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Toby Riley-Smith KC

"Toby is one of those extraordinary talents: he works hard, is good with clients, and collaborative and collegiate in his approach. He has a superb way of interacting with clients; he's better than anyone I know on paper and the best I've seen in court."

Chambers UK

Call
1995
Silk
2016
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7583 9020
Email:
clerks@hendersonchambers.co.uk

Toby Riley-Smith K.C. specialises in consumer law, product liability, group litigation, health & safety, inquests/inquiries and environmental law.  He is known for his eye for detail, his delight in teamwork and his strong advocacy – qualities that are recognised in the Directories.

He was short-listed for Health & Safety Silk of the Year at the Chambers Bar Awards 2021 and for Group Litigation and Consumer Silk of the Year at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023.   He is Standing Counsel (Consumer Law) to the Competition and Markets Authority.

Consumer law/Consumer Finance: Toby is ranked by the Directories in the top tier of leading consumer law silks: ‘First-class practitioner, he has become the benchmark to measure all other barristers and he beats them consistently’ (Legal 500 2021);“Toby is exceptional – he has literally written the book on consumer law” (Chambers 2023);  “Toby Riley-Smith KC exudes real gravitas in court” (Chambers 2025); “Toby is very bright and involved in many of the biggest cases” and “Superb with clients, he has great empathy and an ability to speak to anyone in very human terms. He has a happy knack of conveying to the court the fact that he is totally trustworthy” (Chambers 2026).  His appearance in the Court of Appeal in Cooper v The Freedom Travel Group Ltd [2023] 1 WLR 663 was live-streamed: you can watch the archived video feed here.

Product liability: Toby is ranked by Directories in the top tier of leading silks by the Directories.  He has been described as a “product liability star” (Legal 500 2013), “go to counsel for product claims” (Legal 500 2016), and as someone who “shines thanks to his unsurpassed knowledge in the area” (Who’s Who Legal – Product Liability Defence 2019);  “Toby is an absolute delight to work with even if he is on the other side. Annoyingly for his opponents, he charms judges and drives a hard bargain.” (Legal 500 2024); “Toby is superb with clients. He is exceptional and he is a master of the subject matter too” (Chambers 2026) and “Toby has an impeccable eye for detail, a calm and sensible approach to problems and an attractive advocacy style” (Legal 500 2026).

Group litigation: Toby is ranked by the Directories in the top tier of leading Silks – having acted in many of the most significant group actions of the last three decades, including The Tobacco Litigation, The MMR Vaccine Litigation, The PIP Breast Implant Litigation, The Corin Metal-on-Metal Hip Litigation, The Vaginal Mesh Litigation, the NOx Emissions Litigation and The Essure Litigation:  “Toby has a wealth of group litigation experience and is an absolute delight to work with” (Chambers 2023); “Amazingly knowledgeable, approachable and supportive and a master strategist in public inquiry and contested GLO matters” (Chambers 2024); “He has an impeccable eye for detail, a calm and sensible approach to problems and an attractive advocacy style. He is currently one of the most sought-after players in the field” (Legal 500 2025); “Toby is very charming, emotionally astute and will approach discussions with a very measured way. He commands respect” (Chambers 2026).

Health and safety: Toby is ranked by the Directories in the top tier of leading health & safety silks: “an extraordinary talent. He works hard and is good with clients” (Chambers 2023); “His mind works incredibly quickly and he is brilliant at developing case strategy from the outset.” (Chambers 2024); “Toby is a superb advocate. He works terrifically hard on every case and is meticulously prepared. A concise barrister with exceptionally good judgement” (Legal 500 2025); “Toby is my go-to for regulatory matters that need a silk” (Chambers 2025); “’He is a good jury advocate, a smart talent and has good judgement” (Chambers 2026).

Inquests/public inquiries: Toby is recommended as a leading silk in this field:  “Toby is one of those extraordinary talents: he works hard, is good with clients, and collaborative and collegiate in his approach. He has a superb way of interacting with clients; he’s better than anyone I know on paper and the best I’ve seen in court” (Chambers 2023); “very good team player when there are multiple defendants, and very good at coordinating all the different barristers involved. He goes above and beyond.” (Legal 500 2021); “Toby is always thinking strategically – he is four steps ahead.” (Chambers 2024); “Toby is a superb advocate who reassures the tribunal that they are in the safest of hands; he has a first-class brain and wonderful manner” (Legal 500 2024); “Toby is a highly sought after silk. He is charming and a delight to work with” (Legal 500 2026); “Toby has a great ability to speak to anyone in very human terms. He has a natural, deep empathy for people’s stress and anxiety, which is at the core of everything Toby does” (Chambers 2026).

Environmental law: Toby is recommended as a leading silk in this area: “He has a peerless mind and an incredible way of calming and reassuring clients” (Chambers 2021). “He is very responsive, always accessible, easy to work with and get on with. He’s all the things you want from a barrister – the whole package” (Chambers 2023).  ‘One the joint best of the senior barristers for regulatory crime, he is a quiet, careful, thoroughly prepared and destructive cross-examiner’ (Legal 500 2023); “He is an amazing advocate” (Chambers 2025); “Toby is charming, easy to work with, and very proactive” (Chambers 2026).

For more information about the way barristers at Henderson Chambers work, including our terms of engagement, fee transparency statement and our complaints process, please click here.  Barristers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

Please click here for a copy of Toby Riley-Smith’s privacy policy. 

 

Expertise

Consumer Law (including Banking, Consumer Credit & Consumer Finance)

Toby is a leading specialist in Consumer Law. He has particular expertise in the consumer protection regimes regulating both consumer finance and consumer products. In 2021 he was appointed Standing Counsel (Consumer Law) to the Competition and Markets Authority.

He is ranked in the top tier in Consumer Law and Consumer Finance by Chambers (2026): (“Toby is very bright and involved in many of the biggest cases” and “He is outstanding at getting the tone absolutely spot on for his audience and is so eloquent. He’s also an amazing tactician”).  His consumer credit expertise means that he is also recommended as a leading Silk in Banking & Finance and Financial Services Regulation by Legal 500 (2026) (“Toby is a consumer credit specialist and he knows his stuff inside and out”).

He is a sometime author of some of the main texts in the field:

  • Co-editor of the Butterworths’ Commercial and Consumer Law Handbook (2009-present day)
  • Contributor to The Law of Artificial Intelligence (1sted) (Thomson Reuters 2020)
  • Contributing editor of Goode: Consumer Credit Law and Practice (Looseleaf) (until 2018)
  • Co-author of the Consumer Credit volume of the Butterworths Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (2007)
  • Co-author of The Blackstone’s Guide to the Consumer Credit Act 2006 (2006)
  • Contributor to Product Liability: Law and Insurance (2000)
  • Contributor to Volume 9(1) of Halsbury’s Laws – Consumer Credit (1998)

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.

Consumer group actions

Toby has advised and/or acted in consumer-driven group litigation arising out of the financial products including:

  • groups of shareholders against executives accused of publishing misleading financial information;
  • mortgage mis-selling claims;
  • consumer claims against banks arising out of alleged non-compliance with consumer credit legislation, including the leading case of Sternlight v Barclays Bank;
  • groups of claims following failed traded endowment policies (TEP) investment schemes.
  • claims against estate agents;
  • a group of claims against second-hand car vendors.

He led Lia Moses in a test-case (Hodgson v Creation Finance Limited [2021] EWHC 2167) that determined the approach to be taken in low-value claims against finance companies under section 75 arising from a supplier’s misrepresentation in relation to solar panels.

Consumer Credit claims

He has great experience of litigation involving consumer credit agreements – including those involving:

  • Non-compliance with ss 60 – 64 of the CCA 1974
  • Non-compliance with ss 77 – 78 of the CCA 1974
  • Unfair relationships / extortionate credit bargains
  • PPI mis-selling
  • Professional negligence claims arising out of the drafting of non-compliant contractual documentation
  • Claims against finance companies under section 75 – including the leading case of Cooper v Freedom Travel Group & another [2022] EWCA Civ 1557  in which he successfully resisted an attempt to extend s75 liability to the family members of a cared-card holder.

Consumer Credit – licensing/authorisation

He acted successfully for the OFT in one of the last licensing appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal under the old regime.

Consumer Protection

As Standing Counsel to the CMA, he is involved in enforcement action under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002.  He has experience of enforcement action in relation to:

  • refunds of air fares under package travel legislation
  • online retail practices
  • care homes
  • leasehold properties
  • social media advertising and endorsements
  • green claims

He has significant experience of the civil and criminal aspects of the regime introduced by the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and its subordinate legislation: for more details please see “Product Liability” below.

Financed goods

He is regularly instructed in commercial litigation arising out of goods subject to finance.  Recent instructions include:

  • Claims against banks for defective manufacturing machinery under hire purchase agreements
  • Claims arising out of hiring of photocopiers
  • Claims for the recovery of goods owned by finance house
  • Disputes over title to cars subject to stocking agreements

Secret Commission Claims

He has experience of individual (and groups of) secret commission claims made against banks, asset finance companies and others.

Representative cases

grid list
  • Eternity Sky Investments Ltd v Zhang [2024] EWCA Civ 630

    Intervening on behalf of the CMA – appellant found not to have been a consumer – but, if she had been, then consumer protection laws would have applied.

  • Competition and Markets Authority v Truly Holdings Ltd (In Liquidation) [2022] EWHC 386

    Pt 8 proceedings under Enterprise Act 2002 – declaration that travel operators had breached Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 in respect of refunds for cancelled package holidays.

  • Soleymani v Nifty Gateway LLC [2022] EWCA Civ 1297

    Intervening on behalf of the CMA – consumer allowed to rely on UK consumer protection law to challenge a foreign arbitration agreement.

  • Cooper v Freedom Travel Group & another [2022] EWCA Civ 1557

    The wife of credit card holder not permitted to bring a claim against creditor under section 75 CCA 1974.

  • Hodgson v Creation Finance Limited [2021] EWHC 3515

    Consumer Credit Act claims; Costs; Costs capping orders; Debtor-creditor-supplier agreements; Pilot schemes; Solar power; Summary assessment.

  • Hodgson v Creation Finance Limited [2021] EWHC 2167

    Test case for low-value claims against finance companies under sections 56/75 arising out of supplier’s misrepresentation in relation to solar panels.

Read more

Product Liability

Toby is ranked in the top tier of leading product liability silks by the Directories.  Recent comments from his peers include:

“He shines thanks to his unsurpassed knowledge in the area” (Who’s Who Legal ~ Product Liability Defence 2019).

 “He’s incredibly hard-working and really gets it right” (Chambers 2021).

He has ‘Great tactical acumen and sound commercial advice coupled with a strong and persuasive advocacy style.’ (Legal 500  2023).

 “Toby is able to get to grips with complex technical aspects of cases” and “quickly establishes rapport with experts” (Chambers 2023).

“He really understands what the client needs and is incredibly good at dealing with delicate situations.” (Chambers 2024).

“Toby is an absolute delight to work with even if he is on the other side. Annoyingly for his opponents, he charms judges and drives a hard bargain.” (Legal 500 2024).

“Toby is a real team player; he gets into the details and is great to work with.” (Chambers 2025).

“He has an impeccable eye for detail, a calm and sensible approach to problems and an attractive advocacy style. He is currently one of the most sought-after players in the field” (Legal 500 2025).

He has great experience of the legal processes involving product manufacturers/suppliers can become involved – whether personal injury/fatal accident claims, commercial claims, trading standards prosecutions, public inquiries or inquests.  He acts in cross-border disputes and regularly deals with the jurisdictional issues that arise in product claims.

He has experience of a wide range of products including consumer goods, cosmetics, electrical appliances, food, industrial machinery, medical devices, medicines, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, trains and white goods. Clients have included American Medical Systems, Bayer, Boston Scientific, Corin, Electrium, Ikea, Implantcast, L’Oreal, Medtronic, Merck, Siemens, Sony and Whirlpool.

Group Actions

He has particular experience of complex multi-party litigation, having acted in some of the most significant group actions and mass tort claims in the last thirty years:

  • The Tobacco Litigation: From 1996 to 1999 he was one of the team of counsel instructed by Imperial Tobacco Limited in its successful defence of claims brought by a group of smokers suffering from lung cancer.
  • The MMR/MR Vaccine Litigation: From 1999 to 2007 he was junior counsel to Merck & Co Inc, a manufacturer of the MMR vaccine. The claims of 1,000 autistic children were defeated in one of the largest UK product liability group actions.
  • The ABG Hip Prosthesis Litigation: he acted for Pfizer in a group of claims brought under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 following the early revision of hip prostheses.
  • The PIP Hydrogel Breast Implants Litigation: instructed by one of the clinics which implanted breast implants in the hydrogel group litigation.
  • The Bomu-Bonny (Bodo) Oil Pipeline Litigation: acted for Shell in thousands of claims brought by fisher folk following leaks from oil pipeline in the Niger Delta.
  • The Corin Metal-on-Metal Hip Litigation: he acted for a manufacturer (Corin Limited) of hip implants facing hundreds of claims by patients.
  • The POP / SUI Product Litigation: he is acting for a manufacturer of pelvic organ prolapse products
  • The Essure Litigation: he is acting for Bayer in claims brought by 205 claimants in relation to an implantable contraceptive device
  • The NOx Emissions Litigation: he acts for Renault
  • The Treloars Infected Blood Litigation: acting for the defendant school in a group of claims brought by former pupils infected with HIV / Hepatitis from contaminated blood products

He has been  instructed by manufacturers or suppliers facing group litigation in relation to cardiac defibrillators, combine harvesters, dishwashers, fridge-freezers, traded endowment policies and tumble dryers.

Unitary claims

Consumer goods

He regularly acts in cases following injury caused by consumer goods. Recent instructions have involved the following products:

  • Cosmetics:  personal injury claims against the manufacturer of aftershave
  • Dishwashers:  commercial claims, fatal accident claims, and inquests following domestic fires.
  • Hair dye:  various claims and inquests following adverse reactions to home hair colourants.
  • Heaters:  claim for catastrophic personal injuries to children following a domestic house fire.
  • Fireworks:  claims following injury caused by defective fireworks.
  • Furniture:  claim against an international furniture manufacturer in relation to a flat-pack bed.
  • Lithium-ion batteries: fatal fire allegedly caused by such batteries
  • Miniature circuit breakers:  inquest and litigation following a house fire caused by recalled MCBs.
  • Laptops:  personal injury and property damage claims following domestic fires.
  • Pressure cooker:  personal injury caused by an exploding device.
  • Tumble-dryers:  fatal accident claims following domestic fires.
  • Washing machines:  fatal accident claims following domestic fires.

Commercial claims

He has been instructed in many commercial “chain-of-contract” and insurance claims involving defective products, such as:

  • Agricultural machinery: claims against the manufacturer following fires in combine harvesters.
  • Animal feed:  acted for the country’s largest animal foodstuff manufacturer in a commercial claim related to contaminated chicken feed.
  • Bio-fuel:  claim against supplier of allegedly contaminated bio-fuel or recycled “soup” to industry.
  • Car park decking systems:  a commercial recovery action following the failure of a car park surface.
  • Chinaware: acted for a company that bought hundreds of thousands of defective mugs for a promotional campaign in its recovery action against the manufacturer.
  • Combine harvesters: claims following fires at harvest time
  • Computers: a claim for misrepresentation as to the specification
  • Electrical products: claims by insurers and others arising out of electrical fires at commercial premises that are blamed on defective products (light fittings, electrical capacitors and commercial fryers).
  • Electrical generators:  recovery action by insurers following a fire at commercial premises in the City of London caused by defective generator.
  • Highway maintenance: acting in commercial claims brought by the highways authorities against insured drivers involved in accidents that require highway repair.
  • Industrial machinery:  various sale of goods cases arising from the supply of equipment such as industrial plant, grinding machines, potato-harvesters and baling machines.
  • Petrol Contamination:  acted for one of the producers of the contaminated petrol supplied to thousands of supermarket customers in the spring of 2007. The multi-party commercial dispute that has followed – involving many of the major supermarkets – was both high-value and high-profile.
  • Pipework:  acted in claim that involved the flooding of a factory as the result of defective pipes.
  • Polymers:  acted for Korean manufacturer of industrial polymer implicated in a factory explosion.
  • Polyethylene sheets:  acted for the manufacturer of polyethylene sheets used to wrap animal foodstuffs.
  • Toilet blocks:  commercial claim by a manufacturer which had bought defective machinery.
  • Trains: acted for a passenger injured in the Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash at all stages up to the House of Lords.
  • Trains: double fatality and subsequent high court commercial litigation on behalf of German Locomotive Manufacturer following explosion of locomotive whilst working in the Channel Tunnel rail link.
  • Yachts:  claim in relation to a defective luxury yacht.

Food and drink

He has been instructed in cases involving contaminated food, including:

  • Cheese:  claims arising out of the sale of metal-contaminated cheese by supermarkets.
  • Dye (Sudan Red):  acted for a major supplier and manufacturer in the food sector on the possible liabilities arising from the supply of products contaminated with illegal food dye.
  • Eggs (Salmonella): defended a group of claims following a mass-poisoning at a lunch hosted by one of London’s grandest hotels.
  • Horse Meat:  advised in claims against Spanish producers arising out of the sale of pork products allegedly contaminated with horse-meat.
  • Ready meals:  acted for the manufacturer of ready meals contaminated by metal.
  • Rice:  acted for the Japanese manufacturer of retortable packaging that was said to have caused widespread contamination of packets of microwaveable rice.

He has advised on the application of the food labelling regulations and directives, in particular in relation to genetically modified food.

Medical devices / pharmaceutical products

He is regularly involved in personal injury claims following the use of medical devices or pharmaceutical products, often brought under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.  Recent cases have involved the following products:

  • Blood products: acting for defendants in group claims arising from the Infected Blood Scandal
  • Contact lenses: acted for the manufacturers of contact lenses.
  • Contraceptives: unitary claims involving an implantable contraceptive device
  • Cosmetic implants:  acted for the manufacturer of cosmetic lip fillers / implants in a claim brought by a Swedish model against both his client and the cosmetic surgeons.
  • Enteral feeding devices:  represented the manufacturer of feeding devices at an inquest.
  • Flow diverter stents: acting for the manufacturer in a high-value claim following treatment for large brain aneurysms with an embolisation device
  • Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs):  acted for the manufacturers of the devices, and those who manufacture leads, in inquests and subsequent litigation arising out of the supply of such devices and leads.
  • Insulin (pumps):  represented various manufacturers of automated insulin pumps at inquests.
  • Insulin (pre-filled syringes): appeared at an Inquest, and in subsequent criminal and civil proceedings, for the manufacturer of pre-filled insulin syringes implicated in the death of a diabetic.
  • Haemostatic blood clotting agent:  acted for the manufacturer at an Inquest following a patient’s death during an operation.
  • Hip prostheses: acted in various unitary claims arising out of defective prostheses, whether metal-on-polyethylene or metal-on-metal.
  • Hypertension medication: acted for the manufacturer in a claim brought in relation to a generic medicine causing psoriasis.
  • Knee prostheses: unitary claim arising out of fractured knee prosthesis.
  • Parkinson’s Disease Medication (Dopamine agonist): defended various claims against various manufacturers that alleged that a dopamine-agonist caused a gambling addiction.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis medication: represented a global pharmaceutical company at an inquest whose clinical trial ended in the death of the patient.
  • Surgical screws:  acted for the manufacturer in personal injury litigation.
  • Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI):  he acted for the manufacturer of a medical device in various litigation.
  • Vaccines:  he acted for the manufacturer of vaccines in various unitary and group claims.

Military hardware

  • Mortar:  led by Jonathan Harvey, he obtained record damages against MOD for the dependants of an SAS sergeant killed in a “friendly-fire” incident in the Gulf.
  • Helicopter:  he acted for the Ministry of Defence in a claim by a pilot following a helicopter crash.

 Playground equipment

  • Traditional swings:  he acted for a defendant who successfully resisted a personal injury claim involving allegedly defective swings at the Duxford Air Field.
  • Cantilever swings:  he successfully defended at trial the manufacturer of a cantilever swing in Liverpool that was alleged to have been defective and caused injury.
  • Leisure slides:  he acted for the owner of the UK’s longest play slide in claims against the seller/manufacturer following a series of injuries to customers.

Vehicles

  • Cars: acted for manufacturers in claims involving defective cars and vans.
  • Highways Act Claims: he is acting in various commercial claims by the Highways Agency against owners of vehicles that have caused damage to the highway.

Cross-border / Jurisdictional Challenges

He provides advice and acts in cross-border disputes and challenges to the jurisdiction of the English Courts.  Cases have included claims involving alleged assaults / torture in Peru, nuisance in Nigeria and products manufactured / sold in Korea, China and India.

Product recall

He provides product liability and product safety advice to manufacturers and suppliers on when and how to manage a product recall.

Product safety and labelling

He advises on the product safety and labelling regulations and acts for businesses in regulatory prosecutions.

Trading Standards enforcement action

He acts for businesses and individuals prosecuted for offences under various trading legislation including the Trade Descriptions Act and the Consumer Protection Act.  Recent instructions have included:

  • Chinese electrical goods:  he recently advised a Chinese importer on threatened enforcement action under the General Product Safety Regulations in relation to electrical products.
  • Tumble dryers:  he acted for Whirlpool in challenging enforcement action taken by trading standards authority in the aftermath of a fire in a tower block in Shepherds Bush that was said to have been caused by a defective tumble dryer; and in the judicial review of the enforcement authority’s conduct by the Consumers’ Association.

Representative cases

grid list
  • Webster v Treloars Trust [2025] EWHC 516, the Senior Master

    Refusal of group litigation order in claims arising from infected blood scandal.

  • Joshua v Renault SA [ 2024] EWHC 1424, Cockerell J

    French Blocking Statute – English court declined to appoint a commissioner under the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters 1970 to process the documents.

  • Tonge v Bayer PLC [2023] EWHC 1792

    Senior Master made GLO in Essure Group Litigation.

  • Holterman v Electrium Sales Ltd [2020] EWHC 3915

    C’s claim under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 had been extinguished by virtue of the Limitation Act 1980 s.11A.  Section 35 did not override s.11A.

  • Shaw (Personal Representative of the Estate of William Ewan, Deceased) v Medtronic Corevalve LLC & 4 others [2017] EWHC 1646 (Lavender J)

    Basis of assessment – costs of successful defendant.

  • Shaw (Personal Representative of the Estate of William Ewan, Deceased) v Medtronic Corevalve LLC & 4 others [2017] EWHC 1397 (Lavender J)

    Dismissal of application to amend particulars of claim – summary judgment – application to disapply QOCS.

Read more

Health & Safety

Toby is ranked in the top tier of leading health & safety silks by the Directories.  Recent comments from his peers include:

“Toby is my go-to for regulatory matters that need a silk” and “Toby is a complete Rolls-Royce who is absolutely first class and strong in all the areas he needs to be” (Chambers 2025

“Toby is a superb advocate. He works terrifically hard on every case and is meticulously prepared. A concise barrister with exceptionally good judgement” (Legal 500 2025)

“He had a very human touch; he is so eloquent and an amazing tactician” (Chambers 2026)

“He has a great humanity and ability to speak to anyone in very human terms. He has a natural deep empathy for people’s stress and anxiety which is at the core of everything he does. He is exceptional” (Chambers 2026)

His previous experience includes the high-profile litigation that followed the Ladbroke Grove Train Crash, the Buncefield Refinery Explosion, the Bodo Oil Spill, the Hednesford Train Crash, the Shepherd’s Bush Tower Fire, the Grenfell Tower Fire,  the terrorist attack on the In Amenas Gas Facility in Algeria.

He led the team representing the Welsh Government at the high-profile conjoined inquests into the deaths of six residents at the Brithdir Care Home in New Tredegar.

Other clients have included: Associated British Ports, Bakkavor Foods, Berkeley Homes, BP and Tesco.

He has represented clients from a wide variety of sectors including construction, energy, food/drink, government, healthcare, industrial, leisure, life sciences, oil/gas, ports, prisons, railways, retail, schools and waterways.  He has particular expertise acting for Very Large Organisations.

His other experience includes:

Construction

  • An inquest following a fall from a mobile elevated working platform near Bristol (acting for the manufacturer).
  • An inquest into the death of a motorist at a new roundabout (acting for a construction company).
  • A prosecution following the collapse of the roof structure of a school in Telford and the injury of a number of workers (acting for the construction company in both the Magistrates and the Crown Courts).
  • A prosecution of a parochial church council following a serious injury in the course of the construction project in a parish church (acting for the Parish).
  •  A fatal fall at the Thames Tunnel (acting for the principal contractor at the Maidstone Crown Court).
  • A prosecution following a non-fatal accident near a construction site on a landmark residential development in the centre of London (acting for the developer in prosecution by HSE).
  • A fatal fall from scaffolding in Sheffield (acting for the one-man company before the Sheffield Crown Court).
  • A prosecution following injury to a passer-by hit by cladding (acting for the sub-contractor company in the Magistrates).
  • A double fatality in the course of the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (acting for the German manufacturer of the locomotive in the Inquest and subsequent high court commercial litigation).
  • A carbon-monoxide poisoning incident following the installation of a conservatory (acting for the company before the Magistrates).
  • A fatal accident in the course of construction work at a riding stables (acting for the defendant company before the Canterbury Crown Court).

Energy

  • A fatal accident at work (acting for an energy company before the Coroner).

Food and Drink

  • A fatal accident at a food processing plant in Wigan (acting for the employer).

Government

  •  A Crown Censure following the death of a driver at a weapons depot (acting for the Ministry of Defence).
  • A claim against a local authority arising out of the infection of a heating system with Legionella.
  • A fatal accident claim by widower of a court manager who died from septicaemia following an insect bite (acting for Ministry of Justice).
  • A fatal friendly-fire incident in the Middle East (acting for the deceased’s soldier’s family at the Inquest, and in the subsequent civil proceedings against MoD).
  • A fatal accident, and non-fatal injury, to journalists reporting on the conflict in Iraq (acting for the employer).

Healthcare

  • An inquest into the death of a student from meningitis following a delay in ambulance arrival (acting for the doctor advising the call-handler).
  • An inquest following a rare but known reaction to clozapine (acting for the monitoring service).
  • An inquest into the death of a patient whilst in respite care near Worcester (acting for the care provider).
  • An inquest into the death of a dementia patient at a residential care home in Brighton (acting for the home).
  • An inquest into the suicide of a young out-patient with mental disabilities in North London (acting for his carers).
  • An inquest following a death in a nursing home in Lincoln (acting for the manufacturer of a relevant medical device).
  • An inquest into the death of an elderly tenant in a sheltered housing scheme in Tamworth (acting for the landlord).
  • A fatal fire at a residential care home in Hertfordshire (acting for the care home before the Coroner).
  • An accident at a residential care home that led to the prosecution of an Order of Nuns (acting for the religious before the Magistrates).

Highways

  • An inquest following a road traffic accident on the M25 (acting for the manufacturer of the car).

Industrial

  • A challenge to the HSE’s claim for fees-for-intervention following a COMAH incident in North Yorkshire (acting for the company).
  •  A commercial claim against a supplier following personal injury claims paid by an employer following an explosion at a plastics factory in Northumberland (acting for the supplier).
  •  A prosecution following the explosion of the compressed air cylinder (acting for the manufacturer).
  • An inquest into an electrocution at work (acting for the site manager).
  • An inquest following a fatal accident at a warehouse in Corby (acting for the employer).
  • A fatal fire at a potato factory in Cambridgeshire (acting for the owner before the Coroner).

Leisure

  • A series of personal injury claims by users of the UK’s longest play slide (acting for the slide owner).
  •  A personal injury claim involving allegedly defective swings at the Duxford Air Field.
  • A personal injury claim by a child who had used a cantilever swing in a public park in Liverpool.
  • An inquest into the death of an explorer scout (acting for The Scout Association).

Oil and Gas

  • A prosecution following an explosion at a gas terminal and COMAH site in Norfolk (acting for a petro-chemical company in the Norwich Crown Court).
  • A prosecution following a death on an oil platform in the North Sea (acting for a petro-chemical company in the Norwich Crown Court).
  • The civil claims brought against a number of companies in the BP Group arising from the terrorist attack on the In Amenas Gas Facility in Algeria.

Ports

  • A death of a member of the public at the docks in Port Neath (acting for Associated British Ports).
  • A fatal accident to a security guard at the Port of Immingham (acting for the port owner at both the inquest and the subsequent sentencing hearing in the Crown Court).
  • A non-fatal accident at the Port of Ipswich (acting for the port owner at the sentencing hearing in the magistrates court).
  • A fatal accident at the Port of Ipswich (acting for the port owner).
  •  A fatal accident in the hold of a container ship at Grimsby Docks (acting for the employer).
  • An inquest into a fatal accident following a tyre explosion at Ipswich Docks (acting for the port owner).
  • A fatal fall at Ipswich Docks (acting for the port owner at the Ipswich Crown Court).
  • An inquest following a death whilst unloading the hold of a ship (acting for the port owner.)

Prisons

  • A series of civil claims against a prison by those prison officers who allege that they contracted TB from a prisoner (acting for HM Prison Service).
  • An inquest into the death of a prisoner whilst in custody (acting for HM Prison Service).

Railways

  • A double fatality on the railway at Hednesford (acting for a major rail infrastructure company in the Magistrates Court, Stafford Crown Court and Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal).
  • A double fatality of mother and daughter at  Taplow Railway Station (acting for Network Rail in the Inquest).

Retail premises

  • An inquest following the death of a customer in a supermarket in Buckinghamshire (acting for the retailer).

Schools

  • An inquest into a pupil’s death at an independent school (acting for the Governors).

Waterways

  • A fatal accident during a diving operation at a freshwater lock on the River Severn (acting for British Waterways before the Coroner, in the Bristol Crown Court and in the civil claim).
  • An inquest into a drowning at a leisure park in the Cotswolds (acting for the Park).

Representative cases

grid list
  • R v Tesco Stores Ltd (Snaresbrook Crown Court, 2020)
  • R v Associated British Ports, ICTS and DFDS Seaways (Hull Crown Court, 2018)
  • R v Bakkavor Foods Limited (Manchester Crown Court) (2017)
  • Bolle Transport BV v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 783 (CA): Carriers’ liability

    Clandestine entrants into United Kingdom.

  • ICS Car Srl & Another v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 394

    Afghan nationals discovered in trailer -Secretary of State imposing civil penalties on appellants – scope of statutory defence.

  • R v Fresenius Kabi Limited (Sheffield Crown Court) (2016)
Read more

Inquests

Toby is ranked as a leading silk by the Directories.  Recent comments from his peers include: Toby has a great ability to speak to anyone in very human terms. He has a natural, deep empathy for people’s stress and anxiety, which is at the core of everything Toby does” (Chambers 2026)

“Toby is a highly sought after silk. He is charming and a delight to work with.” (Legal 500 2026)

“Toby is brilliant at dealing with multiple spinning plates and seeing the bigger strategic picture while being across the detail” (Chambers 2025)

Many of Toby’s product liability, health & safety and environmental cases involve fatalities.  His practice in these areas has therefore taken him to Coroners’ Courts around the country.  He has therefore developed significant experience in inquests and coronial law.

He has particular experience of high-profile and demanding inquests and inquiries. They include:

  • Infected Blood Inquiry: he represented a school that provided specialist care to haemophiliac pupils in the 1970s and 1980s and which was a core participant in Sir Brian Langstaff’s inquiry.
  • Covid Inquiry: he acted for a vaccine manufacturer on this inquiry
  • Brithdir Care Homes Inquests: he recently led the team representing the Welsh Government at the conjoined inquests into the deaths of six residents at the Brithdir Care Home in New Tredegar. The inquest followed the decade-long police investigation. The hearing lasted for 8 weeks.
  • Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Toby is acting (with Richard Matthews QC, Adam Heppinstall QC and Eleanor Sanderson) for Whirlpool Corporation in the Public Inquiry following the disaster. A Whirlpool subsidiary produced the fridge-freezer that is said to be the origin of the fire.
  • Re Julie McCabe: an inquest following an anaphylactic reaction to hair colourant.  He acted for the manufacturer.
  • Channel Tunnel Rail Link Inquests: a month-long inquest into a double fatality in the course of the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. He acted for the German manufacturer of the locomotive (and in the subsequent high court litigation).

Other clients have included: Associated British Ports, Bakkavor Foods, Boston Scientific, HM Prison Service, Medtronic, Merck, Mylan, Siemens, The Scout Association, Taylor Wimpey and Tesco.

Environment

Toby is ranked in the Directories as a leading silk in environmental law.  Recent comments from his peers include:

“Toby is charming, easy to work with, and very proactive” (Chambers 2026)

“Toby is terrifically hard-working and has a very good bedside manner with clients” (Chambers 2025)

“He is an amazing advocate” (Chambers 2025)

He is an expert in the criminal and civil litigation following disasters (explosions, fire, floods and polluting events) – whether enforcement action by regulators or compensation claims for personal injury or property damage by individuals or their insurers.

International mass tort claims

  • Bomu-Bonny Oil Pipeline Litigation: He defended Shell (with Charles Gibson QC, Geraint Webb QC, Adam Heppinstall, Abigail Cohen and Ognjen Miletic) against thousands of claims brought in these courts by Nigerian nationals following oil spills near Bodo in the Niger Delta in 2008.
  • Peruvian copper mining: with Charles Gibson QC, he represented the defendant mining company in Tabra v Monterrico Metals PLC, a group action brought by 33 Peruvian environmental protestors for personal injuries sustained in the course of their protest in Peru against the mining activity of the subsidiary of an English parent-company.
  • In Amenas Gas facility: he acted for defendants in the civil claims brought against a number of companies in the BP Group arising from the terrorist attack on the In Amenas Gas Facility in Algeria.

Environmental pollution

He has been instructed in pollution claims arising out of disasters including:

  • Buncefield Disaster: he advised the insurer of one of the oil companies who operated the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Depot on matters arising from the explosion and fire in December 2005 and the consequent litigation.
  • Bacton Gas Terminal Explosion: representing Shell UK Limited in its joint prosecution by the HSE and the Environment Agency following an explosion at a gas terminal on the Norfolk coast in 2008.
  • HSE v Grosvenor Chemicals: litigation following an explosion at a COMAH site in 2009 and subsequent toxic spill into the River Wharfe.
  • Highways England v Aviva: litigation following a spill of hydraulic oil onto a motorway and its pollution of a canal.

Fire claims

He has acted in many claims following fires at residential or commercial premises (fatal accident, personal injury, nuisance and commercial) including:

  • Shepherds Bush Tower Block Fire: a group of claims by residents of a tower block owned by a local authority following a fire (acting for the manufacturer of the implicated electrical device).
  • Thomas More Square Fire: a commercial claim by the owner of commercial premises in the City of London following a fire in the generator room (acting for the manufacturer of the generator)
  • Grenfell Tower Fire: he is instructed on behalf of the manufacturer of the implicated fridge freezer).

Flooding claims

  • Flood at a caravan park: acted for Teignbridge District Council in successfully defending a high-value flooding claim in the TCC.
  • Flooded agricultural land: acted for a farmer in a high-value agricultural flooding claim.
  • River Quaggy Floods: acting for the Environment Agency in a group of claims brought by householders in south London arising from the flooding of the River Quaggy in 2013.

Highways claims

  • Damage to motorways: he is acting for insurer defendants in claims brought by the Highways Agency against insured drivers for damage to the highway.
  • Icy roads:  he is acting for insured claimants suing the local highway authority following accidents in icy conditions.

Land contamination

  • Recycling products: criminal prosecution following the contamination of land with recycled household waste.
  • Metal contamination: following contamination of industrial premises by chemicals used in electro-plating processes.

Statutory noise nuisance

  • Successful defence of a landowner who was prosecuted privately by his neighbour under the powers in section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (O’Bryan-Tear v Tyrwhitt-Drake).  It was alleged that game shooting caused a statutory nuisance.  This high-profile litigation attracted widespread media attention.

Waste management

  • Recycled mulch: he appeared for a significant East Anglian waste management company in its high-profile prosecution.
  • Biofuel: he is currently acting for the producer of waste used as biofuel facing commercial claims by those using the fuel.
  • Soil for a flood defence scheme: he acted for a local haulier prosecuted for waste offense after having delivered soil for flood defences at the request of the local internal drainage board

Water

  • Water leaks: he successfully sought injunctive relief on behalf of a water company in the Magistrates Court.
  • Statutory Compensation Scheme: he is acting for the environment agency in compensation claims arising under the statutory scheme in the Water Resources Act 1991.
  • Thames Water Super-Case: he is acting for Thames Water (leading Christopher Badger) in five prosecutions that are being case managed together

Wind turbine nuisance

  • He acted for the claimants in a ground-breaking nuisance claim brought in the TCC by a local resident against the owners of a wind-turbine in Yorkshire (Siraj v CM Hall Ltd, Leeds District Registry, 13 February 2015). The case established for the first time in domestic courts that a wind turbine could be an actionable nuisance.

Representative cases

grid list
  • R v Thames Water (Reading Magistrates Court, 2025)
  • R v Nicholls Ltd (Ipswich Crown Court, 2025)
  • Statutory noise nuisance private prosecution (2018/19)

    Toby successfully defended private landowners in a landmark private prosecution by an aggrieved neighbour under the powers in section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 that occupied over 4 full weeks of court time.  It was alleged that game shooting on the Estate caused a statutory nuisance to the neighbouring property.  This high-profile litigation has attracted widespread media attention.

    Link to news item here

  • Siraj v Hall (TCC in Leeds) (2015)

    Wind turbine a private nuisance.

  • Bodo Community & others v Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd [2014] EWHC 217

    Costs – Order for costs – Preliminary issue – Proceedings arising from oil spillages in Nigeria – Defendant company admitting liability for spillages – Court determining preliminary issues – Appropriate order for costs.

  • Bodo Community & others v Shell Petroleum Company of Nigeria Ltd [2014] EWHC 1973 (TCC)

    Preliminary issues of Nigerian Law – ouster of common law by statutory scheme – measure of loss – public nuisance – jurisdiction.

Read more

 

What the directories say

"Toby Riley-Smith KC is highly regarded for his broad product liability expertise, which includes handling group actions in the medical and pharmaceutical spheres, as well as property damage and consumer product claims. He predominantly defends manufacturers and other companies in product liability litigation."
Chambers UK 2026

"Toby Riley-Smith is very swift to grasp complex issues and facts, and always provides pragmatic, balanced and realistic advice."
Chambers UK 2026

"Toby is superb with clients. He is exceptional and he is a master of the subject matter too."
Chambers UK 2026

"Toby Riley-Smith KC represents organisations from the retail, transport and manufacturing sectors at inquests. He is particularly adept at acting on behalf of clients in inquests relating to health and safety incidents. He has additional experience representing healthcare providers in Article 2 inquests."
Chambers UK 2026

"Toby has a great ability to speak to anyone in very human terms. He has a natural, deep empathy for people's stress and anxiety, which is at the core of everything Toby does."
Chambers UK 2026

Read more


News and articles

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Instructing Toby Riley-Smith KC

If you require help or advice please contact our clerking team

Call +44 (0)20 7583 9020
or email

Appointments
  • Standing Counsel (Consumer Law) to the Competition and Markets Authority (2021, reappointed 2024)
  • Recorder (2019)
  • Middle Temple Advocacy Trainer (2018)
  • King’s Counsel (QC 2016)
  • Attorney General’s Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown, A Panel (2012-2016)
  • Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (2015)
  • CEDR Accredited Mediator (2000)
Publications
  • Contributor to The Law of Artificial Intelligence (1st ed) (Thomson Reuters; 2020)
  • Contributor to Product Liability: Law and Insurance (2000)
  • Co-editor of Halsbury’s Laws of England (Consumer Credit) (2000)
  • Co-editor of Halsbury’s Laws of England (Civil Procedure) (2001)
  • Co-author of Blackstone’s Guide to the Consumer Credit Act 2006 (2006)
  • Co-editor of Butterworths Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents (Consumer Credit) 5th Edition (2007)
  • Co-author of Butterworths Commercial and Consumer Law Handbook (2009-2017)
  • Contributing editor of Goode: Consumer Credit Law and Practice (looseleaf) (2007-2018)
Memberships
  • Commercial Bar Association
  • Health & Safety Lawyers’ Association
  • Medico-Legal Society
  • Personal Injuries Bar Association
Education
  • Eton College
  • Trinity College, University of Cambridge (BA (Hons), MA)
  • City University (Dip Law)
  • Inns of Court School of Law
  • Jules Thorne Scholar (Middle Temple)
Regulatory Information

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Bar Council Number: 34508

VAT Registration Number: 672748010

Legal Status: King’s Counsel

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Regulated by the Bar Standards Board.

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