Alice Carse
Call 2008
Instruct Alice
To instruct Alice please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7842 5555 or email [email protected].
Alice Carse is a highly regarded commercial barrister, ranked by the directories for her work in insurance. Given her experience in high value and complex insurance and reinsurance litigation she is recognised as a “a star for insurance related work” (Legal 500) and for “her expertise in acting for insurers in high-stakes disputes” (Chambers UK Bar).
Through her insurance work, Alice is often instructed in construction, property damage (particularly fire), professional negligence and commercial disputes. She also has a lot of experience of making and defending claims for injunctive relief. Alice has a niche specialism in industrial relations. Alice is recommended for being “bright, hard-working, commercially and tactically sensible and a joy to deal with” (Chambers UK Bar).
Alice is an experienced advocate and has been recognised as an “excellent advocate” (Legal 500) with a “wealth of advocacy experience” (Chambers UK Bar). She often appears against silks as sole counsel and has appeared as sole counsel in multi-week hearings, interim applications and at appellate level up to and including the Court of Appeal. Her trial work has been described as “meticulous and forensic, and her advocacy [is] measured and focused” (Legal 500).
“Notable for her expertise in acting for insurers in high-stakes disputes. She has a wealth of advocacy experience and is particularly noted for her abilities in handling business interruption matters. ‘Alice was dedicated and responsive at all times. Her helpfulness and willingness to immerse into the team was invaluable.’ ‘Alice is a joy to work with. She is extremely commercial and tactically savvy.’” Insurance, Chambers UK Bar 2025
“Alice is a very experienced junior counsel, with a very good understanding of insurance law, advocacy skills and excellent ability to translate strategy and legal argument into client friendly language. She is a pleasure to work with” Insurance and Reinsurance, Legal 500, 2025
“She is an extremely good junior for insurance-related matters. She is bright, hard-working, commercially and tactically sensible and a joy to deal with.” Insurance, Chambers UK Bar 2024
“Alice is a star for insurance related work. She has a clear grasp of the area, in terms of knowledge, tactical awareness, commercial realities and client priorities. In addition, she is a strong advocate. She is a delight to work with.” – Insurance and Reinsurance, Legal 500 2024
“Alice is an excellent insurance lawyer. She is very tenacious and her written advocacy is of the highest quality.” – Insurance and Reinsurance, Legal 500 2023
“Alice is an experienced junior counsel for insurance litigation and professional negligence matters” – Insurance, Chambers UK Bar 2023
“Alice is incredibly thorough in her advice. She is hugely collaborative, which is very helpful, and clients really feel that their views are listened to and taken into account.” Acted for Chubb to defend a claim brought by the widow of an insured for an indemnity following a fire at the insured property and the death of her husband” – Insurance, Chambers UK Bar 2022.
“She is a source of clear, considered and well-structured advice, and always happy to discuss content and conclusions reached. Loved by insurer and insured clients for being accessible and empathetic.” – Insurance and Reinsurance, Legal 500 2022.
““A respected barrister notable for her expertise across a range of employment matters, and a particular specialism in industrial relations matters. ‘ I have complete trust in Alice’s knowledge and experience.’ ‘Alice is timely, pragmatic and practical, a go-to advisor in union-related matters.’” Employment, Chambers UK Bar, 2025
“Alice is a confident advocate, who is always very well prepared and insightful, so her cross examination is on-point and effective. She develops a strong rapport with clients” Employment, Legal 500, 2025
“ ‘Alice is calm under pressure and has the ability to put clients at ease no matter how challenging the situation is.’ ‘Alice’s advice is practical and risk based…’ ‘Alice consistently provides an excellent service and proves herself to be both commercially astute whilst also an excellent advocate. She is very much live to the legal and commercial issues in the claim at hand.’ “ Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2024
“Alice is always prepared and insightful. An articulate and credible advocate, who doesn’t pull any punches in cross examination”. Employment, Legal 500 2024
“Alice’s preparation for trial is meticulous and forensic, and her advocacy is measured and focused. She is approachable, and explains matters to client in a user-friendly and engaging manner, inspiring their confidence and reliance in her and her abilities.” – Employment, Legal 500 2023
“ ‘Alice is my go-to barrister for complex and unusual legal challenges, or where the issue involves particularly sensitive matters.’ ‘Alice delivers reassuring and commercially focused legal advice. Her industrial relations expertise in particular is excellent.’” – Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2023
“She is tactically and commercially astute, she provides an invaluable contribution to extremely sensitive matters, she is always available when needed and she is able to present the legal and factual issues in clear, simple and pragmatic forms.” “She gets to grips with very nasty claims very quickly, she is very commercial, and she is not too caught up in historic case law but she is across all the technical points.” – Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2022.
“An effective team member with an eye for detail and a wealth of experience from previous industrial relations cases.” – Employment, Legal 500 2022.
“She’s very smart, tenacious in cross-examination and always on top of her brief.” “She’s calm, measured, sharp and insightful.” – Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2021
“An unshakeable, levelled and precise advocate. She is excellent with clients and translates complex legal matters into commercially focused solutions, enabling decisions to be made.” – Employment, Legal 500 2021
“Her advocacy is a delight to watch: intelligent, robust and thorough.” “She has incredible gravitas.” Employment, Chambers UK 2020
“She has a confident manner which instils confidence in clients.” – Employment, Legal 500 2020
“A brilliant advocate for industrial relations work.” – Employment, Legal 500 2019
Insurance & Reinsurance
Alice is a leading insurance junior (Chambers UK 2024 and Legal 500 2024) with a busy insurance practice, both as sole counsel and junior counsel to market leading silks. She handles very high-value and complex insurance and reinsurance disputes and spent several years working as junior to Colin Edelman KC.
Alice’s expertise in insurance includes aggregation, claims under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010, non-payment of premium, defence costs, business interruption (including COVID-19), fire claims (including hot works conditions precedent), cladding-related claims and claims under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012. She is experienced at advising and representing insurers in cases of alleged fraud, including in multi-million pound disputes.
Alice has been involved in insurance disputes arising from a range of industries including construction, cladding, roofing and from professional negligence claims. She is often instructed in construction or commercial claims which involve coverage issues, or subrogated claims such as breach of contract.
Featured Insurance & Reinsurance cases
Representing several London market war risks reinsurers in the operator policies part of the Russian Aviation Litigation.
Acting in arbitration proceedings relating to reinsurance of professional indemnity insurance, led by Rachel Ansell KC.
Defending a very high value and complex fire claim under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, brought by the spouse of a deceased insured and involving allegations of fraud.
Advising and representing an insurer in a coverage dispute under an EL policy, in respect of a high value catastrophic personal injury claim.
Representing an insurer in high value arbitration proceedings involving aggregation in solicitors’ negligence.
Representing an insured construction company in arbitration proceedings relating to defective cladding against the insurer of a cladding sub-contractor under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010.
Advising on a claim for cover under a warranty and indemnity policy, arising from a complex commercial transaction, with Sean Brannigan KC.
Fire claims – including advising an insured on cover in respect of claim arising from a devastating fire and alleged non-compliance with a condition precedent; advising an insurer on coverage issues relating to occupation and use of premises; representing an insurer in Commercial Court proceedings relating to a hot works condition precedent; advising an insurer on cover following a fire at premises used in the entertainment industry.
Advising an insurer on reinsurance cover relating to travel insurance and COVID-19.
Advising insured businesses on business interruption caused by COVID-19 as sole counsel and with Aidan Christie KC.
Acting in a Commercial Court business interruption claim relating to water damage.
Advising an insurer on cover under a CAR policy (involving multiple insureds over many policy years).
Advising an insurer on cover under a professional indemnity policy, in respect of the Building Safety Act 2022.
Advising an employer on cover under its group income protection policy.
Advising an insurer on the consequences of non-payment of premium.
Advising on cover for waking fire-watch expenses at a development affected by combustible cladding.
Alice also has experience of advising on the liability to insurance premium tax and has represented HMRC in FTT proceedings relating to insurance premium tax in CAR insurance.
Alice is a member of BILA and was a member of the BILA Young Professionals Committee. From 2016 to 2019 she was a member of the COMBAR Executive Committee. Earlier in her career she spent time working in-house at an insurer client in order to gain first-hand experience of the market. Also, she completed a four month secondment at a solicitors’ firm in the professional negligence and London markets insurance team.
Alice assisted lead counsel with updating the reinsurance chapter of MacGillivray on Insurance Law (Centenary edition). Alice was a co-contributor of an article to the British Insurance Law Association Journal (125th edition) entitled “Consumer Insurance: the risks of contracting on unfair terms”.
Construction and Property Damage
Alice is often instructed in construction claims involving insurance coverage issues. She has particular experience of claims involving fire safety and fire damage, including large and high value projects. Alice is currently instructed in a number of claims involving issues under the Building Safety Act 2022, including Remediation Contribution Orders (‘RCOs’).
Featured Construction and Property Damage cases
Junior counsel in a £15m+ fire damage and fire defect TCC claim, relating to fire at a residential property.
Defending a fire claim against an insured relating to the installation of cooking equipment and a fire at a fish and chip shop.
Defending a claim against the employer of two employees who started a fire at work, causing significant damage to the workplace and neighbouring premises.
Defending and advising on fires caused by hot works.
Representing a construction company in a multi-£million cladding claim against insurers under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010.
Advising on RCO claims against developers and associated coverage issues.
Advising on a multi-£million contract dispute between developers relating to cladding, including coverage issues, as junior to Ben Pilling KC.
Defending a TCC claim for the alleged supply of defective materials used in the construction of roads and pavements.
Defending claims for RCOs in the FTT.
Advising on claims arising from multiple defects in a large public sector project.
Advising on a claim against an insured construction company for damage to water mains caused by piling works.
Commercial Litigation
Alice has represented clients in a wide range of commercial disputes, both in litigation and arbitration. She has appeared as sole counsel against KCs on numerous occasions.
Her work in commercial litigation includes employment disputes relating to restrictive covenants, team moves, confidential information and bonus claims. She has been recognised by the directories for her expertise in industrial action, including on some of the most high-profile industrial disputes in recent years, where she is experienced at making applications for interim injunctions to halt strike action. Alice also advises employers implementing large-scale changes to their workforces, enabling businesses to develop successful industrial relations strategies. This includes experience of collective changes to terms and conditions, managing the impact of strikes and negotiating collective agreements.
Alice has a great deal of experience in making and defending applications for injunctive relief. Her work on restrictive covenants and business protection extends to the enforcement of post-sale restrictions in commercial transactions. She also has experience of handling allegations of fraud. In her insurance work she defended (as junior) a claim in the Commercial Court claim in excess of £30m on the basis of fraud and misrepresentation.
Other recent work includes defending a claim under the Sale of Goods Act in the TCC, relating to alleged defects in materials supplied for a construction project; representing a reinsurer in very high value arbitration proceedings relating to the correct construction of a premium rebate clause and acting for a construction company in contractual dispute with a cladding contractor.
Professional Negligence
In addition to her insurance work, Alice accepts instructions in professional negligence claims. She is currently acting in a high value dispute relating to construction works and involving difficult issues of quantum and based on allegations of negligence by architects. She has acted in claims against solicitors, valuers and surveyors, including conveyancing, in addition to dealing with associated insurance coverage matters.
Earlier in her career, Alice undertook a secondment at a firm of City solicitors undertaking defendant professional negligence work. She has a great deal of experience working with insurers and defendants to defend claims.
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Instruct Alice
To instruct Alice please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7842 5520 or email [email protected].
Would you like to know more?
For help and advice talk to a member of our clerking team. They can advise on the best options for your matter.
Call: +44 (0) 20 7842 5555
