Biography
I am a solicitor in our Public Law and Human Rights department, having previously trained with the firm.
Much of my work involves health and welfare applications in the Court of Protection. I specialise in mental capacity law and act on behalf the Official Solicitor, advocates and family members.
I have experience in deprivation of liberty challenges and best interests disputes around care, residence, and contact. I also have an interest in supporting clients who are in Assessment and Treatment Units (ATUs), many of whom have been living in these settings for a number of years due to a lack of appropriate support in the community.
I also have expertise in health and social care law and children’s rights. I can advise clients as to their rights under the Care Act 2014 and the Children Act 1989, and have represented vulnerable adults and children seeking to challenge decisions by local authorities regarding their care and support.
What do you like about working at Irwin Mitchell?
I love working with my team and the wider department. We are so lucky to have such a fantastic group of talented and dedicated lawyers, who work incredibly hard for their clients, and I have to pinch myself that I am one of them!
What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?
I like being able to offer my clients a clear, tangible service that will help them get the support they need and have their legal rights respected. We support clients through what is often the most difficult time in their lives, and I feel privileged to walk that journey with them, guiding them and hopefully helping them to achieve the best outcome in the end.
What inspired you to get into law?
Before starting my legal training, I held various campaigns and policy roles in the charity sector, most notably with Mencap. There I worked alongside people with a learning disability, building and rolling out local and national campaigns on social care cuts, equal access to healthcare and hate crime.
Through my work with Mencap, I collaborated with Irwin Mitchell solicitors in the Public Law and Human Rights department, and I was deeply inspired by what they did. I therefore decided to change career direction, and began studying part-time whilst working at Mencap to complete the law conversion and solicitors' qualifications. Some years later I was fortunate enough to secure a training contract with Irwin Mitchell; the firm that had inspired me to get into law in the first place.
What do you do away from the office?
I enjoy walking my dog, reading and doing crosswords. I also volunteer for a charity investigating cases of missing and unidentified people.
