"She makes her clients confident. Her interpersonal skills are excellent and she is excellent on the law."
Kirsten practices predominately in the areas of media, public, and international law. She was ranked as a Leading Junior in Defamation and Privacy in the Legal 500 and in Band 3 for Inquests and Inquiries in Chambers and Partners 2020.
Kirsten’s public law practice covers a variety of areas, in particular, human rights, administrative, inquest, immigration, prison, actions against the police and education law. She is also on the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s list of approved counsel. Kirsten also has a strong background in public international law, having spent several years working for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. She graduated top of her class in the International Legal Studies LLM at Georgetown University in Washington DC. She has written and spoken on issues of public international law, and her article on the limits of universal jurisdiction in the Kiobel case has been published in the Georgetown University Journal of International Law.
Approximately half of Kirsten’s practice comprises media and information law, although she has a particular interest in cases with both a media and public law component. She is currently instructed as common costs counsel for the claimants in the phone hacking litigation against News Group Newspapers, as well as for individual claimants in cases arising out of Operation Elveden (the payment by newspapers to public officials for information). She was junior counsel to the Claimants in Hannon v NGN and Dufour v NGN ([2014] EWHC 1580 (Ch)), cases which arise from Operation Elveden, the police investigation into corrupt payments by journalists to public officials. In addition to phone hacking, Kirsten undertakes a range of defamation, data protection, and privacy related matters and accepts instructions on behalf of both claimants and defendants. She is a “night lawyer” for the Independent newspaper and has experience of libel reading in a range of contexts.
Kirsten practices in media and information law and is ranked as a leading junior in the Legal 500. She is currently the editorial complaints officer for the Scott Trust’s Independent Review Panel which is the independent complaints adjudicator for The Guardian and Observer, which is not a member of IPSO. Kirsten acts for both claimants and defendants and has particular expertise in the areas of open justice, privacy, including privacy injunctions and libel law. Notable recent cases include:
Kirsten is ranked as a Tier 3 Junior in Chambers & Partners for Inquests & Inquiries. She acts almost exclusively for bereaved families, often in complex Article 2 inquests. She has particular expertise in deaths in secure mental health settings. Kirsten is currently instructed as junior counsel on behalf of over 250 Scottish Infected and Affected Core Participants in the Infected Blood Inquiry led by Aidan O’Neill QC.
Kirsten regularly acts on behalf of claimants in civil claims alleging breaches of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention, often following the inquests. She acted as sole counsel for the Claimants in Daniel v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust [2016] 4 WLR 32 and successfully argued for the applicability of the Article 2 operational duty to healthcare professionals delivering life-saving treatment in a detention setting. The case also expands the notion of “victim” status in Article 2 claims brought by those without a formal legal relationship to the deceased.
More recently, Kirsten acted as junior counsel in the case of Seddon v Thames Valley Police (unreported) which was the first time the English courts considered whether the operational duty to protect life under Article 2 extended to the victim of a fatal accident following a police pursuit. After a 5 day trial, the Court held that Article 2 was engaged and that the officers involved had failed to take all reasonable steps to protect Matthew Seddon’s life. A copy of the Judgment may be found here.
Notable cases include:
Perspectives and Alternatives on the use of the Alien Torts Statute
Paper published in the Georgetown Journal of International Law and presented at a symposium in at Georgetown University in Washington DC on 27 March 2012. The paper offers a critical examination of litigation under the ATS in the US courts, particularly in light of the recent US Supreme Court hearings in Kiobel on corporate liability for human rights abuses abroad and suggesting alternative means of ensuring accountability. Available here.
Called to the Bar, 2012 (Honourable Society of the Inner Temple)
City University (September 2010-May 2011)
Bar Professional Training Course (Very Competent)
United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Associate Legal Officer, Appeals Chamber (August 2009-August 2010)
Legal Assistant, Defence (January 2009-August 2009)
Legal Intern, Defence (September 2008-January 2009)
Human Rights Watch (Washington DC)
Pro Bono research associate looking into matters relating to the use of Private Military Contractors in Iraq (October 2007-April 2008)
Honourable Society of the Inner Temple (2009)
Horace Avory Scholarship Benefactor’s Award
Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Scholarship
Georgetown University Law Centre (2007/08)
Thomas Bradbury Chetwood Sr. Prize for Most Distinguished Academic Performance leading to an LL.M.
CALI Excellence for the Future Award (for highest grades in International Human Rights Law; Contemporary Issues in Human Rights).
LLM (International Legal Studies) Georgetown University (2008) (highest mark in year)
LLB (hons) Durham University (2007)
INQUEST
Kirsten is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. In order to provide legal services to her clients, including advice and representation services, Kirsten needs to collect and hold personal data. This includes her client’s personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the matter upon which she is instructed. To read Kirsten’s privacy notice in full, please see here.
"Kirsten’s advice is measured, practical and realistic. She will always have the client’s interests at the forefront of her advice. Her knowledge of case law is incredible and something to be desired."
"Kirsten has a good manner and good judgement. She doesn't lead clients down the wrong path." "She makes her clients confident. Her interpersonal skills are excellent and she is excellent on the law."
"Kirsten is helpful, sensible, practical and pleasant to deal with."
"Intellectually brilliant, practical and yet nuanced, incisive and quick with reasonable and reasoned advice."
"Her advocacy is great. She is very calm, measured and persuasive." "She is enormously busy in inquests work and has an absolute mastery of all the detail."
"She is a talented junior with good drafting skills in pleadings and excellent knowledge of data protection in a media context."
"She's willing to go above and beyond and spend time with clients in difficult situations. She has good advocacy skills and is able to successfully articulate tricky legal points."
"Kirsten has shown commitment to the case and managed well with the complexities it presented. She provided helpful and insightful advice to the clients and her advocacy was thorough."
"She's excellent with clients as she has a human approach. She's also really good at cutting through the detail."
"She’s willing to go above and beyond and spend time with clients in difficult situations. She has good advocacy skills and is able to successfully articulate tricky legal points."
"Kirsten has shown commitment to the case and managed well with the complexities it presented. She provided helpful and insightful advice to the clients and her advocacy was thorough."
"She’s excellent with clients as she has a human approach. She’s also really good at cutting through the detail."
"An incredible advocate who is very, very good with clients."
"She makes her clients confident. Her interpersonal skills are excellent and she is excellent on the law."
Chambers & Partners, 2024
Contact Kirsten: kirstensjovoll@matrixlaw.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7404 3447
Contact Kirsten's Practice Team (Team M): TeamM@matrixlaw.co.uk
Kirsten practices predominately in the areas of media, public, and international law. She was ranked as a Leading Junior in Defamation and Privacy in the Legal 500 and in Band 3 for Inquests and Inquiries in Chambers and Partners 2020.
Kirsten’s public law practice covers a variety of areas, in particular, human rights, administrative, inquest, immigration, prison, actions against the police and education law. She is also on the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s list of approved counsel. Kirsten also has a strong background in public international law, having spent several years working for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. She graduated top of her class in the International Legal Studies LLM at Georgetown University in Washington DC. She has written and spoken on issues of public international law, and her article on the limits of universal jurisdiction in the Kiobel case has been published in the Georgetown University Journal of International Law.
Approximately half of Kirsten’s practice comprises media and information law, although she has a particular interest in cases with both a media and public law component. She is currently instructed as common costs counsel for the claimants in the phone hacking litigation against News Group Newspapers, as well as for individual claimants in cases arising out of Operation Elveden (the payment by newspapers to public officials for information). She was junior counsel to the Claimants in Hannon v NGN and Dufour v NGN ([2014] EWHC 1580 (Ch)), cases which arise from Operation Elveden, the police investigation into corrupt payments by journalists to public officials. In addition to phone hacking, Kirsten undertakes a range of defamation, data protection, and privacy related matters and accepts instructions on behalf of both claimants and defendants. She is a “night lawyer” for the Independent newspaper and has experience of libel reading in a range of contexts.
Kirsten practices in media and information law and is ranked as a leading junior in the Legal 500. She is currently the editorial complaints officer for the Scott Trust’s Independent Review Panel which is the independent complaints adjudicator for The Guardian and Observer, which is not a member of IPSO. Kirsten acts for both claimants and defendants and has particular expertise in the areas of open justice, privacy, including privacy injunctions and libel law. Notable recent cases include:
Kirsten is ranked as a Tier 3 Junior in Chambers & Partners for Inquests & Inquiries. She acts almost exclusively for bereaved families, often in complex Article 2 inquests. She has particular expertise in deaths in secure mental health settings. Kirsten is currently instructed as junior counsel on behalf of over 250 Scottish Infected and Affected Core Participants in the Infected Blood Inquiry led by Aidan O’Neill QC.
Kirsten regularly acts on behalf of claimants in civil claims alleging breaches of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention, often following the inquests. She acted as sole counsel for the Claimants in Daniel v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust [2016] 4 WLR 32 and successfully argued for the applicability of the Article 2 operational duty to healthcare professionals delivering life-saving treatment in a detention setting. The case also expands the notion of “victim” status in Article 2 claims brought by those without a formal legal relationship to the deceased.
More recently, Kirsten acted as junior counsel in the case of Seddon v Thames Valley Police (unreported) which was the first time the English courts considered whether the operational duty to protect life under Article 2 extended to the victim of a fatal accident following a police pursuit. After a 5 day trial, the Court held that Article 2 was engaged and that the officers involved had failed to take all reasonable steps to protect Matthew Seddon’s life. A copy of the Judgment may be found here.
Notable cases include:
Perspectives and Alternatives on the use of the Alien Torts Statute
Paper published in the Georgetown Journal of International Law and presented at a symposium in at Georgetown University in Washington DC on 27 March 2012. The paper offers a critical examination of litigation under the ATS in the US courts, particularly in light of the recent US Supreme Court hearings in Kiobel on corporate liability for human rights abuses abroad and suggesting alternative means of ensuring accountability. Available here.
Called to the Bar, 2012 (Honourable Society of the Inner Temple)
City University (September 2010-May 2011)
Bar Professional Training Course (Very Competent)
United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Associate Legal Officer, Appeals Chamber (August 2009-August 2010)
Legal Assistant, Defence (January 2009-August 2009)
Legal Intern, Defence (September 2008-January 2009)
Human Rights Watch (Washington DC)
Pro Bono research associate looking into matters relating to the use of Private Military Contractors in Iraq (October 2007-April 2008)
Honourable Society of the Inner Temple (2009)
Horace Avory Scholarship Benefactor’s Award
Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Scholarship
Georgetown University Law Centre (2007/08)
Thomas Bradbury Chetwood Sr. Prize for Most Distinguished Academic Performance leading to an LL.M.
CALI Excellence for the Future Award (for highest grades in International Human Rights Law; Contemporary Issues in Human Rights).
LLM (International Legal Studies) Georgetown University (2008) (highest mark in year)
LLB (hons) Durham University (2007)
INQUEST
Kirsten is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. In order to provide legal services to her clients, including advice and representation services, Kirsten needs to collect and hold personal data. This includes her client’s personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the matter upon which she is instructed. To read Kirsten’s privacy notice in full, please see here.
"Kirsten’s advice is measured, practical and realistic. She will always have the client’s interests at the forefront of her advice. Her knowledge of case law is incredible and something to be desired."
"Kirsten has a good manner and good judgement. She doesn't lead clients down the wrong path." "She makes her clients confident. Her interpersonal skills are excellent and she is excellent on the law."
"Kirsten is helpful, sensible, practical and pleasant to deal with."
"Intellectually brilliant, practical and yet nuanced, incisive and quick with reasonable and reasoned advice."
"Her advocacy is great. She is very calm, measured and persuasive." "She is enormously busy in inquests work and has an absolute mastery of all the detail."
"She is a talented junior with good drafting skills in pleadings and excellent knowledge of data protection in a media context."
"She's willing to go above and beyond and spend time with clients in difficult situations. She has good advocacy skills and is able to successfully articulate tricky legal points."
"Kirsten has shown commitment to the case and managed well with the complexities it presented. She provided helpful and insightful advice to the clients and her advocacy was thorough."
"She's excellent with clients as she has a human approach. She's also really good at cutting through the detail."
"She’s willing to go above and beyond and spend time with clients in difficult situations. She has good advocacy skills and is able to successfully articulate tricky legal points."
"Kirsten has shown commitment to the case and managed well with the complexities it presented. She provided helpful and insightful advice to the clients and her advocacy was thorough."
"She’s excellent with clients as she has a human approach. She’s also really good at cutting through the detail."
"An incredible advocate who is very, very good with clients."