Barbara is a practising barrister whose expertise covers public law, human rights and regulatory law. Her work covers such diverse matters as the law on abortion, consent to medical treatment, the law relating to vulnerable adults and the mentally incapacitated, the duties of public authorities, and the defence of healthcare professionals accused of misconduct. She regards herself as a fairly strict legalist.

She is a member of the Bars of Ireland and of Northern Ireland, and is an adviser to FACT (Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers), as well as being a former bpas (British Pregnancy Advisory Service) trustee from 2007-16 .

Barbara writes for spiked, the Justice Gap, The Barrister and Criminal Bar Quarterly, and is the author of numerous articles in legal and non-legal journals. Her Interests include: autonomy, the compensations of being a victim, false allegations, privacy, rape culture, and she is concerned that modern victim culture risks being self-indulgent, iatrogenic and intolerant.