Top female lawyer who felt 'under pressure over credit crunch workload' found dead in Thames



Talented: Mother-of-three Mrs Bailey

A successful City lawyer found dead in the Thames is feared to have committed suicide after complaining about the pressures of her work.

Catherine Bailey, a mother of three who specialised in banking and commercial law, had recently handled several corporate cases linked to the credit crunch.



And police said she had complained to her husband that she felt under pressure at work.



On Friday, the 41-year-old went missing after leaving her firm's office in the City of London, at about 2pm.



The next day her body was found in the river at Richmond, South-West London.



Mrs Bailey was married to Neil Ashman, a doctor. They lived in a £1million Edwardian townhouse in Islington, North London, with their daughters, all under six.



Yesterday her family attended her funeral at a nearby church. A prayer in the order of service read: 'She was a woman of extraordinary strength, vivacious and passionate in upholding her deep sense of moral values. She loved deeply, with great loyalty. She was honest and forthright in her views and opinions.'



It paid tribute to Mrs Bailey as a 'wonderful woman' with a 'sharp wit and infectious humour'.



Mrs Bailey was a partner at law firm SJ Berwin. Colleagues described her as talented and 'hugely popular'.



Managing partner Ralph Cohen said: 'Catherine was an exceptional lawyer, a tremendous and valued partner and an integral part of the litigation practice and the firm over many years.'



Born in South Africa, she attended university in Cape Town, where her husband also studied.



The couple moved to London after she accepted a job at her firm in 1995, and married in 1999.



Mrs Bailey became a partner at SJ Berwin in 2003. Her clients included banks, hedge funds and stockbrokers, many of which would have been hit by the credit crunch.

She specialised in banking and financial regulation disputes.



Former neighbour Steve Robinson, 45, said: 'Catherine was always very businesslike and responsible. They seemed to be a very close family.'



Detectives said they were not treating the drowning as suspicious, but an inquest would have to rule whether it was suicide or an accident.





