39 Essex Chambers

Alan is recognised as a leading silk specialising in public law, police law, public inquiries, inquests, Data Protection & Information law and advisory work. He represents private clients, central government, public authorities, police forces, and corporations in complex, high-profile and sensitive investigations, inquiries, judicial reviews and civil claims. Before taking silk, Alan spent 14 years on the Attorney General’s panels, including five years on the A panel. Rory has acted in over twenty cases in the Court of Appeal, two in the Supreme Court and more than a hundred in the High Court.

Recent and ongoing inquiries include the Jalal Uddin Inquiry heard in September 2024, the Under Cover Policy Inquiry (ongoing), the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (2023), and the Azelle Rodney Inquiry. Recent cases in include R (Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 604 (challenge to dissolution of PCC role), Hughes v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2024] EWHC 1765 (misfeasance and malicious prosecution) Rennie v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1794 (challenge to the failure to implement the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations), HM & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 695) (challenge to seizure/retention/data extraction from mobile phones), R (Tortoise Media Ltd v Conservative and Unionist Party [2023] EWHC 3088 (judicial review refusal by Conservative Party to provide data concerning internal election); G (A Child), Re [2021] UKSC 9 (Refugee Convention/Hague Convention; abducted children).

Italian and French

London School of Economics, Westminster School