She advises on all aspects of the safeguarding ecosystem from governance, safer recruitment, policy development and the handling of allegations, and has led high-profile investigations across education, sport and charities.
Katie is a leading expert in safeguarding law. She spent five years as a partner in the Safeguarding Unit at Farrer & Co, where she advised clients across the education, higher education, sport, charity, private and public sectors. This gave her unrivalled insight into safeguarding issues at every level, and together with coal-face experience on a trustee board of a charity with child beneficiaries and her judicial experience as a Recorder, uniquely positions her to expertly advise clients facing safeguarding challenges.
She regularly leads investigations and responses to allegations of abuse, both current and historical, managing communications while balancing child protection, legal, reputational, and employment considerations. Katie also conducts independent reviews and culture audits, providing strategic assessments and recommendations for change. Her cross-sector experience spans statutory guidance and regulatory inspections, including Ofsted, IICSA, and charity regulators, and she is often called upon to help organisations navigate the tensions between legal obligations and safeguarding best practice.
Katie is also a recognised thought leader in the field. She has written extensively and spoken at national and international forums. She co-authored the Farrer & Co guide Developing and Implementing a Low-level Concerns Policy: A Guide for Organisations Which Work with Children (widely adopted across sectors and incorporated into statutory guidance), and the LimeCulture Best Practice Guide: Safeguarding in Sport commissioned by Sport England and British Gymnastics.
Recent work examples include:
- Advising a major co-ed school in London in relation to criminal proceedings against a former teacher and related professional misconduct panel hearing before the TRA.
- Advising a charity responsible for the provision of PSHE materials for schools on compliance with the Equality Act and the DfE guidance on political impartiality in schools.
- Carrying out a specialist audit and due diligence in the acquisition of an education business, including analysis of compliance with UK safeguarding regulations, full audit of policies, recruitment files, record keeping, unlawful use of settlement agreements, SIR reporting to the Charity Commission and referrals to statutory agencies, and safeguarding children’s data.
- Advising on safeguarding arrangements in the context of expeditions, gap year programmes, trips and other initiatives.
- Advising a major UK independent school on claims arising out of non-recent abuse, including issues surrounding insurance cover, limitation, liability, the quantification of damages and defending such organisations in court.
- Acting on behalf of clients in various modules of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
