News & Events
News & Events
Alex Line successfully represents local authority in important High Court case confirming that the First-tier Tribunal (HESC) is a suitable alternative remedy to judicial review In R (LW) v London Borough of Islington [2025] EWHC 703 (Admin), following a rolled-up hearing, the High Court has confirmed that the First-tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber), which deals with statutory appeals under the Children and Families Act 2014 concerning EHC Plans, is a suitable alternative remedy to judicial review. Kate Grange KC (sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) emphasised the extremely high threshold which must be crossed in order to persuade the High Court to entertain a judicial review claim in circumstance where a statutory right of appeal exists.…
News 28 Mar, 2025
Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to welcome leading health and technology Junior, Harry Lambert, to the team. Harry Lambert joins Outer Temple Chambers in February, further expanding our stable of innovative barristers shaping the law in the fields of product liability, personal injury, clinical negligence, human rights, and related group litigation. His passion for technology and emerging trends provides for a unique and unrivalled practice touching on the interplay between tech and health. He is particularly well known for his dynamism in the world of emerging medical tech, founding the Centre for Neurotechnology & Law, and authoring a 12 Part Series on Neurotechnology and The Law which has garnered much academic acclaim. It has been translated into several European languages…
News 25 Feb, 2025
In Gregory & Stroilov v (1) Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (2) Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman [2025] EWHC 201 (Admin), Dove J refused permission for the Claimants to proceed with their judicial review claim. Alex Line represented the First Defendant, against whom five of the six judicial review grounds relied on were against. The First Claimant is the father of Indi Gregory, who was terminally ill and tragically passed away in 2023 following the implementation of a care plan permitting the withdrawal of life support treatment. That decision was sanctioned by the High Court (Peel J) against whose decision an appeal was made. Permission to appeal was refused by the Court of Appeal by Peter Jackson LJ, King LJ and…
News 4 Feb, 2025
We are delighted to welcome Jessica Franklin and Sapandeep Singh Maini-Thompson to Outer Temple Chambers as new junior tenants. Jessica Franklin and Sapandeep Singh Maini-Thompson joined the Outer Temple team in October, further bolstering our junior cohort of specialists to fulfill ever-growing demand. Jessica Franklin joined the Bar in 2021 after a successful career in advertising and marketing. She now specialises in personal injury law and employment law. Jessica’s employment practice is particularly focused on discrimination, unfair dismissal and whistleblowing claims. She has a particular interest in personal injury claims brought in the Employment Tribunal and she has been instructed in claims involving not only psychiatric injuries but also physical injuries arising out of discrimination. Her personal injury practice extends to…
News 22 Oct, 2024
Chambers and Partners UK Bar 2025 have today launched their 2025 Guide and we are delighted to share the highlights from this year’s rankings, including two Band 1 awards for our Pensions Law team and Travel Law team. We are delighted to share the news that Outer Temple Chambers has yet again been awarded 9 set rankings in the 2025 Chambers & Partners UK Bar Guide and over 110 individual rankings. In what is our best set of rankings ever, our individual rankings see 12 new entries and 16 elevations, whilst we are delighted with two new Band 1 set rankings. A huge congratulations to all of our barristers and clerks for another year of excellent results. A particular thank…
News 17 Oct, 2024
James Leonard KC represented the RNLI in a high profile inquest after the deaths of a 12 and 17 year old who drowned after an “intense” rip current at Bournemouth Beach in March 2023. Following an Inquest, Dorset senior coroner Rachael Griffin said she was satisfied nothing further could have been done to prevent their deaths following the “unexpected anomaly of nature”. She praised the “brave, prompt and determined intervention” of the lifeguards on duty, without which “more lives would undoubtedly have been lost”. James Leonard KC represented the Royal National Lifeboat Institution whose general manager, Peter Dawes stated, “Sunnah and Joe followed all the safety advice on the beach but still lost their lives – this is a stark…
News 15 Oct, 2024
The Supreme Court of St Helena has handed down judgment in the constitutional case of Buckley v the Attorney General in which Josh Hitchens acted for the Plaintiff. Mr Buckley was a remand prisoner detained in HMP Jamestown, a prison which has been repeatedly condemned as inadequate and unsuitable. At the end of trial, the Defendant conceded that the unsafe conditions within the prison violated the Defendant’s positive obligations under the Plaintiff’s Constitutional right to life. In his judgment, the Chief Justice endorsed that concession, and also found that the conditions in the prison breached Mr Buckley’s constitutional rights to be free from inhuman or degrading treatment, to dignity, and his constitutional rights as a remand prisoner. The judge accepted…
News 11 Oct, 2024
The Legal 500 2025 rankings have just been announced and Outer Temple Chambers is delighted with another year of excellent results including a Tier 1 Pensions ranking We are proud to announce that we have been recognised as a Top Tier Set in Crypto & Blockchain Assets again, as well as achieving a Top Tier Set ranking in Pensions. These Tier 1 rankings mean we are now ranked for excellence in nine practice area rankings with 73 individual members ranked across 27 practice areas. A huge congratulations to all of our barristers and clerks within these teams for another year of excellent results. A particular thank you to all our clients and colleagues for taking the time to provide references.…
News 2 Oct, 2024
In R (Williams) v Secretary of State for Justice [2024] EWHC 2144 (Admin) Alex Line, instructed by the Government Legal Department, successfully represented the Defendant before Hugh Mercer KC (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court), who dismissed the claim. The Claimant is serving an indeterminate prison sentence having been found guilty of serious sexual offences against children. The case concerned a decision of the Parole Board, who recommended that he be released from closed to open prison conditions. The final decision on this issue is reserved to the Secretary of State for Justice, who declined to follow the Parole Board’s recommendation, and determined that Claimant should remain in closed conditions due to risk that he would abscond.…
News 16 Aug, 2024
Education Law Specialist, Alex Line, has recently been involved in an important Upper Tribunal decision concerning families of armed forces personnel who have children with special educational needs. Alex Line recently appeared in the Upper Tribunal in Hampshire County Council v GC & GC [2024] UKUT 128 (AAC), acting for the local authority. This is an important case (described by Upper Tribunal Judge West in his decision as a ‘test case’) concerning a family who moved to Dubai for two years because the father was deployed there as part of his naval service. The local authority ceased to maintain their child’s EHC Plan pursuant to s.45 of the Children and Families Act 2014, on the basis that the family were…
News 5 Jun, 2024
Outer Temple’s Alex Cisneros, has been praised by the Court of Protection for “exemplary professionalism” in “trailblazer” case involving the Public Guardian and 8 litigants in person. The case involved a 96-year-old woman with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Her six children and one of their spouses were all parties to the proceedings but were unrepresented. The case involved several applications from the person’s attorney for gratuitous care payments, retrospective approval of gifts and authorisation of future renovation work to the attorney’s property. In concluding the proceedings, the court thanked Alex Cisneros, the sole barrister in this case, for his “exemplary professionalism in what was … well, I’m not aware of any other case involving eight litigants in person” –…
News 17 May, 2024
The case was before the Upper Tier Mental Health Tribunal and concerned the discharge of a restricted patient who had been assessed to lack capacity to make decisions about various matters including his residence and compliance with psychotropic medication regime. Outer Temple’s Alex Cisneros appeared as counsel for the Secretary of State for Justice in this case. The Upper Tier (UTT) was considering an appeal relating to a 63 year old man, ML, who was a restricted patient detained under sections 47 and 49 of the Mental Health Act 1983. His tariff (the criminal aspect of his detention) expired 30 years ago. ML was seeking a conditional discharge from detention. The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) had heard evidence that the patient lacked capacity…
News 28 Nov, 2023
