Bevan Brittan - People

Senior Associate
Commercial Litigation

Catherine has a broad general commercial practice acting for public and private sector clients. She has experience advising on public law issues, particularly local authority law. Her specialisms include judicial review, procurement disputes and Health & Safety. She has experience in mediation and arbitration as well as County and High Court proceedings.

My Background
Trained Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, qualified 2001. Joined Bevan Brittan LLP 2004, Senior Associate 2008-

What I do
I act for clients to achieve successful resolutions to disputes across a number of fields. I have a breadth of experience in advising on public law issues, particularly judicial review and disputes concerning procurement matters, advising both contracting authorities and private companies. I also advise clients on health & safety law and dealing with the HSE.

Some examples

General commercial disputes:

Acting for a financial services provider defending a multi million pound action brought by the FSCS.
Acting for an international insurance company in various disputes including injunction applications to enforce IFA restrictive covenants and several meditations for breach of contract.
Acting for a Japanese manufacturing company on a claim for breach of contract concerning the supply of defective goods.
Acting for a manufacturing company in several urgent injunction applications to restrain a team of former employees from setting up in competition, soliciting employees and customers and misusing confidential information.
Advising a manufacturing company on a multi-jurisdictional dispute concerning the design and supply of automobile parts.
Acting for various NHS Trusts on breach of contract disputes, including several mediations.

Judicial Review:

Acting for the Local Government Ombudsman and Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in defending judicial review applications concerning decisions made by the Ombudsman and the breadth of their jurisdiction.
Advising several local authorities on actual and threatened judicial review actions.
Acting for a university in defending a judicial review claim brought by a student regarding the decision to fail him.

Health & Safety:

Acting for an international building distribution company in several health & safety prosecutions, including defending a prosecution following the death of an employee following a fall from height and attending PACE interviews with senior management following a serious injury to a worker.
Acting for a hotel group following the serious collapse of a building in central London.

Procurement Challenges:

Acting for the preferred bidder in a national procurement for firefighting equipment in a challenge brought by an unsuccessful bidder under the Procurement Regulations and general public law principles. Advising on protecting confidential information in injunction proceedings.
Advising an international pharmaceutical company on a challenge against the NHS for breach of the Procurement Regulations and potential judicial review.
Acting for various NHS trusts on threatened and actual procurement challenges, including providing de-brief information in the Alcatel Standstill period and abandoning procurements whilst minimising the risk of legal challenges.
Advising the manufacturer of decontamination equipment on a challenge against PASA.
Advising several local authorities on procurement issues, including how to avoid the risk of challenge in the procurement of taxi services, IT equipment and waste disposal services.
Advising a pharmaceutical company on the potential for a legal challenge against an NHS for the procurement of diagnostic equipment.

Contact me via catherine.wolfenden@bevanbrittan.com or on 0870 194 1602. Currently on Maternity Leave.