Sophia Coles

Associate, Farrer & Co

Sophia is a safeguarding and employment associate in the firm’s Safeguarding Unit. She advises schools, universities, cultural organisations, sports bodies and charities on a range of complex safeguarding and employment matters – including managing allegations, investigations and creating safer cultures. She is also a governor of a secondary school.

Katie Fudakowski

Partner, Farrer & Co

Katie’s expertise spans safeguarding, education and employment law. She draws upon a decade of litigation experience in private practice as a barrister and advises schools, education business and sports organisations on all issues involving children, parents and staff.

As Counsel for schools defending serious allegations of whistleblowing detriment, discrimination and unfair dismissal in the Employment and Employment Appeal Tribunals she brings real coal face experience to her advice. In pure education law, she has considerable expertise in applying the Equality Act 2010 to Schools and in special educational needs cases, appearing in the Special Educational Needs Tribunal and the TRA. She also covers the contractual side of education, advising on parental complaints and breach of contract claims.

Through the Farrer & Co Safeguarding Unit she leads on safeguarding crisis management, organisation culture change and thought leadership.

She is a co-author of the Farrer and Co Department for Education endorsed Guidance on Low-Level Concerns, sits of the Council of Europe Sport Division's Pool of international Experts on Safe Sport and is recognised by Legal 500 as a ‘next generation partner’ who is quick and responsive with excellent judgment.

Nicola Newbegin

Barrister, Old Square Chambers

Nicola specialises in employment, discrimination and professional discipline, as well as undertaking related work in the fields of judicial review, human rights and data protection/privacy.

In May 2021, Nicola published (jointly with Robin White of Old Square Chambers) ‘A Practical Guide to Transgender Law’ available to purchase here.

Nicola appears regularly in the Employment Tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the County Courts, the High Court and the Court of Appeal, as well as before the major professional regulators.