"A brilliant junior always recommended by senior KCs."
Chambers & Partners 2023
Eleanor joined Matrix in 2016. Her practice focuses on public law, human rights and equality law.
She regularly provides advice and representation across areas including immigration (specialising in judicial review and appellate work); education (including judicial review and appeals relating to all aspects of Education Health and Care Plans); equality and discrimination (under both the ECHR and the Equality Act); community care; and prison law.
Eleanor has been instructed in matters at all levels up to the Supreme Court, and appears regularly in the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Tribunals. She is regularly involved in cutting-edge claims with wider public importance.
Eleanor also has specialist knowledge and experience of international human rights and humanitarian law. She advises non-government organisations on legal aspects of their advocacy and policy work, assists with strategic litigation and interventions, and has been involved in applications and interventions before the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
Public law is Eleanor’s primary area of practice. She has particular experience in the fields of immigration, education, equality, and community care; further detail is provided under separate headings below.
Eleanor is also instructed in cutting-edge cases outside of any particular specialist area, often raising issues of access to justice. Notable examples include:
Eleanor provides advice and representation in a wide range of immigration-related matters, and is regularly instructed in legally complex cases at the cutting edge of domestic and international law. Notable examples of her work and cases:
Recent cases include:
Recent cases include:
Eleanor also provides representation in the First-tier and Upper Tribunals, and has significant experience with complex cases for both legally aided and high-profile private clients.
Eleanor regularly represents reputable organisations intervening in significant cases. Recent examples include:
Eleanor frequently advises expert non-government organisations in relation to the legal aspects of their work, providing internal and public-facing opinions and assistance with interventions (see above) and consultation responses.
Recent examples include:
Eleanor has significant experience seeking and obtaining interim and final relief in unlawful detention cases.
For example, Eleanor was instructed in R (HY) v SSHD [2021] EWHC 2404 (Admin) on behalf of asylum-seekers accommodated in hotels who had been subjected to unlawful restrictions on their movements during the Covid lockdowns. After successfully securing interim relief which caused the restrictions to be lifted, the claims were transferred to the QBD for consideration of the resulting allegations of false imprisonment and breaches of human rights.
Eleanor has been instructed on several significant cases concerning refugee family reunion:
Eleanor represents legally aided and private clients in relation to applications, particularly in unusual or complex cases, and challenges to adverse decisions.
For example, she was instructed in the important case of R (Vanriel) v SSHD [2022] QB 737, establishing the existence of additional discretion in granting citizenship in Windrush cases and the availability of individual declarations of incompatibility.
Eleanor has also acted in a number of cases concerning British citizens or long-term residents detained in North-East Syria and their young children.
Eleanor regularly advises on challenges to Home Office delays and failures in these areas, and has successfully obtained suitable accommodation and work rights for clients in a variety of situations.
At the systemic level Eleanor acted in R (Humnynstkyi) v SSHD [2021] 1 WLR 320 – a successful challenge to the Secretary of State’s policy framework for allocating Schedule 10 bail accommodation to Foreign National Offenders.
Eleanor has experience challenging segregation in individual cases as well as ventilating wider issues of policy and principle. For example she acted in TM (Kenya) v SSHD [2019] 4 WLR 109, concerning the lawfulness of the Secretary of State’s policy on segregation.
Eleanor advises and represents clients in matters concerning educational provision, school exclusions, discrimination, admissions, and special educational needs. Her work includes applications for judicial review, civil claims, and hearings before Governing Bodies and Independent Review Panels.
Recent matters have involved issues such as:
Eleanor regularly represents clients in appeals concerning all aspects of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and has particular experience working with parents and families to challenge decisions concerning provision and placement.
In the higher and further education sectors, Eleanor has acted for Higher Education Institutions in relation to discrimination claims and judicial review proceedings, and conducted internal investigations in response to student complaints. She has also been instructed by both Ofsted and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.
Reported cases include:
Eleanor provides advice and representation in relation to discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and Article 14 ECHR, and compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, across a range of contexts including primary and higher education, immigration and education policy and service provision.
Eleanor has been instructed, on both a led and an unled basis, by individuals and families, non-government organisations, Higher Education Institutions, statutory bodies, and government departments.
Recent cases include:
Eleanor has worked on a range of issues including:
Eleanor also acted for the claimants in several Upper Tribunal appeals selected as lead cases for the determination of issues concerning the exportability of benefits arising from the judgment of the CJEU in Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Tolley (C-430/15), and in the subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal (led by Tim Buley KC): Konevod v SSWP [2020] 1 WLR 5234.
Eleanor acts in and advises on challenges, by way of judicial review or civil claims, on a range of matters including:
Eleanor has a strong background in PIL and human rights, having completed her MPhil thesis at Oxford in refugee and human rights law and worked for a year with the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Eleanor’s recent work has included:
She has also been involved in:
Eleanor has experience in the areas of media and information law relating to human rights and open justice. She regularly assists in the preparation of anonymity applications across a range of public law claims.
Her other work has included:
Before joining Matrix Eleanor spent a year with the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, where she worked on cutting-edge issues in the interpretation and application of international humanitarian law. She was admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in Australia in 2011, and developed her litigation experience as a solicitor at Ashurst Australia and as a judicial assistant at the Federal Court of Australia. She has also interned with the Legal Division of the World Food Programme in Rome, where she provided advice on discrimination and employment issues, and at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Eleanor holds a BCL and an MPhil in Law from the University of Oxford, where her thesis focused on the relationship between human rights and refugee law in the protection of people fleeing armed conflict. Alongside her studies Eleanor served on the Executive Committee of Oxford Pro Bono Publico, coordinating an extensive comparative law project which was later drawn on by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. She speaks fluent French.
MPhil in Law, Magdalen College, Oxford (Dist.)
Bachelor of Civil Law, Magdalen College, Oxford (Dist.)
Bachelor of Laws (Hons.), Bachelor of Arts (Politics) and Diploma in Languages (French), University of Adelaide
Selected prizes
University of Oxford Law Faculty Prize for International Law and Armed Conflict (2013)
Law Foundation of South Australia Fellowship (2013)
Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Law (2012)
University of Adelaide Medal for outstanding academic achievement (2010)
Angus Parsons Prize for the most meritorious student qualifying for the LLB (Hons.) (2010)
University of Adelaide subject prizes including: Public International Law, Labour Law, Comparative Law, Corporate Law, Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property Law, Law of Crime, Law of Tort (2006-2009)
“The 2016-2017 Legal Year in Overview: Equality Law” (2017) 8 UK Supreme Court Yearbook (with Helen Mountfield QC)
“Law and War in the UK Supreme Court” (2016) 7 UK Supreme Court Yearbook (with Richard Hermer QC)
“The human costs and legal consequences of nuclear weapons under international law” (2016) 899 International Review of the Red Cross (with Louis Maresca)
“Nuclear weapons under international law” (Book Review) (2016) 899 International Review of the Red Cross
Eleanor is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. In order to provide legal services to her clients, including advice and representation services, Eleanor needs to collect and hold personal data. This includes her clients’ personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the matters in respect of which she is instructed. To read Eleanor’s privacy notice in full, please see here.
"Extremely knowledgeable and astute." "I've seen Eleanor's name in a number of interesting judgments - she's definitely one to watch."
"She is absolutely exceptional when it comes to drafting. She has a super legal mind and her knowledge of case law is also just exceptional." "She has really impressive knowledge relating to immigration and asylum. She provides very clear advice in complex areas."
"Eleanor is exceptionally hard working and diligent. She has impressive knowledge and expertise in relation to immigration and asylum law and provides impressively clear advice on often complex issues."
"A brilliant junior always recommended by senior KCs." "A rising star in the field of immigration." "The best junior I have worked with. She is in a category of her own, operating at an extremely high level."
"She is a really impressive junior who is working on some of the most important public law judicial reviews on behalf of asylum seekers and victims of trafficking."
"Brilliant junior counsel - and comes highly recommended by heavyweight QCs."
"Eleanor is the most talented junior counsel I have ever come across. That is a view widely shared among all who have led her. She is brilliant at legal analysis, evidential analysis and drafting. That is an extraordinary combination."
"A brilliant junior always recommended by senior KCs." Chambers & Partners 2023
Contact Eleanor: eleanormitchell@matrixlaw.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7404 3447
Contact Eleanor's Practice Team (Team X): TeamX@matrixlaw.co.uk
Eleanor joined Matrix in 2016. Her practice focuses on public law, human rights and equality law.
She regularly provides advice and representation across areas including immigration (specialising in judicial review and appellate work); education (including judicial review and appeals relating to all aspects of Education Health and Care Plans); equality and discrimination (under both the ECHR and the Equality Act); community care; and prison law.
Eleanor has been instructed in matters at all levels up to the Supreme Court, and appears regularly in the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Tribunals. She is regularly involved in cutting-edge claims with wider public importance.
Eleanor also has specialist knowledge and experience of international human rights and humanitarian law. She advises non-government organisations on legal aspects of their advocacy and policy work, assists with strategic litigation and interventions, and has been involved in applications and interventions before the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
Public law is Eleanor’s primary area of practice. She has particular experience in the fields of immigration, education, equality, and community care; further detail is provided under separate headings below.
Eleanor is also instructed in cutting-edge cases outside of any particular specialist area, often raising issues of access to justice. Notable examples include:
Eleanor provides advice and representation in a wide range of immigration-related matters, and is regularly instructed in legally complex cases at the cutting edge of domestic and international law. Notable examples of her work and cases:
Recent cases include:
Recent cases include:
Eleanor also provides representation in the First-tier and Upper Tribunals, and has significant experience with complex cases for both legally aided and high-profile private clients.
Eleanor regularly represents reputable organisations intervening in significant cases. Recent examples include:
Eleanor frequently advises expert non-government organisations in relation to the legal aspects of their work, providing internal and public-facing opinions and assistance with interventions (see above) and consultation responses.
Recent examples include:
Eleanor has significant experience seeking and obtaining interim and final relief in unlawful detention cases.
For example, Eleanor was instructed in R (HY) v SSHD [2021] EWHC 2404 (Admin) on behalf of asylum-seekers accommodated in hotels who had been subjected to unlawful restrictions on their movements during the Covid lockdowns. After successfully securing interim relief which caused the restrictions to be lifted, the claims were transferred to the QBD for consideration of the resulting allegations of false imprisonment and breaches of human rights.
Eleanor has been instructed on several significant cases concerning refugee family reunion:
Eleanor represents legally aided and private clients in relation to applications, particularly in unusual or complex cases, and challenges to adverse decisions.
For example, she was instructed in the important case of R (Vanriel) v SSHD [2022] QB 737, establishing the existence of additional discretion in granting citizenship in Windrush cases and the availability of individual declarations of incompatibility.
Eleanor has also acted in a number of cases concerning British citizens or long-term residents detained in North-East Syria and their young children.
Eleanor regularly advises on challenges to Home Office delays and failures in these areas, and has successfully obtained suitable accommodation and work rights for clients in a variety of situations.
At the systemic level Eleanor acted in R (Humnynstkyi) v SSHD [2021] 1 WLR 320 – a successful challenge to the Secretary of State’s policy framework for allocating Schedule 10 bail accommodation to Foreign National Offenders.
Eleanor has experience challenging segregation in individual cases as well as ventilating wider issues of policy and principle. For example she acted in TM (Kenya) v SSHD [2019] 4 WLR 109, concerning the lawfulness of the Secretary of State’s policy on segregation.
Eleanor advises and represents clients in matters concerning educational provision, school exclusions, discrimination, admissions, and special educational needs. Her work includes applications for judicial review, civil claims, and hearings before Governing Bodies and Independent Review Panels.
Recent matters have involved issues such as:
Eleanor regularly represents clients in appeals concerning all aspects of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and has particular experience working with parents and families to challenge decisions concerning provision and placement.
In the higher and further education sectors, Eleanor has acted for Higher Education Institutions in relation to discrimination claims and judicial review proceedings, and conducted internal investigations in response to student complaints. She has also been instructed by both Ofsted and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.
Reported cases include:
Eleanor provides advice and representation in relation to discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and Article 14 ECHR, and compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, across a range of contexts including primary and higher education, immigration and education policy and service provision.
Eleanor has been instructed, on both a led and an unled basis, by individuals and families, non-government organisations, Higher Education Institutions, statutory bodies, and government departments.
Recent cases include:
Eleanor has worked on a range of issues including:
Eleanor also acted for the claimants in several Upper Tribunal appeals selected as lead cases for the determination of issues concerning the exportability of benefits arising from the judgment of the CJEU in Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Tolley (C-430/15), and in the subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal (led by Tim Buley KC): Konevod v SSWP [2020] 1 WLR 5234.
Eleanor acts in and advises on challenges, by way of judicial review or civil claims, on a range of matters including:
Eleanor has a strong background in PIL and human rights, having completed her MPhil thesis at Oxford in refugee and human rights law and worked for a year with the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Eleanor’s recent work has included:
She has also been involved in:
Eleanor has experience in the areas of media and information law relating to human rights and open justice. She regularly assists in the preparation of anonymity applications across a range of public law claims.
Her other work has included:
Before joining Matrix Eleanor spent a year with the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, where she worked on cutting-edge issues in the interpretation and application of international humanitarian law. She was admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in Australia in 2011, and developed her litigation experience as a solicitor at Ashurst Australia and as a judicial assistant at the Federal Court of Australia. She has also interned with the Legal Division of the World Food Programme in Rome, where she provided advice on discrimination and employment issues, and at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Eleanor holds a BCL and an MPhil in Law from the University of Oxford, where her thesis focused on the relationship between human rights and refugee law in the protection of people fleeing armed conflict. Alongside her studies Eleanor served on the Executive Committee of Oxford Pro Bono Publico, coordinating an extensive comparative law project which was later drawn on by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. She speaks fluent French.
MPhil in Law, Magdalen College, Oxford (Dist.)
Bachelor of Civil Law, Magdalen College, Oxford (Dist.)
Bachelor of Laws (Hons.), Bachelor of Arts (Politics) and Diploma in Languages (French), University of Adelaide
Selected prizes
University of Oxford Law Faculty Prize for International Law and Armed Conflict (2013)
Law Foundation of South Australia Fellowship (2013)
Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Law (2012)
University of Adelaide Medal for outstanding academic achievement (2010)
Angus Parsons Prize for the most meritorious student qualifying for the LLB (Hons.) (2010)
University of Adelaide subject prizes including: Public International Law, Labour Law, Comparative Law, Corporate Law, Constitutional Law, Intellectual Property Law, Law of Crime, Law of Tort (2006-2009)
“The 2016-2017 Legal Year in Overview: Equality Law” (2017) 8 UK Supreme Court Yearbook (with Helen Mountfield QC)
“Law and War in the UK Supreme Court” (2016) 7 UK Supreme Court Yearbook (with Richard Hermer QC)
“The human costs and legal consequences of nuclear weapons under international law” (2016) 899 International Review of the Red Cross (with Louis Maresca)
“Nuclear weapons under international law” (Book Review) (2016) 899 International Review of the Red Cross
Eleanor is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. In order to provide legal services to her clients, including advice and representation services, Eleanor needs to collect and hold personal data. This includes her clients’ personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the matters in respect of which she is instructed. To read Eleanor’s privacy notice in full, please see here.
"Extremely knowledgeable and astute." "I've seen Eleanor's name in a number of interesting judgments - she's definitely one to watch."
"She is absolutely exceptional when it comes to drafting. She has a super legal mind and her knowledge of case law is also just exceptional." "She has really impressive knowledge relating to immigration and asylum. She provides very clear advice in complex areas."
"Eleanor is exceptionally hard working and diligent. She has impressive knowledge and expertise in relation to immigration and asylum law and provides impressively clear advice on often complex issues."
"A brilliant junior always recommended by senior KCs." "A rising star in the field of immigration." "The best junior I have worked with. She is in a category of her own, operating at an extremely high level."
"She is a really impressive junior who is working on some of the most important public law judicial reviews on behalf of asylum seekers and victims of trafficking."
"Brilliant junior counsel - and comes highly recommended by heavyweight QCs."
"Eleanor is the most talented junior counsel I have ever come across. That is a view widely shared among all who have led her. She is brilliant at legal analysis, evidential analysis and drafting. That is an extraordinary combination."