had no application where the earlier proceedings were Closed Material Proceedings; subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court).

Juliet also worked closely with Lord Justice Jackson on his latest review of civil litigation costs. During that time, she was appointed by him to a number of working groups consisting of senior practitioners and judges, to develop proposals and draft rules for the implementation of a new fixed costs regime. She and Lord Justice Jackson are currently co-authoring a book on the theory and practice of disclosure around the common law world.

Awards

Inner Temple, Internship Award (2016)
BPP Law School, Advocacy Scholarship (2015)
Inner Temple, Major Scholarship (2015)
Inner Temple, Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Award (2015)
University of Oxford, Shearman and Sterling Moot Prize (2014)
University of Oxford, Holdsworth Society Moot Prize (2013)

Education

Magdalen College, University of Oxford: BA Jurisprudence (2014)
BPP Law School, London: BPTC (2016, Outstanding)

Professional Memberships

Administrative Law Bar Association
Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum
Personal Injury Bar Association

J. Wells and R. Hazell, ‘Judicial Input into Parliamentary Legislation’ [2018] Public Law Journal 106

2nd February 2018

Juliet Wells discusses the constitutional role played by judges in shaping legislation at the select committee stage in Parliament, in leading academic law journal Public Law.

J. Wells, ‘Human rights, the judiciary and the constitution: Past and future challenges’, UCL Constitution Unit

6th August 2015

J. Wells, ‘Considering the consequences of a hung parliament in May 2015’, UCL Constitution Unit

23rd April 2015

J. Wells, ‘Reforming Electoral Law: a Comment on the Law Commission’s Joint Consultation Paper’, U.K. Const. L. Blog

25th February 2015

Available at link below. Cited by the Electoral Commission in its consultation response.

View External Link

Appeal against extradition to Bulgaria

4th December 2018

Myles Grandison and Juliet Wells represented Mr Kotsev in his appeal against extradition to Bulgaria. In a judgment, dated 16th November 2018, Mr Justice Julian Knowles held that the District Judge had erred in finding, on the evidence before her, that Mr Kotsev would be entitled to a re-trial which complied with section 20(5) and (8) of the Extradition Act 2003. Mr Justice Julian Knowles held that Tous v Czech Republic [2010] EWHC 1556 (Admin), which had been relied upon by the District Judge, could no longer be viewed as accurately stating the law.

TGC Welcomes New Junior Tenants

3rd October 2018

Temple Garden Chambers is delighted to announce that Juliet Wells and Harriet Wakeman have accepted invitations to join chambers after successfully completing pupillage.

Privacy Notice

Thank you for choosing to instruct me in your case. I will need to collect and hold your personal information in order to represent you. I might also need to collect and hold personal information of third parties.

I will take all possible steps to protect your personal information. I am determined to do nothing that would infringe your rights or undermine your trust.

This Privacy Notice describes the information I collect about you, how it is used and shared, and your rights regarding it. If you have any queries about how I collect and hold your personal information, please do not hesitate to contact me by email or through my clerks.

Data Controller

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office [“ICO”] as a Data Controller for the personal data that I hold and process as a barrister. My registered address is Temple Garden Chambers, 1 Harcourt Buildings, Temple, London EC4Y 9DA [“Chambers”] and my registration number is ZA321323.

Data Collection

The information that I hold about you is provided to or gathered by me in the course of your case, most often by your solicitor. Your solicitor will tell you why I need the information and how I will use it.

The data I collect and process comprises both personal data and special categories of personal data as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation [“GDPR”], which may include but are not limited to:

Name;
Email and telephone number;
Address;
Bank details or financial information;
Date of birth;
Employment records;
Social services involvement;
Medical records;
Criminal records;
Allegations made against the data subject;
Racial or ethnic origin;
Political opinions;
Religious or philosophical beliefs;
Trade Union membership;
Data concerning sex life and sexual orientation;
Genetic data or biometric data.

The “Lawful Bases” for processing information under the GDPR

The GDPR requires all organisations that process personal data to have a “Lawful Basis” for doing so. The Lawful Bases identified in the GDPR are:

Consent of the data subject
Performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract
Compliance with a legal obligation
To protect the vital interests of a data subject or another person
Performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller
The legitimate interests of my business as a barrister, or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of the data subject

Examples of legitimate interests include:

Where the data subject is a client or in the service of the controller;
Transmission within a group of undertakings for internal administrative purposes;
Processing necessary to ensure network and information security, including preventing unauthorised access;
Processing for direct marketing purposes, or to prevent fraud; and
Reporting possible criminal acts or threats to public security.

My Lawful Bases for processing the personal data of my clients include the following:

The data subject, as my client, has consented;
To perform a contract with the data subject, namely a contract for the provision of legal services, or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into such a contract;
Compliance with a legal obligation; and/or
The legitimate interests of my business as a barrister, or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of the data subject.

As regards the latter, the “legitimate interests” include:

The internal administration of my business (for example, the receipt of personal information by my clerks in order to manage my diary);
Keeping records in relation to the services I provide (for example, in order to provide information to you, your legal team, a professional body, my professional indemnity insurer, or the ICO, in the event of a problem with the services I provide);
Ensuring network and information security, including  preventing unauthorised access;
Preventing fraud and reporting possible criminal acts or threats to public security;
Providing training (see further below).

In addition, I process the personal data of third parties, including the other parties to my clients’ disputes and witnesses. Where I do so, my lawful basis for processing any third party’s information provided to me in relation to a client’s case is that the processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which I am subject, namely the obligation to provide legal services under the contract with the client.

I therefore use personal information to:

Provide legal advice and representation;
Investigate and address any concerns you as the data subject and/or my client may have;
Comply with my legal obligations; and
Assist in training pupils and mini-pupils.

I do not use automated decision-making in the processing of your personal data.

SHARING PERSONAL DATA

I may share your personal data with:

Instructing solicitors;
Pupils or mini pupils, under my training (see further below);
Opposing Counsel, for the purposes of resolving the case;
My Chambers management and staff who provide administrative services;
My regulator, legal advisors, professional indemnity insurer, or ICO, in the event of a dispute or other legal matter;
Law enforcement officials, government authorities, or other third parties as required to meet my legal obligations;
Judges and court staff;
Witnesses and expert witnesses;
Anyone ancillary to actual or potential proceedings;
Any other party where I ask you and you consent to the sharing.

Pupil barristers and mini pupils are made aware that they are under a strict duty of confidentiality in relation to any information they come across in the course of their training. I will always do my utmost to ensure the confidentiality of your personal information and will share with the pupil or mini pupil only the minimum amount of information necessary to provide training. Please inform me by email or post if you would prefer your case not to be used by me for training purposes and I will of course not use it in that way.

Transfers to third countries and international organisations

I do not transfer any personal data to third countries or international organisations.

Retention and disposal

I retain clients’ and third parties’ personal data whilst proceedings are ongoing unless the data subject asks me to delete it. My Retention and Disposal Policy (copy available on request) details how long I hold data for and how I dispose of it when it no longer needs to be held. I will delete or anonymise your information at the data subject’s request unless:

There is an unresolved issue, such as claim or dispute;
I am legally required to retain it; or
There are overriding legitimate business interests, including but not limited to fraud prevention and protecting customers’ safety and security.

The rights of the data subject

The GDPR gives the data subject specific rights in relation to their personal data. For example, they have to be informed about the information I hold and what I use it for, can ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about them, can ask me to correct any inaccuracies in the personal data I hold, can ask me or Chambers to stop sending you direct mail or emails, or in some circumstances may ask me to stop processing their details. Finally, if I do something irregular or improper with the personal data the data subject can seek compensation for any distress caused or loss incurred. You can find out more information on the ICO’s website http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information and this is the organisation that you can complain to if you are unhappy with how I dealt with your information.

Accessing and correcting information

Data subjects may request access to, correction of, or a copy of their personal information by contacting me in writing:

By email (available from my clerks);
By post (Temple Garden Chambers, 1 Harcourt Buildings, Temple, London EC4Y 9DA).

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