Speaker details

Biography

Gerard Forlin KC is one of the UK’s most highly regarded barristers with specialism in civil, criminal and commercial litigation, environment, fire, corporate governance, major event planning & crowd safety, State, ceremonial and historical events, crisis management, construction, psychological risk duties, health and safety, aviation, environmental (including ecocide), inquests and inquiries, local authority governance and services, and regulatory law. Gerard has recently been appointed a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, one of a tiny number of Global Lawyers to have ever been admitted as a Fellow to the Royal Society since its foundation in 1866. Educated at Trinity Hall Cambridge, LSE and UCL, Gerard has been instructed in some of the most high-profile cases and inquiries of recent years including: the Grenfell Tower fire, the Shoreham air crash, the MH370 aviation disaster, Alton Towers ride collision, the Porter case on risk, and the Hatfield, Ladbroke Grove, Southhall, Teebay, Purley and Watford train crashes, F1 cases plus numerous other cases both in the UK and internationally. He is currently instructed in a major international aviation matter. Gerard practices all over the globe in his various fields of practice. He has worked from Vancouver in Canada to Queenstown in New Zealand, from the Falkland Islands and South Georgia in the Antarctic Ocean to Seoul in Korea, Mexico City and Beijing in China. He has worked in over 85 countries, one of only a tiny handful of London Barristers to have ever achieved this. In 2020, Gerard was also called to the Bar of Ireland in 2020, after passing the Irish Bar Examination. Gerard is called to numerous other Bars including Australia, Ireland and the British Virgin Islands. He is an overseas member of State Chambers in Sydney. He has also appeared in court in several jurisdictions across the world and advised numerous other parties including airlines, airports, manufacturers, mining companies, construction companies, fishing companies, water companies, oil and gas companies, and tour companies. In recent years, Gerard has been ranked in no fewer than seven areas in the leading independent legal directories including Health and Safety, Product Liability, Crime, Public Inquiries and Inquests, Consumer Law, Aviation and Environmental Law. He was also awarded the title of Regulatory Barrister of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Gerard practices from Cornerstone Barristers in London and State Chambers in Sydney. He has authored over 100 articles and is the general editor of “Corporate Liability: Work related deaths and criminal prosecutions (3rd Edition)”. The 4th edition will be released in 2025 by Bloomsbury. He has appeared extensively in the media as an expert pundit on numerous programs and documentaries on a variety of subjects. Gerard is also an actor and undertakes many mock trials for various organisations, both in the UK and abroad.