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I am a Legal Director in the Litigation, Advisory & Regulatory team at Bevan Brittan and work in the Birmingham office.
I specialise in health and safety and criminal regulatory law and advise on a wide range of regulatory legal issues including health and safety, building safety, fire safety, product liability, food safety, white collar crime, contentious environmental and transport law. I represent clients (both companies and individuals/directors) at public inquiries, inquests, PACE interviews and in relation to prosecutions. I am experienced in managing large scale electronic disclosure / document review exercises using various platforms. I also provide clients with advice on a wide variety of regulatory issues and carry out a large amount of training for them.
I act for a mixture of clients, from large multi-national organisations to individuals, across a wide range of industries, including construction, manufacturing, care, energy, waste, higher education, utilities, retail and charities.
I can’t speak highly enough of Louise Mansfield who really gets to understand the people involved makes you feel at ease and is a consummate professional.
I am ranked in the legal directories for health and safety work as a key lawyer/rising star. I have a Masters’ degree in Safety, Health and Environmental Law, I am a Management Committee member of the Birmingham Health, Safety & Environment Association (BHSEA) and I am also vice-chair of governors at a local junior school.
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- Advising a hospital trust following an incident involving serious injuries that were caused to nearby pedestrians by the downwash of an emergency helicopter.
- Advising a housing association following the death of a worker who died following exposure to a toxic adhesive he was using to lay floor tiles.
- Advising a waste management company in relation to the risk of fires at household waste recycling centres.
- Advising an energy company following the discovery of a large amount of asbestos on land it was developing.
- Acting for a University in the appeal of a fire safety enforcement notice.
- Advising a number of housing, construction and local authority clients in relation to its duties for its property portfolios, including around fire and building safety and statutory compliance.
- Representing a global infrastructure company following a fatal accident on one if its sites where it was the principal contractor. The client was found not guilty after a trial.
- Representing another leading international construction group in relation to three serious accidents it had over a 6 month period, which involved two fatalities and two people sustaining serious injuries, supporting the internal and HSE investigations and arguing against corporate manslaughter charges.
- Acting for a number of directors in the Inquiry following the Grenfell Tower fire and managing the e-disclosure evidence review.
- Involvement in the investigations / inquiry into the treatment and death of patients of Dr Paterson who performed inappropriate or unnecessary procedures and operations on hundreds of patients over a period of more than 20 years.
- Defending a health and safety consultancy in a fire safety prosecution. The case was withdrawn and the client found not-guilty before the trial even started.
- Representing a railway maintenance contractor in an investigation by the British Transport Police, ORR, Network Rail and RAIB following a fatal accident to its safety manager on the railway.
- Assisting to manage a document review on behalf of the Danish Government using an e-disclosure platform (Relativity) on the largest piece of legislation in Europe. This has been on-going for 5 years.
- Representing a manufacturer following a fatal accident. Following an inquest and legal submissions, the HSE was persuaded that it did not need to prosecute the client and no further action was taken.
- Representing a well-known gas and electric company in two cases following allegations about dangerous roadworks. In one the company was praised for its management of safety and only fined £8,000 (the Prosecution had suggested the fine should be £2.4million) and in the other, the case was withdrawn.
- Managing a document review exercise using an e-disclosure platform (Relativity) in relation to liability following the 2018 fire that destroyed the Glasgow School of Art.
- Representing a number of Universities through inquest proceedings following the deaths of students.
- Representing an airport in relation to a HSE investigation after a worker was run over on the airfield. The HSE have confirmed that they will not be taking any further action.
- Managing document reviews using an e-disclosure platform (Relativity) in relation to corporate manslaughter prosecutions (acting for the corporate defendants).
- Acting for a number of highway maintenance contractors following fatal accidents on the road, representing them at inquests and in relation to police investigations.
Louise Mansfield is knowledgeable, sensible and commercial.
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Building Safety Act 2022 Published
09/06/2022
5 years post Grenfell – what have we learnt and are high-rise...
14/06/2022
The key things that have been learnt since the fire, and considerations about whether enough has been done to put right the...
Higher Education Today - July 2022
26/07/2022
News and current affairs for those working within Higher Education Institutions
Duties of Responsible Persons for fire safety in residential buildings
10/01/2023
Further changes to be implemented from 23 January 2023
The Housing Sector and Mould - Part Three
16/01/2023
The actions of the Regulator – what lessons can be learnt?
Higher Education Today - January 2023
18/01/2023
News and current affairs for those working within Higher Education Institutions
Protect Duty for public places
13/02/2023
Modern Slavery in the UK adult care sector
16/03/2023
Higher Education Today - April 2023
05/04/2023
News and current affairs for those working within Higher Education Institutions
Louise Mansfield is deeply committed to this field. Her work is detailed and analytical.
Louise's areas of expertise
- Energy
- Estate Management
- Higher Education
- Infrastructure
- Highways
- Manufacturing
- Resources & Waste
- Criminal Regulatory
- Environmental
- Building & Fire Safety
- Health and Safety Investigations
- Investigations & Inquiries
- Product Safety
- Police Investigations – Corporate Manslaughter and Gross Negligence Manslaughter
- Facilities Management