Leigh Day
Client SatisfactionPractitioners at Leigh Day are ‘fearless in their mission to break new legal ground’, acting across a wide array of health and social care claims, inquests, inquiries, actions against the police and state, and judicial review proceedings. On the domestic front, the team represents individuals, NGOs, and charities, while the international and group litigation department focuses on holding big business and governments to account for injury, loss, and abuse. The latter is led jointly by Richard Meeran, a pioneer in claims against UK-domiciled multinationals, and Sapna Malik, who has built a reputation in landmark litigation against the state. Environment, immigration detention, and migrant rights specialist Jamie Beagent and privacy and data breaches expert Gene Matthews head up the human rights offering. Tessa Gregory, who has made waves in environmental litigation and matters of national security, Daniel Leader, who excels in complex multi-party claims, group actions, and torts, and Sean Humber, who focuses on privacy issues, prisoner rights, and discrimination, continue to be part of the firm’s vanguard of civil liberties defenders, as do prisons team head Benjamin Burrows and inquests lead Emma Jones. Andrew Lord, Kate Egerton, and Yvonne Kestler are further names to note.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘They are pretty unique in that they specialise in human rights, disability rights, environmental justice, and so on. They go above and beyond because they are excellent allies. This isn't a standard "rent a lawyer in the right practice area" job – this is them fulfilling a niche which practically nobody else does, and I am very grateful to them.’
‘Leigh Day’s human rights work is field leading. They are fearless in their mission to break new legal ground, achieving success in some of the hardest cases and developing the law in the process.’
‘Hands down the best claimant law firm in the country for civil liberties and human rights. They have strength at every level of seniority and know the law back to front. They are also fearless lawyers and very creative thinkers – not to mention a pleasure to work with.’
‘The prison law team is a fantastic set of bright, hardworking and impressive lawyers, who do outstanding work.’
‘Excellent team with unrivalled expertise and experience.’
‘Truly respected by defendant firms, any human rights issue is safe in the hands of Leigh Day.’
‘Leigh Day have an incredibly strong reputation as leaders in human rights and civil liberties cases. They have been involved in the leading cases in this field over many years.’
‘They frequently act in high-profile judicial reviews and appeals, including to the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, and their expertise is unparalleled. They are extremely hardworking and responsive, frequently burning the midnight oil to get the best results for their clients.’
Key clients
- Ghanem al-Masarir
- Dr Saeed Shehabi
- Moosa Mohammed
- Faustin Rukundo
- Violette Uwamahoro
- Rania Dridi
- Dhan Kumar Limbu & Others
- Kabwe Lead Poisoning Class Action
- Sri Lankan asylum seekers detained by the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) Administration
- Rose Wanjiku
- Milasi Josiya & Others
- Mr Elbuzidi and Mr Alharati
- Catarina Oliveira Da Silva & Others
Work highlights
- Acted for Asylum Aid in the landmark Rwanda litigation, challenging the procedures adopted by the Home Office for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, which led to the Court of Appeal recognising problems with the short-cut process.
- Acted for the Hepatitis C Trust and over 300 individuals in the Infected Blood Inquiry.
- Acted for 23 migrant workers from Nepal and Bangladesh who worked at factory facilities in Malaysia operated by a key supplier of Dyson products in bringing a claim for widespread use of forced labour, false imprisonment, and exposure to hazardous and abusive working conditions.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Richard Meeran, Sapna Malik, Jamie Beagent, Gene Matthews