Gareth Mitchell

Background

Gareth Mitchell is a solicitor advocate (higher courts - civil). He has been a partner in the firm in since 2010. He qualified as a solicitor in 2002.

Public law, discrimination and human rights

Gareth is interim head of the Public Law and Human Rights team at Pierce Glynn.

Gareth's public law and human rights practice is varied and includes human rights, discrimination, local government, healthcare, and planning and environmental law challenges. Gareth is recommended for his public law work as "very hard working” (the Legal 500) and as "one to watch” (Chambers).

By way of example, current or recent cases include: successfully challenging a decision to cut mental health advocacy services; successfully challenging a local authority's interpretation of the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001; challenging a Highway Authority's traffic calming policy; challenging the government's Post Office closure programme; successfully challenging the way reparations to Holocaust survivors are treated under the social security legislation; successfully challenging a decision to grant planning permission for a major art gallery; challenging the failure to enact regulations to protect against unreasonable heating charges; a test case concerning the Local Government Ombudsman's duties to publish reports; a test case on the use of immigration detention for those with who are HIV+; and one of the first judicial reviews in the Upper Tribunal raising important issues about its new judicial review jurisdiction.

In particular, Gareth is experienced at public law cases which are technically complex and document heavy and which benefit from his meticulous approach. He is also experienced in pursing complaints to Ombudsmen and in using mediation as alternatives to judicial review. He is a member of the Administrative Law Bar Association, the Human Rights Lawyers’ Association, the Solicitors Association of Higher Courts Advocates, and Amnesty. He has written for the Judicial Review journal.

Social welfare law

Gareth is an experienced housing solicitor and conducts a wide range of housing work: from housing-related personal injury claims to homelessness appeals; and from complex possession claims to allocation scheme judicial reviews. He has provided training for other housing lawyers and for housing charities on various aspects of housing law. From 2007 to 2010 he was a member of the Executive Committee of the Housing Law Practitioners’ Association.

Gareth is also experienced in conducting community care judicial reviews and acting for those who lack mental capacity. He has also provided representation in social security appeals and social security judicial reviews at all levels up to and including the Court of Appeal.

Gareth is recommended in the Chambers 2010 directory for his social welfare law work which says that his “grasp of detail always puts opponents at a disadvantage”. Gareth has written articles for the Solicitors Journal, the New Law Journal, Legal Action, The Adviser and The Independent Lawyer on a variety of housing, community care, social security and legal aid issues.


Reported cases

Significant cases in which Gareth has represented include:

HMRC v Ruas (Court of Appeal) - EU social security co-ordination rules; acting for the successful respondent

R(Coe) v Hastings Borough Council (High Court) – planning permission for Jerwood Gallery quashed

R (Brown) v SSDWP, SSBERR and Royal Mail Group (High Court) - challenge to decision to close 2,500 post offices in breach of disability discrimination legislation

R (Gargett) v LB Lambeth (Court of Appeal) - Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001

R (Barrett) v LB Southwark (High Court) - out of time homelessness appeals

R (Lin) v LB Barnet (Court of Appeal) - allocation of social housing by local authorities

R (Roberts) v LB Camden (High Court) - judicial review of decision to cut funding for mental health advocacy services

R (Emeka) v City of Westminster (High Court) - the correct approach to assisting the homeless pending homelessness reviews