Areas of Expertise

Leah advises a range of clients including individuals, companies and regulators.

Leah deals with a variety of matters including contractual disputes, debt recovery, director and shareholder disputes, inquests, insurance disputes, PFI disputes, professional negligence and regulatory investigations / litigation. She has experience dealing with different courts as well as arbitration, adjudication and mediation.

Experience

Leah began her legal career as a Legal Costs Assistant at Legal 500 firm, Duncan Lewis, where she later completed her training contract and worked as a solicitor within the civil and commercial litigation department. Prior to joining Devonshires, she worked as a commercial litigation solicitor at Winckworth Sherwood.

Education

Leah graduated from St Mary’s University with a BA (Hons) in Business Law and Management Studies. She continued her legal studies thereafter at BPP Law School, where she completed the GDL and LPC (awarded Distinction).

Personal

In her spare time, Leah enjoys travelling and going to the theatre. Once a month, she assists with supporting a local respite service for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.

Awards

Leah was awarded ‘Solicitor of the Year’ (2018) whilst she was working at Duncan Lewis.

Notable Cases

Leah acted for the Defendant in a building dispute matter in which she successfully made an application to have the Claimant’s claim and defence to counterclaim struck out.

Leah advised a vulnerable client in a professional negligence claim against his former criminal legal aid solicitor. The client had been wrongfully imprisoned as a result of negligent advice that he had received from his former solicitor. After lengthy negotiations, Leah successful settled her client’s claim and subsequently negotiated and recovered costs. This was an unusual matter within which Leah dealt with a number of complex issues arising from limitation, funding and capacity.

Leah assisted with advising an international HNW individual in defending a complex director and shareholder dispute which settled in favour of the client’s counterclaim. The case involved defending and successfully discharging a worldwide freezing injunction against the client. This matter involved elements of foreign law and international cross-border litigation.

Client Testimonials

“I have worked with Leah on professional negligence cases during the past year. I have found Leah to be assiduous and charming. She is very good at client handling, particular with difficult clients who have emotional issues. She is conscientious in collating evidence, advising clients and conducting litigation. She has specialist knowledge of professional negligence claims. She has particular expertise in acting for individuals of limited means against corporations. Her instructions to me have been very helpful and she is a pleasure to work with.”

Joshua Munro, Hailsham Chambers, 2018

Leah Kesby