Francesca O'Neill Email and Phone Number

Francesca is highly ranked by the major legal directories across her 3 main practice areas: clinical and professional negligence, and personal injury. They say she “is an absolute pleasure to work with”… “a fierce and meticulous advocate with technical and procedural expertise at her fingertips” known for ”powerful and clever advocacy, capable of blowing other advocates out of the water”.Her practice is chiefly focussed on the negligence liability of both professionals and public authorities. These include the most complex clinical negligence cases, multi-million pound claims in respect of lawyers, architects, insurance brokers and surveyors, and high profile cases examining the extent of public authorities’ duties of care. Francesca has particular expertise at trial and contested hearings and often appears unled in the High Court and against Silks. She is an accredited advocacy trainer for Inner Temple. In 2023, she was appointed a part-time Judge of the First-tier Tribunal, sitting in the Health and Social Care Chamber.Francesca is appointed to the Attorney-General’s Panel of Counsel and is instructed by the Government in a range of cases (see eg. Soeb v Secretary of State for the Home Office [2021] EWHC 3403 (QB), Morrell v Health & Safety Executive [2022] 6 WLUK 142).Francesca is the author of Thomson Reuter’s Practice Note on lawyer’s scope of duty and has a particular interest in the nature and extent of the duty of care....“Francesca is a fierce and meticulous advocate with procedural and technical expertise at her fingertips, ready for those tricky, unexpected moments. Nothing fazes her; she is incredibly impressive."“A brilliant advocate, she is switched on, knowledgeable and gives great, user-friendly, tactical advice. Francesca is wonderful on her feet and a real rising star.”"Francesca is an absolute pleasure to work with. She takes a robust yet commercial approach to her advice and is a fearless advocate. She is knowledgeable and experienced, particularly on procedural points.""Francesca is a go-to barrister for professional negligence matters. She provides sound advice and is calm and assured.""Formidable on her feet. Highly experienced and it shows in her gravitas, which goes much further than you would expect given her call."“She is very attentive to detail and provides succinct advice. She is also a great speaker which makes her very persuasive in court."“She has excellent knowledge of the law and good commercial nous. An excellent advocate who produces clear, concise and persuasive documents and precise advice."