Eleanor became a member of Matrix in October 2016 following the successful completion of her traineeship.
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 (asylum and protection appeals, unlawful detention claims, claims on behalf of victims of trafficking, and wider systemic and policy challenges); education (including both applications for judicial review and appeals relating to all aspects of Education Health and Care Plans); equality and discrimination (under both the European Convention 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, as well as before administrative bodies such as Independent Review Panels.
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, 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.
Eleanor’s practice covers a wide spectrum of public law matters. In addition to the specialist fields below (including immigration, education and equality law), she has particular experience with claims raising issues of access to justice. Recent cases 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. Her work includes:
As well as acting for claimants and appellants, Eleanor represents organisations intervening in significant cases, including the recent Supreme Court proceedings in DN (Rwanda) v SSHD [2020] AC 698 (for Bail for Immigration Detainees, on the application of the Lumba test for unlawful detention to cases involving sequential decision-making) and MS (Pakistan) v SSHD [2020] 1 WLR 1373 (for ECPAT UK, on the significance of Article 4 ECHR to appeals in the Immigration Tribunals) (led by Raza Husain QC).
Eleanor also advises expert non-government organisations in relation to the legal aspects of their work: for example, she was a joint author of the widely publicised opinion commissioned by Freedom from Torture regarding the compliance of the Government’s “New Plan for Immigration” with the UK’s international legal obligations (led by Raza Husain QC and Jason Pobjoy).
Eleanor has experience managing urgent and out-of-hours applications and pursuing civil claims for false imprisonment.
Eleanor’s other recent cases include:
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 cases have involved issues such as breach of the right to education, the relationship between fixed-term and permanent exclusion, and unlawful progression policies.
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. She also has experience of judicial reviews arising from EHCPs.
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.
Recent 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, transportation, 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. She is a member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s panel of counsel.
Recent cases include:
Eleanor has been instructed in a range of matters concerning:
Eleanor recently 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 QC): Konevod v SSWP [2020] EWCA Civ 809.
Eleanor acts in and advises on challenges to Parole Board decisions; challenges to classification/categorisation decisions; and civil claims on behalf of prisoners under the Human Rights Act 1998.
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 practice in these areas has included:
Eleanor was also instructed (led by Richard Hermer QC) in the lengthy and complex proceedings in Kalma v African Minerals Ltd ([2018] EWHC 3506 (QB); [2020] EWCA Civ 144), which involved claims by a large group of Sierra Leonean villagers who suffered serious violence at the hands of local police. The first-instance proceedings involved the appointment of a High Court judge as a Special Examiner to take evidence in Sierra Leone.
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.
"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."
Eleanor became a member of Matrix in October 2016 following the successful completion of her traineeship.
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 (asylum and protection appeals, unlawful detention claims, claims on behalf of victims of trafficking, and wider systemic and policy challenges); education (including both applications for judicial review and appeals relating to all aspects of Education Health and Care Plans); equality and discrimination (under both the European Convention 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, as well as before administrative bodies such as Independent Review Panels.
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, 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.
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.
"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."