Victoria Barnes Senior Associate

Victoria is a senior associate in the firm’s environment team and is an experienced solicitor advocate with substantial contentious, advisory and regulatory experience spanning a broad spectrum of legal areas.

Victoria has advised clients within the public and private sector and has specialist expertise in public environmental law matters, having represented various government departments and agencies.  

Victoria joined the firm in January 2023 from the Government Legal Department.

• Advising and representing companies in connection with investigations by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales, including investigations into the pollution of watercourses and breaches of environmental permits.
• Advising a water utility on obligations arising from the Waste Framework Directive and the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations.
• Acting for a water utility on a prospective judicial review against the water regulator (Ofwat).
• Acting on behalf of a manufacturer on an appeal of an abatement notice served in relation to alleged statutory noise nuisance.
• Advising on an appeal of an abstraction licence issued by the Environment Agency.
• Representing various government departments and agencies (including Defra (and APHA), BEIS, DfT, DLUHC and the HSE) in defending a wide range of judicial review challenges focused on environmental public law.
• Advising government departments and executive agencies on information law obligations (including obligations under the Environmental Information Regulations).
• Acting for anexecutive agency in an EIR appeal (General Regulatory Chamber) arising from requests for information relating to the regulatory response to demolition and construction work.
• Acting for a government department defending threatened judicial review challenges to the government’s policy in relation to renewable energy sources and the lawfulness of various decisions and future actions connected with the financial support of renewable energy.
• Representing a government department in a major public inquiry.