Inquests & Public Inquiries
Katie has been instructed as lead junior (led by James Maxwell-Scott QC) for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry throughout Phase 1 and Phase 2. She has been closely involved in advising on strategy and approach, including advising on the impact of the Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy (also known as the Hillsborough Charter) and how that affects a Core Participant in such proceedings. Katie has advised on matters relating to Building Control and to the fire safety management of high-rise residential buildings, including the application of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in circumstances where a building is managed for the freeholder by a management organisation.
During the course of the Inquiry, she has advised on / assisted with drafting: written and oral opening and closing submissions; submissions relating to changes made after the incident; witness statements; and questions for witnesses. Katie has also advised on decisions relating to outward disclosure from RBKC to the Inquiry, including where legal professional privilege may apply to documents. Finally, she was involved in developing the strategy for and undertaking review of incoming disclosure from the Inquiry.
Katie has also represented companies and individuals in inquest proceedings. Her recent inquest experience includes:
- Representing an employer in relation to a jury inquest arising out of the death of one of the workers as a result of a fall from height;
- Representing a Registered Social Provider (RSP) in an inquest arising out of the death of one of their residents where the conclusion of “unlawful killing” was considered in respect of another interested person who was the RSP’s former employee;
- Advising on and making submissions in relation to whether an inquest should be an Article 2 inquest;
- Representing a company during the preparatory stages of an inquest relating to the death of their employee who had been crushed at a recycling plant;
- Representing a company during the preparatory stages of an inquest relating to the death of an individual who had been crushed during construction of a steel structure;
- Representing a company during the preparatory stages of an inquest relating to the death of their employee who had been crushed by a skip.
Selected Cases
View full profile »News
- Arcadia/Topshop Trial
- The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 – The Road To Life Imprisonment? By Katie Sage and Jack Murphy
Articles
- The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 – The Road To Life Imprisonment? By Katie Sage and Jack Murphy
- Innocent until probably guilty
Events
Qualifications
- BPTC, Outstanding
- BCL
- BA (Hons) Oxon, First Class
- Hardwicke Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn
- Lord Denning Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn
- Buchanan Prize, Lincoln’s Inn
- Sir Roger Bannister Scholarship, Pembroke College
- Pembroke College Exhibition
Memberships
- HSLA
- PNBA
- PIBA
Recommendations
“A rising star who has really strengthened the junior end of her set.”
Rising Star, Legal 500 2021