Katy Sheridan

Contact Katy: katysheridan@matrixlaw.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7404 3447

Contact Katy's Practice Team (Team X): TeamX@matrixlaw.co.uk

Katy practises in public and human rights, equality law, employment law, and education and community care law. She joined Matrix in October 2021 on the successful completion of her traineeship.

Public and human rights

Katy has experience in a wide range of public law and human rights matters across all stages of proceedings, including pre-action advice, interim relief, and appeal.

She has a particular interest in the intersections between public law and human trafficking, public law and equality law, and public law and regulatory law.

Katy has significant experience of complex policy challenges.

Some of her recent work includes:

Public, immigration, and human trafficking:

• Katy is currently instructed for the Claimants on the lead cases in the Public Order Disqualification challenges, the trial for which is listed in 2024. In July 2023, the Claimants successfully obtained interim relief limiting public order disqualifications until trial. See coverage here and here.
• Katy was instructed by the Claimants in R (AS and BXR) v Secretary of State for the Home Department. The Claimants challenged the introduction of the requirement for “objective evidence” in order to gain a positive reasonable grounds decision. The Secretary of State withdrew and agreed to amend her policy as a result of the litigation. See coverage here.
• Katy was instructed by the Claimants in the successful challenge to the Home Office’s “Pushbacks Policy” concerning the passage of small boats across the English Channel. The Home Secretary withdrew the policy shortly before the judicial review. See coverage here.
• Katy was instructed by the Claimants in the successful challenge to the Secretary of State for Justice’s failure to make provision for victims and potential victims of trafficking in prison. The claim was compromised shortly before the judicial review, with the Secretary of State agreeing to promulgate such guidance. See coverage here.
• Katy also has experience in business immigration, including successfully challenging sponsorship licence revocation decisions.

Public and equality law: Katy is currently instructed in various matters concerning public bodies’ obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and Article 14 of the ECHR. She has experience of equality issues in public law in a wide range of contexts, including community care, healthcare, immigration, and education. Two of her recent Article 14 cases include:

• Katy recently represented a British child in a successful Thlimmenos claim (Article 14 ECHR) concerning the provision of payments made to his non-British carer under section 17 of the Children Act 1989: R (BCD by his litigation friend EFG) v Birmingham Children’s Trust [2023] EWHC 137 (Admin).
• Katy recently represented a humanist seeking to join a local authority Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education, who was prevented from doing so because he was a humanist. The Claimant’s discrimination claim was successful at trial: R (Stephen Bowen) v Kent County Council [2023] EWHC 1261 (Admin).

Public law and regulatory law: Katy has experience advising and acting for organisations and companies subject to regulatory investigations and/or adverse decisions, including in the education sphere.

Public law and criminal law: Katy has advised on and acted in claims concerning failures to investigate and/or prosecute, including serious sexual offences and human trafficking issues. For example, Katy represented a domestic worker in a successful challenge to the decision not to prosecute her alleged human traffickers: R (COL) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2022] EWHC 601 (Admin).

Katy has also advised NGOs and campaigning organisations in relation to strategic litigation and the impact of legislative proposals. For example, she advised a national civil rights NGO on plans to reform human rights legislation and advised an overseas LGBT charity on potential litigation concerning civil partnerships.

Katy spent half of her traineeship training in public law (with Sarah Hannett KC and Chris Buttler KC) and, before joining Matrix, Katy worked in various public law roles, including:

• Judicial Assistant to Lord Justice Simon in the Court of Appeal, which involved work on various public and human rights appellate matters.
• Legal Advisor to Ofsted in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse.
• Public law paralegal at Simpson Millar LLP, where Katy’s work included community care matters, human trafficking claims, and age disputes.
• Research Fellow at the Public Law Project, where Katy’s work focused on algorithmic decision-making, and the relationship between judicial review, evidence, and technology.

Equality and discrimination law, including investigations

Katy accepts instructions in all matters concerning equality and discrimination law. She has experience in Equality Act 2010 claims in judicial review proceedings, employment, education, and goods and services provision. Her recent experience (as well as recent public law experience set out above) includes:

• Good and services: discrimination claims arising out of the coronavirus pandemic, including in relation to face masks and track and trace.
• Education: advising on disability and race discrimination claims in schools.
• Public functions: an indirect sex discrimination claim concerning a nationwide policy applied by a public body.

Katy also regularly instructed to conduct investigations concerning harassment and sexual harassment.

Employment law

Katy accepts instructions in all areas of employment law, for both Claimants and Respondents/Defendants. She has a particular interest in discrimination matters. Katy’s recent experience includes:

• Unled trial experience in unfair dismissal (including redundancy), direct and indirect discrimination claims (including on the grounds of sex, pregnancy, disability, race, religion, and age), harassment, victimisation, and whistleblowing cases.
• Advisory work, including on TUPE, discrimination matters, and whistleblowing.
• Appellate matters concerning: (i) the correct approach to indirect sex discrimination and hypothetical group disadvantage, (ii) worker status, (iii) the correct approach to postponements under the new ET Procedure Rules (all assisting Claire Darwin KC), and (iv) (unled in the EAT) the correct approach to the Reconsideration Procedure.

Education and social care law

Katy welcomes instructions across all areas of education and social care, including SEND Tribunal appeals, unlawful exclusions, higher and further education matters (including investigations) and social care disputes (both for children and adults). Her experience in this area includes:

• Judicial reviews on access to education, including s.19 and s.42 cases.
• Matters concerning disciplinary proceedings in higher education, including for alleged sexual misconduct.
• Stage 3 complaints, including safeguarding matters.
• SEND issues, including school transport.

Prior to traineeship, Katy was a Legal Advisor at Ofsted, where she advised Ofsted in respect of its role in several investigations in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), including the Residential Schools investigation. Katy also worked as a public and education law paralegal at Simpson Millar LLP.

Qualifications, awards and memberships

BA (Jurisprudence), University of Oxford (2016) – First Class
Bachelor of Civil Law, University of Oxford (2018) – Distinction
BPTC, BPP University (2020) – Outstanding

Scholarships and prizes include:

• Bedingfield Scholarship (Gray’s Inn)
• Hebe Plunkett Award (Gray’s Inn)
• Residential Scholarship (Gray’s Inn)
• Advocacy Scholarship (BPP University)
• Academic Excellence Scholarship (BPP University)
• Peter Duffy Scholar (Bar European Group)
• Law Faculty Prize for BCL Private Law and Fundamental Rights (University of Oxford)
• Academic scholar (New College, University of Oxford)

Publications:

• ‘Judicial review evidence in the era of the digital state’ Public Law (2020), Oct, 740-760

Memberships:

• Liberty
• ALBA
• ELA

Katy is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. In order to provide legal services to her clients, including advice and representation services, Katy needs to collect and hold personal data. This includes her client’s personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the matter upon which she is instructed. To read Katy’s privacy notice in full, please see here.