Civil, Licensing & Regulatory, Family

Andrew now practises in family, local government, planning and environmental Law. He has extensive experience both of professional practice and elected public office. 

Over past years he has also prosecuted and defended a wide range of criminal work including fraud, drugs conspiracies and serious violence. ​ 

Family 

Andrew acts for parents and other parties in family proceedings including care. His insight into the issues is influenced by his past experience in his political leadership of a council's children's services from being on 'special measures' to a position where they are acknowledged as being amongst the best in the country. 

Local Government, Planning and the Environment 

Andrew undertakes a range of work in relation to local authorities and public agencies. 

As Leader of a London Council for five years, Andrew led its transformation from a position of weakness to one of strength on a ‘Journey to Excellence’. He also negotiated with Government to introduce the famous Merton Rule in 2003: a planning requirement for ‘on-site’ renewable energy in non-residential developments. The Merton Rule was copied by 140 councils and eventually supported adopted by the UK Government, becoming part of the then PPS22. The Merton Rule gave a boost to the design and production of on-site renewables. ​ 

He has served on the London Sustainable Development Commission advising the Mayor and the GLA functional bodies and helped develop a matrix to guide sustainable decision-making across the GLA as well as revisions to the London Plan. 

Andrew was also a member of the Commission on London Governance that recommended increasing the role of the Mayor of London. 

A peer member for local government improvement with the Local Government Association, Andrew has taken part in many Peer Review and Audit Commission Inspection teams as well as conducting individual mentoring and team consultancy work for Councils. Recently, he was asked back after 5 years to be part of a Peer Review team of Equalities and Inclusion at Transport for London. The resulting report again accredited TfL as Excellent in the context of the Local Government Framework. 

Past Legal Practice 

Andrew practises in family, local government, planning and environmental Law. He has extensive experience both of professional practice and elected public office. Previously a barrister with with a practice in crime for twenty years, he prosecuted and defended a wide range of criminal work including fraud, drugs conspiracies and serious violence. 

Previously, as Leader of a London Council for five years, Andrew led its transformation from a position of weakness to one of strength on a ‘Journey to Excellence’. He also negotiated with Government to introduce the famous Merton Rule in 2003: a planning requirement for ‘on-site’ renewable energy in non-residential developments. The Merton Rule was copied by 140 councils and eventually supported adopted by the UK Government, becoming part of the then PPS22. The Merton Rule gave a boost to the design and production of on-site renewables. ​ 

He has served on the London Sustainable Development Commission advising the Mayor and the GLA functional bodies and helped develop a matrix to guide sustainable decision-making across the GLA as well as revisions to the London Plan. 

Andrew has also been a member of the Commission on London Governance that recommended increasing the role of the Mayor of London. 

A peer member for local government improvement with the Local Government Association, Andrew has taken part in many Peer Review and Audit Commission Inspection teams as well as conducting individual mentoring and team consultancy work for Councils. Recently, he was asked back after 5 years to be part of a Peer Review team of Equalities and Inclusion at Transport for London. The resulting report again accredited TfL as Excellent in the context of the Local Government Framework. 

Andrew has also chaired a cross agency review into the lessons to be learned from the murder of a young woman by her family in a so called ‘honour killing.’ 

LLM in Environmental Law, UCL: tutored by Richard Macrory, Jane Holder and Maria Lee:- all leading academics in the field. Studies included: Environmental Assessment, Integrated Prevention, Pollution and Control, Habitat Conservation, International Environmental Law, European Environmental Law and a dissertation on the regulatory changes affecting local government that would assist in addressing climate change. MSc in Politics and Administration, Birkbeck College Bar Examination, Inns of Court School of Law BA (Hons) in Law, University of Kent at Canterbury