Speakers for this year's Study Day have been announced. Read on to discover our line-up of highly experienced speakers.
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Adrian Parsons, FEWI
Adrian holds a unique position as the UK's only independent, all-party drug expert witness while serving as a civilian Controlled Drug Liaison Officer with North Wales Police. With the full support of his employer, he continues his independent expert witness work alongside managing his private expert witness training and consultancy business. Most of Adrian's expert witness instruction comes from the defence.
Adrian retired from Kent Police in October 2020 after over 26 years of dedicated work in the drugs field, including nearly 20 years providing expert opinion evidence in criminal cases. A qualified trainer with a DTLLS (DET) certification, he joined Kent Police in 2002 following a decade of service with Lincolnshire Police.
Adrian has also been involved in media projects, appearing in documentaries for National Geographic, BBC3, Channel 4, and Sky TV. Most recently, in October 2024, he contributed to the BBC One series ‘Expert Witness’. Up until his retirement, he served as Association Secretary of the National Law Enforcement Drug Expert Witness and Valuation Association (DEWVA), participated in the NPCC National Drugs Tactical Working Group, and remains an active committee member of the APCDLO. Adrian is also the sole provider of the UK policing Controlled Drug Liaison Officer (CDLO) training course.
In 2022, Adrian co-founded the Independent Drug Expert Alliance (IDEA) with two retired police colleagues and a leading UK forensic provider, aiming to promote transparency and accountability in drug expertise within the Criminal Justice System. Additionally, he sits on the Editorial Committee and the Membership Assessment Panel at the Expert Witness Institute (EWI) where he is also a Fellow.
Alison Somek
Alison Somek retired from her post as Managing Director of Somek and Associates in September 2024. She set the company up in 1997. Alison worked in the NHS for over 20 years, as an occupational therapist. She has written numerous care and occupational therapy expert witness reports since the 80s – pre Woolf! Alison has seen the medico-legal environment change dramatically over this period, but has always been passionate about ensuring the continued professionalism, independence and integrity in the work of the expert witnesses and the company as a whole.
Amanda Fyffe
Amanda is a principal with Baker Tilly and has been involved in forensic accounting in London since 1997. She focuses her practice on litigation support and the quantification of loss of profit and personal injury/fatal accident claims and heads up Baker Tilly’s UK Personal Injury team. She has also worked in the firm's Sydney office using her knowledge and experience on a variety of claims.
Amanda has particular experience in:
Evaluation of business losses arising in owner managed businesses ranging from SMEs to multi-jurisdictional enterprises.
Valuation of businesses
Loss of earnings / loss of dependency arising in medical negligence and Lost Years claims.
Quantification of lost pension, share scheme and other benefits.
She has prepared over 750 expert witness reports for the court on behalf of claimants, defendants and in the role of single joint expert and given evidence in Court. Amanda is an appointed member of the Expert Witness Institute Membership Committee, who are responsible to the Board for the admission of members in accordance with the standards and regulations as set by the EWI Board and Membership Committee. Internally, Amanda is involved with Baker Tilly’s Growth & Retention of Women and Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging & Societal Impact initiatives.
Dr Bernard Horsford, PhD, D Occ Psych, MBA, M.Sc, LLB, BA, DipAdEd, DipM, FCIPD, MAPM, MIoD, FIC, PVRA, MAE, C Psychol, AFBPsS
Dr. Horsford is an outstanding Chief Executive. His wide-ranging skills include: expert psychological assessment, medicolegal reporting, employment law, discrimination law, organisational restructuring and change, assessment and development centres, leadership development, organisational development, performance management, interim management, job evaluation, HR policy development, workforce planning, TUPE, careers counselling and executive coaching. Bernard has over 26 years experience of managing all business functions and directing large multi-disciplinary staff teams. He is frequently asked to manage staff teams in client organisations. Having worked as Managing Director Bernard has held full profit and loss account responsibility for businesses. Bernard has extensive experience in the private and public sector. Public sector clients include central government, local authorities, education, health and social care the NHS, housing associations. Private sector clients include major law firms, media, insurance companies, banks and financial service institutions. Dr. Horsford is security cleared.
Sam Bawden
As well as being a specialist Construction Law solicitor in Holmes & Hills Legal 500 recommended Construction Division, Sam is a Partner at Holmes & Hills Solicitors and leads the firm's Dispute Resolution Department. He has recently been ranked by Chambers and Partners as 'Band 3' in Construction. Sam is also an expert speaker who, believing that prevention is better than cure, is on a personal mission to change the construction industry by educating those within it on the fundamentals of construction law. Sam firmly believes that this is the key to avoiding the majority of disputes that arise in construction contracts. Sam is adept at presenting complex legal issues in a simple and digestible manner, meaning his services as a speaker are in high demand. He is regularly booked to deliver talks in person, on webinars or to speak on leading industry podcasts.
Sam’s primary focus is on dispute avoidance and he regularly provides construction law training to his clients as well as advising on contracts and terms proposed by (or to) others prior to engagement, as well as throughout and at the conclusion of a client's contract.
Where disputes are unavoidable, Sam regularly assists with dispute resolution via Adjudication, Arbitration, Litigation and Mediation.
Faye Hall
Faye joined FRP in January 2024 as a Partner in the Forensic Services team and is based in our London office. With over 25 years’ experience, she has a breadth of knowledge in the forensic space, having assisted companies of all sizes across a wide range of sectors such as financial services, construction, industrials & manufacturing, technology, property, retail and healthcare.
Faye’s practice focuses predominantly on disputes between private clients and the valuation of businesses for the purposes of matrimonial proceedings, probate disputes and contentious trust matters. She also provides business valuation services in the context of commercial disputes and has experience in valuing companies based in offshore jurisdictions as well as overseas countries such as China, Africa and the US. She has given expert accountancy evidence in the High Court in relation to both matrimonial proceedings and commercial disputes, at Arbitration hearings and assisted in mediations.
Faye is regularly instructed by leading matrimonial and private client dispute lawyers to provide expert reports on behalf of an individual party or as a Single Joint Expert. Alternatively, she is engaged to act as a shadow expert, to assist with understanding the financial position presented and/or valuations prepared by others, draft requests/questions for additional explanations and answer any questions that might arise.
Joshua Hitchens FRSA
Josh is a Barrister with Outer Temple Chambers. Josh acts in high-profile and high value disputes across commercial and public law. Current or recent instructions include a multi-jurisdictional civil fraud claim in which Josh acted as sole counsel and obtained a freezing order for $21.6m USD, acting as sole counsel in the first sanctions delisting challenge brought by a mono-British national and acting as junior counsel in proceedings concerning the enforcement of a $2.4bn arbitration award. Josh regularly appears as sole counsel against much more senior opponents and is one of the most junior barristers ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners for public law work.
He regularly appears in high value commercial disputes both as sole and led counsel. He is currently instructed in the Crescent v National Iranian Oil Company litigation as junior counsel for the Iranian Retirement and Welfare Fund of Oil Workers in an application concerning the enforcement of a $2.4bn arbitration award. In Ignite v Inpero & Cooper [2024] EWHC 220 (KB),
Josh has written extensively on legal issues. He is an author of Hitchens and Daly on Forced Marriage Law and Practice, which was nominated for the Inner Temple Book Prize, he is a contributor to Atkin Court Forms and is currently writing a book on the Regulation of international trade for Bloomsbury.