Alexander Campbell

Call: 2010

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Alexander Campbell
Daniel Gatt, Senior Practice Manager

Alex is a leading junior who practices across public law, social housing and property law. He specialises in particular in the Court of Protection and community care, social housing and property work. He is ranked as a leading junior in the legal directories. 

He has been praised by judges as an “excellent” advocate, for his “forensic precision” in approaching cases and has been described as “an expert” in his fields of practice.  He is also well-liked by clients for his approachable manner and his ability to bring clarity to complex cases.

Alex is ranked in Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 for social housing work and for Court of Protection and community care work. He is described in the legal directories as “an excellent advocate” whose “advocacy is faultless” and who is “brilliant on technical and complex arguments”.

He has extensive experience in complex public law and housing law issues, including human rights and equality issues. 

Alex was called to the Bar following his remarkably strong academic background. He holds a law degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received multiple prizes for his academic performance. He holds a master’s degree in French Law from France’s most prestigious law school, l’Université de Paris II – Panthéon-Assas, as well as a master’s degree with distinction in public law and human rights from University College London. He has been the recipient of a prestigious Pegasus Scholarship under which he spent time working as a barrister in Paris.

Alex writes regularly in legal publications online, in journals and books. Alex is qualified to accept cases on a Public Access basis and regularly does so both for individuals as well as organisations.

Expertise

  • Public Law and Judicial Review

    Alex is an experienced public law barrister with a strong academic background in the fields of public law and human rights.  He has extensive practical experience of these fields, and he is able to complement his legal education with this knowledge.

    Alex regularly appears before the High Court in judicial review matters, including in age assessment disputes, housing allocations and HMO licencing.

    He has extensive experience of discrimination and equalities law and regularly argues complex equality law cases at High Court and County Court level.

    He is also well versed in making urgent applications to the High Court, including out of hours applications.  He is familiar with the procedure and ethical obligations which are central to these sorts of applications and has been praised by judges for his clarity and succinctness in making such applications.  Given the urgency needed in many judicial review claims, Alex prides himself on being able to turn around complex instructions to short deadlines.

    Alex has experience in welfare benefits matters in the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal and has been involved in judicial review and Court of Appeal cases concerning social welfare and benefits.

    He also has experience of public procurement litigation and has been involved with procurement challenges both in the High Court and above.  He has assisted government departments and local authorities in procurement challenges. Alex has previously been instructed as a junior by the Ministry of Defence in arbitration proceedings relating to a multi-million pound dispute and has advised in major public procurement litigation concerning the closure of libraries across an English county.

  • Housing

    Alex is ranked as a leading barrister in social housing law. He regularly acts in a wide variety of housing claims, including complex and multi-day possession claims, disrepair claims, injunction applications, committal hearings and appeals.  Alex’s considerable experience in public law gives him a particular expertise in cases with a public law element, including Equality Act and discrimination arguments and human rights issues.  Alex regularly advises and acts in homelessness appeals and in litigation concerning housing allocations policies including at High Court level.

  • Property

    Alex regularly acts in claims involving landlord and tenant work (both residential and commercial) as well as more traditional real property work.

    Alex has been instructed in trials concerning service charges, boundary disputes, adverse possession and rectification of deeds.  Alex has experience of cases involving registered and unregistered land and is happy to be instructed in both.  Alex is experienced in, and happy to accept instructions in, litigation involving forfeiture, surrender and consents (such as withholding of consent to assignment and withholding of consent to carry out alterations).  He accepts instructions in litigation involving easements, restrictive covenants, party walls and neighbour disputes.

  • Commercial and Regulatory

    Alex has experience of regulatory matters, having appeared in regulatory matters before the High Court and before professional disciplinary bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

  • Court of Protection

    Alex is a leading barrister in Court of Protection and community care law. He regularly appears before the Court of Protection in health and welfare matters and deprivation of liberty cases. He is skilled at arguing cases involving complex and sensitive issues such as removal of persons from the country. 

    His recent work includes:

    • acting for a local authority in a complex hoarding case, in which Alex appeared against a KC;
    • appearing for a local authority in a case before a High Court judge concerning a person’s capacity to make decisions around sexual relationships and contraception;
    • representing a local authority in a complex multi-day trial concerning whether a person should be removed to a foreign jurisdiction.

    Alex’s considerable knowledge of issues of mental capacity in litigation makes him well-placed to advise and represent clients in the Court of Protection from the moment that a potential issue arises to the conclusion of proceedings. 

  • Health and Social Care

    Alex is an experienced social care practitioner and is ranked in the legal directories in this area. He has advised and represented local authorities in all aspects of his social care work, including adult community care cases, cases under the Care Act 2014, disputes about care charges and claims involving foreign nationals who have no recourse to public funds both on an advisory basis and in litigation.  He is very familiar with the legal issues involved and is adept at arguing them.

    Anti-social behaviour

    Alex excels in complex anti-social behaviour claims.  Alex is regularly instructed in possession claims involving antisocial behaviour and in claims for injunctions under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.  Alex acts in multi-day trials involving antisocial behaviour and has considerable experience of claims involving large numbers of allegations and large numbers of witnesses.  Alex is a skilled trial advocate and is accomplished at the effective cross-examination of witnesses.

    He regularly appears in antisocial behaviour trials which involve defendants with mental health issues and arguments around a defendant’s mental capacity.  Alex is regularly instructed in anti-social behaviour claims which raise issues of disability discrimination and the Equality Act 2010. His public law experience makes him extremely well-placed to deal with such issues in complex cases and clients value Alex’s ability to address such issues skilfully at short notice.

    Alex has experience of anti-social behaviour cases in the Youth Court and is familiar with the particular issues which arise in cases involving persons under 18.

    Children’s rights

    Alex is regularly called upon to advise and act in judicial review claims involving children. He has experience fighting claims involving the Children Act 1989 concerning duties owed by local authorities to minors and under related legislation.

  • Local Government

    Local government law forms a major part of Alex’s practice and Alex’s background in public law makes him well-placed to advise and to act in litigation involving local authorities. Alex is currently instructed in a number of ongoing judicial review claims in the High Court concerning housing allocations and HMO licensing and he has recently been involved in a successful appeal to the Court of Appeal arising out of a HMO licensing judicial review.

  • Public/Direct Access

    Alex is qualified to accept instructions under the public access scheme and regularly does so.