Jenny has been appointed a Fee-Paid Judge of the First Tier Immigration & Asylum Chamber.
Jenny is not currently practising and is unable to accept instructions. Jenny is a specialist in social housing & homelessness, adult and child social care, mental capacity and mental health law, public and administrative law, and immigration.
Jenny is a graduate of Oxford University (English BA), and Kings College, London (LLM in Administrative Law, Human Rights, Jurisprudence and the Laws of War). She completed her PgDL and BVC at the College of Law, London. Jenny was called to the Bar in 2006. As a member of Middle Temple she was awarded a Harmsworth Scholarship and Entrance Exhibition. In 2012, Jenny was awarded a Pegasus scholarship and worked at the Centre for Constitutional Rights in New York.
Jenny was also Deputy Chair and a member of Council of Which? the consumer rights organisation, until 2019.
Expertise
- Health and Social Care
Jenny is joint head of the Health and Social Care Team. Jenny has a specialist public law practice focusing primarily on the powers and duties of local authorities, community care, social housing and homelessness and mental health, and capacity law. Jenny’s community care practice embraces the following issues on which she provides advice, representation and training:
- Social Care Services provision: Social care assessments and planning; Eligibility and funding; the practical implications of the Equality Act 2010 and Care Act 2014.
- Care Charging: Setting care home fees; Financial Assessments and contributions for care under CRAG; Recovery of care charges.
- Court of Protection: Capacity; Best Interests; Personal Welfare; Property and Affairs; Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court.
- Ordinary Residence: Including settlement of ordinary residence disputes between authorities and determinations referred to the Secretary of State
- Social Care vs Continuing Healthcare funding: Complex care packages. The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare. Resolution of disputes between public authorities about responsibility for care.
- Section 117 MHA 1983: After-Care services under the Mental Health Act 1983.
- Eligibility and Support for persons from abroad: Section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948; Care and attention not otherwise available; Human Rights; Community Treaty rights; Schedule 3 to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; Hard cases; Support for children, for UASCs and families.
- Children Act 1989: Powers and duties under sections 17 and 20; Interrelation between Children Act and Housing Act; Leaving Care; Age assessments; Disputes between local authorities on responsibility for children and young persons.
- PII & Disclosure: Across Court of Protection; Community Care and Criminal or Children Act proceedings.
- Court of Protection
Jenny has considerable experience in the Mental Capacity jurisdiction. She acts for local authorities, medical and social care providers as well as private persons. Jenny has expertise in and frequently gives advice and training on the following areas:
- Mental Capacity disputes
- Deprivation of Liberty safeguards and Article 5 damages claims
- The interface between MCA 2005 and MHA 1983
- Best Interests in Personal Welfare proceedings in the Court of Protection
- Best Interests in Property & Affairs proceedings in the Court of Protection
- The interaction between LA community care, section 117 Mental Health Act and/or housing duties
Recent cases include:
LBX v TT [2014] EWHC 24 (COP) – concerning allegations of sexual abuse within the family home and in particular concerning the court’s approach to fact finding and best interests when invited to make an interim declaration under section 48 MCA 2005.
C v C (Court of Protection: Disclosure) Also known as: RC v CC [2014] EWHC 131 (COP); [2014] 1 W.L.R. 2731 – the Court of Protection gave guidance about the correct approach to disclosure of documents containing personal information in proceedings involving an adult who lacked capacity.
- Housing
Jenny is a specialist housing practitioner with considerable experience in all aspects of housing law, from strategic advisory work to urgent relief applications and litigated possession and homelessness proceedings and appeals in the county court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
Jenny has developed particular expertise in Equality Act 2010, ECHR and public law defences and frequently gives practical training to both the legal officers and front-line professionals of local housing authorities and social landlords on these topics. Jenny is therefore well-placed to advise on the appointment of and instructions to medical experts and case strategy in relation to vulnerable tenants. She has conducted many trials in which the causal link between a disability and anti-social behaviour is in issue. Jenny is sub-editor of the new textbook: Cornerstone on Anti-Social Behaviour.
Jenny appeared in the Supreme Court in the linked appeals in R(CN) v Lewisham, R (ZH) v Newham [2014] UKSC 62 on the issue of whether the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 applied to interim accommodation provided by local authorities under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996. She appears again in the landmark linked homelessness appeals in the Supreme Court in December 2014 addressing the Pereira test and the approach of local authorities to vulnerable homeless applicants.
Jenny’s broad public law practice, which includes expertise in health and social care, immigration and eligibility and the Court of Protection, means that she is well-placed to advise on cases which cut across the welfare provision duties and powers of public authorities.
- Commercial and Regulatory
Jenny advises on and acts on behalf of public and private clients on a wide range of civil litigation matters including:
- defamation claims;
- contractual disputes;
- land and property disputes (from ownership and trust claims to rights of way);
- negligence claims (from personal injuries to pure economic loss and technical disputes);
- breach of statutory duty;
- general case management applications, including urgent injunctive relief & enforcement of judgments.
Jenny conducts trials on a number of matters, including the following:
- offences relating to HMOs;
- licensing offences;
- road traffic offences;
- breach of enforcement notices;
- housing benefit fraud.
She also appears in the Magistrates and Crown Court on interlocutory applications and sentencing hearings.
- Public Law and Judicial Review
Jenny has a particular interest in Public Law, having undertaken a Masters (LLM) specialising in this area.
Through her academic experience and her own practice which, Jenny has a sound understanding of judicial review proceedings, the public law duties of local authorities, decision-making and probity.
Jenny has conducted judicial review proceedings in relation to a broad range of Chambers’ work.
Jenny was junior to James Findlay QC in Davey v Aylesbury Vale [2007] EWCA Civ 1166 in relation to costs incurred prior to the grant of permission for judicial review.
In addition to her housing, licensing and planning practice, Jenny advises local authorities on a broad range of issues, including in particular non-domestic rating, bye-laws, taxi/private hire and highways/rights of way matters.
Immigration and asylum
Jenny regularly appears in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (First-tier and Upper Tribunals) and has considerable experience in entry-clearance, refugee and asylum claims, Article 3/8 medical claims, family reunion, bail applications and issues relating to arrest and detention.Notable cases include:
- successful appeals against Home Office decision to refuse leave to remain for 8 year old boy with life-threatening blood disorder relying on Article 3/8 in relation to terminal illness;
- successive Somali asylum cases dealing with issues including clan structures, IDPs and FGM;
- several ongoing cases under appeal dealing with the application of the Family Reunion provisions and refugee status, and the Court of Appeal linked cases of MS & KI (Somalia) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 1236 following the reported Tribunal determination MS & Others [2009] UKAIT 00041.
- Matt and Jenny aim for Supreme three in a row01 Jan 2018
- R (CN) v Lewisham LBC: Court of Appeal to consider whether Article 8 requires court order to evict homeless applicants01 Jan 2018
- Cornerstone Double Triple Whammy at Supreme Court Today01 Jan 2018
- Cornerstone Trio in Supreme Court Triple Whammy01 Jan 2018
- Cornerstone note Supreme Court homelessness judgment01 Jan 2018
- Davey v Aylesbury Vale [2007] EWCA Civ 116601 Jan 2018
- Lewisham, Newham and Cornerstone team win in Supreme Court01 Jan 2018
- CN V LB Lewisham And ZH V LB Newham01 Jan 2018
- Supreme Court to hear homelessness challenge01 Jan 2018
- Article 8 does not require possession proceedings in respect of interim temporary accommodation01 Jan 2018
- Supreme Court to consider whether possession proceedings required for Part 7 temporary accommodation01 Jan 2018
- Property
Jenny’s property practice is linked with her housing and landlord/tenant experience, in particular she advises on the following:
- Forfeiture and Trespasser matters
- Service charge disputes in the LVT
- Adverse possession
- Boundary disputes
- Restrictive covenants
- Matt and Jenny aim for Supreme three in a row01 Jan 2018
- R (CN) v Lewisham LBC: Court of Appeal to consider whether Article 8 requires court order to evict homeless applicants01 Jan 2018
- CN V LB Lewisham And ZH V LB Newham01 Jan 2018
- Lewisham, Newham and Cornerstone team win in Supreme Court01 Jan 2018
- Supreme Court to hear homelessness challenge01 Jan 2018
- Article 8 does not require possession proceedings in respect of interim temporary accommodation01 Jan 2018
- Supreme Court to consider whether possession proceedings required for Part 7 temporary accommodation01 Jan 2018