Helen was named Public Law and Human Rights 'Junior of the Year' at the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards 2009. Helen is an ‘impressive’, ‘engaging’, ‘fearless & tactical’ advocate, who is ‘great at driving things forward’ (Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 (2009)). She is ‘very popular with the courts’ and ‘a talented academic lawyer’, who ‘understands policy issues as well as the law’. Clients find her ‘sympathetic and accessible’ (Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 (2008)).
As a highly regarded public law specialist, Helen has appeared in many of the leading cases such as YL v Birmingham City Council & Others, R(OO)(Jordan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, R(E) v Governing Body of JFS, and R(Watkins-Singh) v Governing Body of Aberdare Girls High School. Particular areas of expertise and experience include education law, social welfare and election law.
Helen is editor of the Education Law Reports, and a frequent contributor to academic and practitioner conferences. She is a member of the A Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown and acts as a special advocate.
Helen is particularly well-known for cases concerning discrimination and equality law. She has developed a specialism in cases on the general equality duties. These include Secretary of State for Defence v Elias, R(Kaur) v London Borough of Ealing, R (Watkins-Singh) v Governing Body of Aberdare Girls’ High School and R (Brown) v DWP & BERR. Other recent, important discrimination law cases in which Helen has appeared are R(E) v Governing Body of JFS School and Ladele v London Borough of Islington, R(Carson) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, and Stec v UK.
In human rights and civil liberties, Helen is an acknowledged expert. She is co-author of the Blackstone Guide to the Human Rights Act 1998 (5th edition, 2009) and edits the White Book on Human Rights. She has appeared in many leading human rights cases in English courts and in Strasbourg. In domestic courts, these include YL v Birmingham City Council & Others, Re B, and R(OO) v Secretary of State for Defence; and in Strasbourg, Stec v UK, Hatton v UK, and RP v United Kingdom (first ever Strasbourg intervention by EHRC).
In 2009, Helen was appointed as a civil recorder on the Midlands circuit. Appointed QC 26th February 2010 (with effect from 22nd March 2010).