Public Law Solicitors

Last week, on Wednesday 15 November, caseworkers Rachael Lenney, Husein Meghji and Patrick Page from the Duncan Lewis Harrow Public Law Team spoke at City University about their careers in legally aided public law work. They were joined by Alex Schymyck, who recently left the team to work as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal, with a view to pursuing a career at the Bar. All four of them had completed their law conversions at City University.

They spoke about their personal experiences as caseworkers, with Patrick focusing on his work in challenging the detention of pregnant women and his work in the Calais ‘Jungle’ and Uganda; Rachael discussed her work in Calais immediately after starting with the team as well as bringing down the Home Office’s policy on the detention of survivors of torture; Husein described his work challenging unlawful removal policies; and Alex spoke of his work securing bail for detainees and how his experiences at Duncan Lewis have helped him towards a career at the Bar.

All four emphasised the privilege of doing high-impact work at an early stage in their career, stressing the role of public lawyers in holding the executive to account and underlining the importance of legal aid in providing access to justice, regardless of someone’s financial situation. They also spoke candidly about the challenges of working in legal aid law and when representing particularly vulnerable women and men.

We are grateful to Alex for taking time to join his old comrades and we would particularly like to thank Professor David Herling, City’s GDL Course Director, for his kind introduction as well as for organising the event and generously providing post-discussion drinks.

Duncan Lewis Public Law Solicitors

As a Legal 500 2017 recommended department of law, the Public Law team at Duncan Lewis is a highly skilled selection of individuals specialising in all immigration and civil liberties claimant judicial review matters and costs litigation; unlawful immigration detention cases with high net claims for damages; prison law claimants; immigration removal cases; challenges involving community care issues; and the provision of social welfare services. The Public Law team have experience in all aspects of judicial review claimant work, including obtaining emergency orders and other interim relief to prevent breaches of human rights, following up judicial reviews with actions for damages in both the County and High Court and successfully pursuing judicial review matters to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.