Eugene MacLaughlin

Eugene MacLaughlin is a barrister with a diverse practice spanning family law, mortgage and possession proceedings, immigration, civil litigation and housing law, acting for both landlords and tenants. He brings a compassionate approach, advocating for individuals who may struggle to articulate their position and working to secure the best possible outcomes. Licensed in England and Wales, he is happy to work on Conditional Fee Agreements and on a direct-access basis.

His housing experience is extensive: he has conducted possession claims, disrepair and leasehold disputes and homelessness work for local authorities and a borough legal department, supervised housing work at a solicitors' firm, and conducted close to two thousand housing disrepair cases as a solicitor for a local council, including litigation to Supreme Court level. He also has a substantial motoring defence practice.

Notable cases

• A drink-driving prosecution discontinued after the client was not notified of the right to legal representation and errors were found in the breath-test device.
• A failure-to-provide-a-specimen prosecution discontinued before trial, opposing an application to vacate.
• An excess-alcohol case (51 in breath) resolved with a guilty plea to drunk-in-charge owing to machine-reliability issues.
• An excess-alcohol case (147 in urine) discontinued due to sample unreliability.
• Excess-alcohol cases dismissed where the breath-test operator failed to attend, and where issues of mental fitness and procedure arose.
• Possession claims (tenancies and mortgages) and housing litigation resolved favourably for landlord clients, including at Supreme Court level.

Professional & academic

• Admitted as a solicitor, June 2002
• Called to the Bar, October 2005