Career
Michael’s expertise covers public law and human rights, immigration, inquests, and personal injury. He is regularly instructed in civil claims, tribunal appeals and judicial review claims, including in urgent applications for interim relief. He is particularly strong on the intersection between immigration law and social welfare issues and has appeared in a number of significant test cases in the higher courts. Michael draws upon his previous experience as a human rights solicitor working in the asylum and social security sectors.
Michael also has a busy civil law damages practice, specialising in personal injury and actions against public authorities. He is an effective trial advocate and represents Claimants in High Court and County Court proceedings, as well as in damages claims transferred from the Administrative Court.
Administrative and Public Law
Michael’s public law practice covers immigration, discrimination, children’s rights, social security, and community care law. He has a particular expertise in issues involving the intersection between immigration and social welfare law, including asylum support, community care, age assessment, and retained EU law.
Prior to coming to the bar, Michael was the legal officer for the Child Poverty Action Group, where he conducted test case challenges to cuts to welfare entitlement, including in Case C507/12 Saint Prix v United Kingdom; R(Rutherford) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2016] UKSC 58; SG and Others v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] UKSC 16; and R(Winder) v Sandwell Borough Council [2014] EWHC 2617 (Admin).
Selected Cases
R(Akinsanya and Aning-Adjei) v SSHD [2024] EWHC 469 (Admin): Challenge to Home Office reconsideration of the rules for Zambrano cares under the EU Settlement Scheme.
R(IAB) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 2930 (Admin): Judicial review challenge to draft regulations exempting asylum support accommodation from house in multiple occupation licensing rules.
AAA (Syria) v SSHD [2023] EWCA Civ 745: Intervention on behalf of the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
R(CB) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3329 (Admin): Challenge to the rate of asylum support.
R(BZ) v HM Revenue and Customs [2022] UKUT 264 (AAC): Appeal on entitlement to child benefit for refugees.
R(Akinsanya) v SSHD [2022] EWCA Civ 37: Court of Appeal test case on the rules for Zambrano carers under the EU Settlement Scheme.
R(DK) v HMRC [2022] EWCA Civ 120: Judicial review challenge to the rules on backdating tax credits for newly recognised refugees.
R(Blundell) v SSWP [2021] EWHC 608 (Admin): Challenge to the Department for Work and Pensions’s policy on deducting Court fines from Universal Credit.
Immigration
Michael’s immigration practice covers all areas of asylum and immigration law, including tribunal and judicial review proceedings. He is particularly valued for his expertise in asylum support and appeals under the EU Settlement Scheme. He also regularly represents claimants in claims for damages for unlawful detention and other related breaches of human rights.
Selected Cases
R(Akinsanya and Aning-Adjei) v SSHD [2024] EWHC 469 (Admin): Challenge to Home Office reconsideration of the rules for Zambrano cares under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Levickas v SSHD UI-2023-00025/6 Successful Upper Tribunal appeal against decision to deport a Lithuanian national.
AAA (Syria) v SSHD [2023] EWCA Civ 745: Intervention on behalf of the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
R(Akinsanya) v SSHD [2022] EWCA Civ 37, a Court of Appeal test case on the rules for Zambrano carers under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence
Michael regularly acts for claimants and defendants in personal injury claims, including clinical negligence, industrial disease, and employer’s liability cases. He has appeared in County Court and High Court proceedings up to and including trial. He is frequently instructed to draft pleadings and to advise in conference on liability and quantum. Michael was seconded to a leading claimant clinical negligence firm, where he gained experience in high-value catastrophic injury claims.
Actions Against the Police and Public Authorities
Michael accepts instructions in claims against public authorities, including actions for damages against the police and social services and unlawful detention claims. He is an author for the most recent edition of the Legal Action Group Police Law Handbook.
Professional Negligence (Immigration)
Combining his immigration and civil law expertise, Michael acts in professional negligence claims involving sub-standard immigration advice, including claims for loss of earnings as a result of losing immigration status. His work includes a successful judicial review challenge against a decision of the Legal Ombudsman concerning negligent OISC-regulated advice and securing high-value damages for loss of earnings against a solicitor’s firm.
Inquests and Inquiries
Michael is an experienced inquests practitioner, having represented families and other interested persons in a variety of inquests, often in cases involving prison deaths, healthcare issues, and police failures.
Selected cases
Counsel for the family in the inquest touching upon the death of Daniel Beckford, in which the jury found multiple failings by the prison in management and communication processes.
Counsel for the family in the inquest touching upon the death of Eileen Walsh, in which the jury found that neglect contributed to Mrs Walsh’s death in a care home.
Counsel to the Coroner in the inquest touching upon the death of Peter Dray, an Article 2 jury inquest concerning a death in a care home.
Counsel for the family in the inquest touching upon the death of Matthew Mackell, in which the Coroner found there had been a ‘systemic failure’ in the police response to a teenager’s call for help before his suicide.
Counsel for the family in an inquest involving a death in a care home, in which the Coroner recorded a finding of neglect.
‘Junior junior’ for counsel to the inquiry in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
