Orla Scanlan

Career

Orla is a partner in Clyde & Co’s national police team. She has over 25 years' experience in defending public liability and employers' liability claims on behalf of police forces across the country. She is instructed to deal with claims involving assault, wrongful arrest, unlawful stop and search, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, negligence, misfeasance, handling of public order/demonstrations and deaths in police custody. She has extensive experience in dealing representing police forces in claims involving national security and public interest immunity issues.

Orla’s established record gives her an in-depth knowledge of the requirements, pressures and concerns surrounding Police Forces and their insurers and identifies her as a go-to practitioner in complex, high value claims, many with national media interest.

Her particular strength is in advising on technical and complex claims arising out of alleged breaches of the Human Rights Act and associated Article 2 inquests. Orla was instructed to represent the Commissioner of the City of London Police in potential claims brought on behalf of the families of the two people who were killed in the Fishmongers’ Hall Stabbings on 29 November 2019. She is also acting for the Commissioner in the fatal shotting of a suspected terrorist by City of London police officers in 2020. She has the requisite security vetting to accept instructions involving issues of National Security.

Orla is also acting for a layer insurer, in a group action brought by hundreds of claimants seeking damages from South Yorkshire and West Midlands Police for misfeasance in public office over conduct of officers on the day of, and after, the Hillsborough disaster. The claims concern the alleged cover up and actions intended to blame the deceased and Liverpool supporters for the tragedy. Whilst the Group action has concluded, there remains technical, complex policy considerations to be resolved.

By way of added value, Orla has presented as a guest speaker at the Association of Police In-house Lawyers annual conference, made up of all Police in-house lawyers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; invited to present a Horizon Scanning session to senior underwriters and senior large loss and complex claim handlers of a national insurance company and provided in-house training to complex team in another national insurance company; provided Teams training during lockdown to claims handlers for Police Forces.

She has been a Band 1 Lawyer in Chambers & Partners’ Directory in “Police law – mainly defendant” for over 15 years. The 2022 profile reads “Orla deals with complex cases with ease; she is diligent, pragmatic, knowledgeable and a robust negotiator”. “Orla is definitely the best solicitor in private practice and Police cases”.