Sarah has been instructed in some of the leading abuse claims, mainly on behalf of local authorities, the police and also private care providers for over 20 years. Sarah’s focus has been predominantly defending public bodies where she specialises in group actions, complex failure to remove/protect and child sexual exploitation claims.
Sarah was Involved in a successful high profile reported defence of a failure to remove/protect claim for a local authority which decided the standards test that social workers/local authorities should meet. This test remains.
Sarah currently leads two major group actions concerning civil claims for complex and emotive claims of Child Sexual Exploitation involving local authorities and the police. Her dual experience with both public organisations assists greatly in this regard. Sarah also assists other public organisations in relation to CSE claims, Failure to Remove, Negligence and breaches of the Human Rights Act and is part of Keoghs team assisting a public sector organisation involved in the Grooming Gangs Inquiry. Sarah regularly provides training sessions and presents on a range of topics and is also editor of and a contributor to Keoghs Public Sector Aware publication keeping our public sector clients up to date on legal issues.
Sarah is a UK Legal 500 Key Lawyer for abuse:
…a ‘very experienced litigator who identifies the issues at an early stage and is able to get the best outcome for her clients either through settlement or where the claim has merit by taking the case to trial’.
“Really experienced team who have huge level of experience in dealing with claims arising out of alleged child sexual exploitation”.
“Sarah specialises in group actions and cases involving failures to remove or protect and is highly regarded for her expertise in defending complex historic and recent abuse claims”.
Legal 500 2026: “Sarah Swan is a key contact for her capabilities defending both historic and recent abuse claims”.
She is also a member of the FOIL Public Sector Focus Team.
