Leigh Day

Andrew Lord

Andrew joined Leigh Day on qualification in 2014 and specialises in representing survivors of abuse in childhood, including in actions against local authorities, schools, a football club, cadets, and the Anglican church. Many of the cases involve complex arguments on issues such as limitation and negligence. He has also brought civil action against individual Defendants, with past success in securing a Freezing Injunction over a Defendant’s property. While at Leigh Day Andrew has represented a number of former residents of Swaylands School, Royal Alexandra and Albert School, and Grafton Close. He has also acted on behalf of several applicants to the Lambeth Redress Scheme, and, along with Alison Millar, he has represented a number of survivors of abuse in Islington’s children’s homes. Andrew has appeared in local and national press for comment on matters of child abuse. In recent years Andrew has developed a niche practice in representing children subjected to child-on-child abuse in schools and was the representative for “Bella”, a primary-school aged child subjected to assault by peers which was widely reported on settlement. Andrew has since commented in the media about child-on-child abuse, hosted an episode of the Leigh Day podcast on this issue, and in June 2021 he was a guest on Sky News podcast considering the issue of sexual harassment in schools. His experience in this area means that he has been invited to speak about this issue at a number of training events and conferences. In September 2021, Andrew was named Times Lawyer of the Week after he settled the case of another young child subjected to abuse by a classmate, in which it was argued that a failure to conduct a thorough investigation and / or put in place sufficient measures to prevent further sexual assault from taking place was negligent and a breach of his client’s human rights.

Jamie Beagent

Partner and Head of the Human Rights Department

Sean Humber

Sean is a partner in the human rights department at Leigh Day.  He acts for individuals and campaign groups on a wide range of human rights issues including privacy and data breach claims, prisoner rights, environmental, discrimination and information law matters.

Daniel Leader

Dan Leader is a barrister and partner at Leigh Day with 20 years of litigation experience. He specialises in international human rights and environmental litigation with a particular focus on group actions on behalf of claimants from the developing world.  He has extensive experience of cases against parent companies, complex group actions and mass tort claims, as well as cross-border disputes and jurisdictional issues.   His recent cases include: Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell plc [2021] UKSC 3 Claims on behalf of two Nigerian communities arising from systemic oil pollution by Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary.  The Supreme Court reaffirmed and expanded upon parent company liability principles previously set out in Vedanta. Lungowe v Vedanta plc [2019] UKSC 20 (with Martyn Day and Oliver Holland).  Claims on behalf of 1,826 Zambian farmers arising out of damage to the environment caused by harmful discharges from the Konkola copper mine.  In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court set out the jurisdictional principles in cross-border claims against parent companies.   Rihan v EY Global Ltd [2020] EWHC 901 (QB).  A successful international whistle-blowing claim on behalf of a former EY partner who refused to sanction a cover up of audit findings of money laundering and conflict minerals in the Dubai Gold trade. AAA v. Unilever plc [2018] EWCA Civ 1532.  A case on behalf of 218 Kenyan tea workers who contend that Unilever failed to protect them from the foreseeable risk of ethnic violence in 2007.  AAA v. Petra Diamonds [2021]. A parent company case on behalf of 97 Tanzanian clients arising out of serious human rights abuses on the Williamson Diamond Mine. AAA v. Camellia plc [2021]. A parent company case on behalf of 85 Kenyan clients arising out of human rights abuses at the hands of security guards employed by Camellia’s Kenyan subsidiary, Kakuzi.       AAA v. Gemfields Ltd [2019].  A claim by 300 individuals for personal injury arising out of serious human rights abuses on and around a ruby mine in northern Mozambique. The Bodo Community v. Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd [2015] (with Martyn Day). A claim by a community of 30,000 Nigerians for compensation and remediation of their lands arising out of extensive oil spills in the Niger Delta which settled for £55m in 2015.  Other cases include the “Mau Mau litigation” (Mutua v FCO [2013]) which resulted in reparations for 5,000 victims of colonial era torture and the Baha Mousa Inquiry [2010] into torture by the British Army in Iraq.  

Sapna Malik

Partner, International Department