Tim Holloway

• 1990 University of Cambridge, St John’s College: Bachelor of Arts (BA (Cantab)) (Law Tripos)
• 1991 Inns of Court School of Law, London: Bar Finals
• 1991 Called to the Bar by The Inner Temple
• 1994 University of Cambridge, St John’s College: Master of Arts (MA (Cantab))

Areas of Work

• ‍Crown Proceedings / Government Litigation
• Inquests and Inquiries
• Personal Injury including catastrophic injury, industrial disease and fatal accidents (multi-track)‍
• Clinical negligence
• Malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office, deceit, unlawful means conspiracy, false imprisonment, trespass to the person, unlawful means conspiracy and related torts.‍
• Civil Procedure including public interest immunity‍
• Employment, including discrimination, harassment, victimisation, reasonable adjustment, whistleblowing, unlawful dismissal and pay claims.‍
• Public Law as pertaining to other areas of practice.‍
• Immigration (Crown instructions only)‍
• Regulatory (Crown instructions only)

Crown Proceedings / Government Litigation

In his capacity as Panel Counsel, Tim has undertaken a diverse array of advocacy and advisory work for Government departments and related bodies and agencies including the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, HM Courts & Tribunals Service, Ministry of Defence, Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Cabinet Office, Attorney General’s Office, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Department for Transport, HM Revenue and Customs, HM Crown Prosecution Service, HM Land Registry, Health and Safety Executive, Food Standards Agency, Ofsted and the DVLA.

Panel work requires versatility and Tim’s experience in this field includes, by way of example:

- Multi-track personal injury claims including fatal accident, brain damage and other catastrophic injury claims, ‘military’ noise induced deafness, mesothelioma, and other disease claims and claims relating to accidents involving members of the Armed Forces

- Claims in malicious prosecution against the Crown Prosecution Service

- Claims in false imprisonment / trespass to the person against the Ministry of Justice and Home Office arising out of prison custody and immigration detention respectively

- Claims in misfeasance in public office, deceit, unlawful means conspiracy, unlawful means conspiracy and breach of confidence/misuse of private information

- Claims against the judiciary and HM Courts & Tribunals Service, including matters of judicial immunity

- Article 2 inquests relating to deaths in custody involving human rights considerations, issues relating to the adequacy of medical and non-medical care and issues relating to unlawful killing

- Clinical negligence claims including claims concerning the provision of medical services in prisons and in the Armed Forces

- Claims relating to the human rights of prisoners including claims under the Human Rights Act 1998 referable to Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 14 of the Convention

- Sexual and physical abuse claims and issues relating to limitation and vicarious liability in that context

- Public interest immunity applications in both the Family and Queen’s Bench Divisions of the High Court and in the Crown Court

- Anonymity applications in civil proceedings

- Claims concerning issues of jurisdiction and the extraterritorial ambit of domestic legislation

- Employers’ liability claims for alleged harassment and bullying

- Employment Tribunal claims under the Equality Act 2010 including discrimination, harassment, victimisation, reasonable adjustment, whistleblowing, unlawful dismissal and pay claims and claims concerning the Armed Services following Service Complaints.

- Judicial review

- Proceedings in the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber)

- Claims under the Data Protection Act 1998

- Defamation claims

- Proceedings for an indemnity under the Land Registration Act 2002

- Condemnation proceedings

Tim was a member of the Counsel team appointed to act on behalf of the Cabinet Office as one of the A Panel leads in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, having been instructed in Modules 1 (Resilience and Preparedness), 2 (Core UK Decision Making and Political Governance) and 5 (Procurement) in respect of matters pertaining to decision making at the highest level of Government.

He is currently instructed as an A Panel lead in prospective High Court group litigation.

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Inquests and Inquiries

Tim is an Assistant Coroner.

He is ranked as a Tier 1 Leading Junior in Inquests and Inquiries in The Legal 500, 2026 and is a prominent advocate in Coroners’ and jury inquests including those concerning prisons, probation, police and clinical care, self-inflicted deaths, drugs related deaths, accidental deaths and unlawful killing.

Tim acts on behalf of Government departments, including the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and Ministry of Defence and on behalf of Chief Constables, Trusts / Health Boards (Wales), insurers and bereaved families and advises at all stages of coroners’ investigations.

A substantial proportion of Tim’s inquest work comprises Article 2 inquests arising out of deaths in custody, of which he has very considerable experience.

He has appeared in a number of high profile inquests, reported in the mainstream media.

As with other aspects of his practice, Tim is instructed to undertake inquest work nationally.

He provides continuity of service by acting at all stages of civil claims running in tandem with, or following, coroners’ investigations.

Tim delivers seminars on the subject of inquest law and procedure.

Tim was a member of the Counsel team appointed to act on behalf of the Cabinet Office as one of the A Panel leads in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, having been instructed on Modules 1 (Resilience and Preparedness), 2 (Core UK Decision Making and Political Governance) and 5 (Procurement) in respect of matters pertaining to decision making at the highest level of Government.

He is currently leading the development of the Hundred Court Chambers Inquests and Inquiries Group.

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Personal Injury

Tim has over 26 years’ experience of personal injury litigation and acts on behalf of both claimants and defendants, predominantly but not exclusively in multi-track claims.

His practice encompasses fatal accident, brain damage and other catastrophic injury claims, ‘military’ noise induced deafness, mesothelioma and other disease claims, claims relating to accidents involving members of the Armed Forces, public, employers’ and occupiers’ liability claims and litigation involving Government Departments and agencies, public authorities and statutory undertakers/utility companies, together with contractual aspects of such claims where applicable and, in particular, where Part 20 indemnity claims arise.

His experience of drafting complex schedules of loss and counter schedules in claims of high value is extensive and combined with practical experience of claims for provisional damages and periodical payments and the drafting of the requisite orders upon settlement in such cases.

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Clinical negligence

Tim undertakes clinical negligence work and other aspects of his practice claims often include elements relating to the standard or appropriateness of clinical care.

A significant proportion of the inquests in which Tim is instructed concern issues pertaining to the appropriateness of clinical care.

Tim has attended many of the annual clinical negligence residential conferences held in Oxford and Cambridge by the Professional Negligence Bar Association.

Malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office, deceit, unlawful means conspiracy, false imprisonment, trespass to the person, unlawful means conspiracy and related torts.

Throughout his 34 year career, Tim has been instructed in claims arising out of the alleged misconduct of public bodies and corporate entities, including police forces and Government Departments and agencies.

Mentored by experienced Defence Counsel in the course of his pupillage and early years of tenancy, Tim developed his own police practice in those years, acting on behalf of Chief Constables in many civil claims against the police, having the conduct of civil jury trials and appearing in the Court of Appeal. Over time, he also inherited and developed a substantial claimant practice in police work.

In 2000, Tim was appointed as Counsel to the Crown and went on to develop a practice in Government litigation arising out of alleged malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office, false imprisonment, trespass to the person and related torts, having acted on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, Ministry of Justice and Home Office in claims arising out of prosecutions, prison custody and immigration detention respectively.

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Human Rights

A significant proportion of the litigation in which Tim is instructed involves issues under the Human Rights Act 1998. This includes freestanding and parallel claims under section 7 referable to Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13 and 14 of the Convention, issues of statutory compatibility with Convention rights under section 3 and the quantification of claims under section 8 and Article 41.

A substantial proportion of the inquests in which Tim is instructed are Article 2 inquests in which Article 2 is automatically engaged or in which it is engaged by reason of arguable operational and/or systemic failings.

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Civil Procedure

Tim’s civil practice covers all associated aspects of civil procedure, both pre-action and post-issue.

His experience of public interest immunity applications extends to applications in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court, Family Division of the High Court, the Crown Court and the County Court. He has been instructed on matters concerning the principles and procedures applicable to such applications, the article 8 rights and anonymity of non-parties, the use of redaction and gisting, the principles to be applied upon an assertion of judicial bias being made (whether actual or by way of appearance) and the independence of the judiciary from the executive.

Tim is familiar with the use of, and has worked alongside, a special advocate.

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Employment

Tim is instructed frequently in claims in the Employment Tribunal, including discrimination, harassment, victimisation, reasonable adjustment, whistleblowing, unlawful dismissal and pay claims.

Much of his Employment Tribunal work comprises claims against Government Departments and agencies, including Services claims following Service Complaints. He is familiar with Civil Service employment practices. He is experienced in conducting the defence of claims pursued by unrepresented and vulnerable litigants.

Recent judicial commentary has included the following:

"Rs legal submissions are clear, precise and succinct. As he did throughout the conduct of the hearing, Mr Holloway has set out his written submission in a way that he reasonably believes the C will best understand."

"There is little, if anything, that the Tribunal can add to the clearly expressed legal submissions of R. The Tribunal is wary of causing confusion by adding any unnecessary clarification or qualification of R’s legal submission. The Tribunal agrees with and adopts R’s legal analysis set out by Mr Holloway in his written submission and reply to C’s submission."

Tim has written on the subject of anonymity in Employment Tribunals.

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Public Law (Judicial Review)

Tim undertakes public law advisory and adversarial work in the course of his work as a member of the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Counsel to the Crown and where it pertains to other areas of his practice, such as inquests.

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Immigration (Crown instructions only)

Tim undertakes immigration work in the course of his work as a member of the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Counsel to the Crown.

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Regulatory (Crown instructions only)

Tim undertakes regulatory work in the course of his work as a member of the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Counsel to the Crown.

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Notes

The Attorney General maintains panels of Counsel to undertake civil and EU work for all Government departments, including central Government, and the A Panel deals with the most complex government cases in all types of courts and tribunals. Members will often appear against KCs.

Legal 500 Leading Juniors are able to show a track record of working on complex, high profile, high-value instructions. They will regularly appear in the higher courts against silks, and be instructed by leading firms and noteworthy clients. Their skill and expertise are recognised by clients and peers alike. Tier 1 is the highest tier in the category.