Lara Hassell-Hart

4 Stone Buildings

As spiralling energy prices brought down 25 British suppliers last year, Lara Hassell-Hart found herself the barrister of the moment. Hassell-Hart has worked on energy company insolvencies since 2016, and has been instructed by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority for every one of its claims against collapsed gas suppliers. She was well placed, therefore, to pair up with Andrew De Mestre QC for the Bulb Energy insolvency — the most important in recent decades. This has been the first case in which an energy company has needed to use the “special administration” legislation from 2011.

Hassell-Hart’s practice areas go well beyond energy, encompassing banking, regulation and civil fraud. In 2020, she acted in Travelport & Ors v WEX, concerning material adverse change clauses in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, and setting a precedent for a key interpretation of such clauses. This year, she can be seen on the highly-anticipated Derek Quinlan bankruptcy case, which is scheduled for June.