Lara Epsley

Lara Epsley qualified as a public law and regulatory lawyer in September 2022, in Gowling WLG's Birmingham office.

Lara trained at the firm, initially in its London office, from September 2020 to September 2022. She gained both contentious and non-contentious experience in a variety of areas: Commercial Development and Investment (Real Estate), Employment and Pensions, Commercial and Public Procurement, and Public Law and Regulation.

As part of her training, Lara completed a secondment to the Commercial Legal Group of the Government Legal Department. During this time, she supported a central Government department in a variety of matters relating to commercial law and public procurement law, both contentious and non-contentious. She developed a good understanding of the way in which public authorities approach issues and use legal advice, assisted with preparing legal advice with a public law focus, and delivered legal training.

Lara has provided bespoke legal advice across a range of sectors, including qualifications, utilities, food and drink, and product safety. Her client base includes public bodies, such as regulators and central Government departments, as well as regulated businesses.

Lara undertakes both contentious and non-contentious work in the team.

• From a contentious perspective, she has assisted in helping clients both bring and defend judicial review challenges. She has also supported clients with internal review and complaints and disputes processes.
• From a non-contentious perspective, Lara has assisted clients on questions of statutory interpretation and the application of regulatory frameworks, helped develop regulatory frameworks, and reviewed decisions and drafted documents in relation to complaints, reviews and internal policy (e.g. in relation to licensing). In addition, Lara has provided client training on public law principles and remit.

Lara also provides regulatory input into due diligence reporting to help clients that assess and mitigate regulatory risk in corporate transactions in a range of sectors.

Lara has a particular interest in Government and the public sector and is a member of the firm's Government sector team.