Rachel is an experienced public law practitioner with over 7 years’ experience in civil liberties, public law and social welfare litigation.
She specialises in representing migrants, people affected by the criminal justice system and children and young people who are experiencing unlawful state practices.
Rachel is also noted in the Legal500 2021 edition for public and administrative law and civil liberties and human rights.
Migrant rights
Rachel represents adult migrants and their children in challenges against the decisions and policies of local authorities and other state bodies including the Home Office and Department of Education.
She regularly helps challenge the accommodation and subsistence provided to children from families with no recourse to public funds under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 and the policies and procedures employed by local authorities to that end.
Rachel is also frequently instructed in challenges against the suitability of accommodation provided to asylum seekers and victims of trafficking as well as decisions to disperse them out of London.
Criminal justice system
Rachel acts for clients in challenges to prosecutions where the decisions discriminate against the accused on grounds of disability and are not in the public interest.
She represents children and young people in judicial reviews and civil claims against the police arising from treatment in police detention, prosecution decisions and in relation to their personal data being shared.
Rachel also represents victims of crime to make victims’ right to review applications.
Discrimination
Discrimination law permeates much of Rachel’s work as she often relies on the Equality Act or Article 14 of the ECHR to help individuals challenge disadvantageous practices and decisions.
An ongoing focus of Rachel and MG&Co’s work has been to represent disadvantaged children from NRPF backgrounds who, due to their parents’ immigration status, are able to benefit from the same educational provision as their counterparts whose families do have recourse to public funds.
Charity work
Rachel provides regular pro-bono advice to various leading charities who support and advise children and migrants. She delivers training to charities on issues experienced by children and their families when seeking support from local authorities under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
Rachel helped clients challenge the lawfulness of their immigration detention through judicial reviews and civil claims and represented families of loved ones who had died in state custody. She has also helped bring successful appeals on behalf of refugees convicted of immigration document offences following their arrival to the UK.
Before joining Bhatt Murphy, she was a paralegal for a year at another leading firm where she assisted a partner’s public law and community care caseload.
Rachel graduated with a First Class BA (hons) in English and History at the University of York in 2010. She attained a Distinction on the Legal Practice Course (2014) and a Commendation on the Graduate Diploma in Law (2012) at the University of Law/ College of Law.
Before commencing her legal education and training, Rachel volunteered as a legal advisor and social policy co-ordinator at the Citizens Advice Bureau and volunteered with a programme for young refugees and asylum seekers.
Rachel is a member of Young Legal Aid Lawyers, Police Actions Lawyers Group, Inquest Lawyers Group and Housing and Immigration Lawyers Group.
Rachel’s key cases include:
Projects
Rachel and Clare Jennings are, together with the children’s charity Project 17, running a SLF funded project concerning the practices employed by Local Authorities during their assessments of the needs of children with no recourse to public funds.
Rachel has a broad practice in civil liberties and public law. Rachel specialises in representing migrants in judicial reviews challenging decisions of local and central government in community care and immigration detention. She has expertise in representing survivors of sexual violence and child abuse in public law and civil claims against public authorities. She represents families of people who have died following police restraint and in police and prison custody.
Rachel is a member of Young Legal Aid Lawyers, Police Actions Lawyers Group and Inquest Lawyers Group.
Rachel received a distinction on the Legal Practice Course (2014) and a commendation on the Graduate Diploma in Law (2012) at the University of Law/ College of Law. Rachel graduated with a First Class BA (hons) in English and History at the University of York in 2010.
Before commencing her legal education and training, Rachel worked as a legal advisor and social policy co-ordinator at the Citizens Advice Bureau, and volunteered with a Children’s Society programme for young refugees and asylum seekers.
She has run complaints, civil claims and judicial reviews against the police and represented the families of people who have died in custody.
She has also brought a range of civil claims and judicial reviews against the Home Office on behalf of migrants, including in respect of immigration detention, and conducted successful criminal appeals on behalf of refugees convicted of immigration document offences following their arrival to the UK.