Staff

Adrian manages PLP’s training and events, some fundraising and relevant aspects of communications and marketing.  Before joining the organisation Adrian worked as a Project Manager with Index on Censorship, the international freedom of expression organisation, where he Directed their annual awards event and managed projects funded by the UNDP and the Arts Council England, including the first international festival of homeless arts.  Previously Adrian worked at the University of the Arts Student’s Union and as the administrator of Union Chapel Project, where he got to see loads of great music.  In his spare time he is learning to roller skate with his son (quads, not in-line!), plays squash and Ultimate Frisbee and does lots of middle distance running.  Until recently (Feb 2024) he was on the Board of Trustees of the Fatbeehive Foundation which gives small grants to small charities to improve their digital presence.

Alice joined PLP in October 2023 after graduating from the University of Cambridge, where she studied history. At university she was involved in disability and LGBTQ+ rights activism, as well as campaigning for environmental justice. She is a passionate knitter and sewist who makes a lot of her own clothes, and she loves to watch and play football despite being quite bad at it.

Amélie is a PhD candidate at the University of Essex Human Rights Centre, working on the intersections of nationality and EU law with immigration, family, and public law. She is a Master’s graduate from New York University with an M.A. in International Relations and Politics. She also attended the Institut des Sciences Politique, Paris and received Bachelor’s degrees in History and International Studies from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining PLP, she worked in fundraising and events with different charities, including Human Rights Watch, London. She works all matters relating to communications, conference deliveries and other events planning.

Amélie will quite cheerfully discuss comparative politics, football, and Shakespeare until everyone in the room has expired of boredom.

Aoife is a solicitor in PLP’s casework team and joined PLP in 2021. She has experience acting for individuals and organisations, including advising on and representing organisations in interventions before the English courts. Aoife’s role involves identifying and developing strategic litigation opportunities. Aoife works across all PLP’s priority areas, with a particular focus on automation and digitalisation, welfare benefits and the European Union Settlement Scheme.

Arianne is an Attorney and researcher with expertise in international human rights law and business and human rights. She previously led the corporate accountability team at Global Witness, which is focused on securing a new EU Directive to increase accountability for the adverse human rights, environmental and climate impacts of business activities.

Prior to joining Global Witness, Arianne was a Senior Research and Policy Fellow at the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab. There she led work to improve business responses to forced labour and labour abuses in supply chains which included targeting legislative and policy changes in the UK. She has also held research-based roles at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as a Visiting Professional. Arianne has published peer-reviewed articles in the areas of public international law and business and human rights and has held editorial roles for the OCCBA, a practitioner journal and the Business and Human Rights Journal Blog.

Arianne is admitted to the bar of Trinidad and Tobago, where is originally from. She holds a Master of Laws in International Law from UCL and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies. She lives in southeast London with her husband and is a passionate plant mom who recharges most efficiently at the coast, in the garden, in the sunshine and with friends and family over a good meal.

Bessie Yuill’s career began in journalism after graduating from the University of Oxford. She wrote across a wide range of topics for publications like Slate, The Independent, Nicki Swift, and BuzzFeed during her time as a freelance reporter. Through her volunteering, she became interested in migrant and asylum seeker rights, which drew her to the Public Law Project and a career in social justice. She started working as a Communications Assistant in July 2023.

Caroline joined PLP in June 2021 as a Research Fellow focussing on benefit sanctions.  Before starting at PLP she was Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Policy and the Voluntary Sector at the London Borough of Hackney with  responsibility for developing policy and strategy at a borough level and influencing policy development at a regional and central government level.   Her portfolio responsibilities included Hackney’s 10 year community strategy and poverty reduction strategy, the Council’s relationship with the police, youth justice, refugees and vulnerable migrants and the Council’s approach to the voluntary sector, including advice services.  She is a qualified lawyer with experience specialising in public and regulatory law.
She is a trustee at a social enterprise focussed on community development.  She has previously undertaken a range of voluntary roles including at her local winter night shelter and provision of pro bono legal advice.

Chris has been a senior manager leading on charity finance and operations since 2009 when, as Assistant Director, Chris helped the Restorative Justice Council grow from two to twenty employees. Chris joins PLP from Age UK where he assisted the partnership affairs department develop a new strategic plan in a period of rapid change. At PLP he holds responsibility for finance and back office functions and is moving to focus further on developing the charity’s infrastructure. Chris read Law at University of Wales, Aberystwyth where he received subject prizes for corporate governance, information law and contract law.

Elaine joined PLP in July 2018, as their Administrative Officer. She supports the Events, Finance and Administrative teams.
Elaine read Politics and Psychology a long time ago at Aberdeen University. Before starting at PLP she started and ran several creative businesses including: Little Badger (children’s clothing mail order), Glen Scott Properties and Property Facelift (interior design). More recently she took some time out to travel and volunteer in China, Morocco and Sri Lanka. As a result of her travels she decided to work in the charity sector and is about to embark on a part-time diploma in Criminology with the OU.

Hannah joined Public Law Project in 2018 and qualified as a solicitor in 2022. During her time at PLP Hannah has assisted and represented individuals and organisations with judicial review claims and interventions. These include a challenge to a local authority’s use of s.222 Local Government Act injunctive powers against street sex workers in Hull; several challenges to the legal aid means regulations; various asylum support and accommodation challenges; a challenge to the exclusion of Bereavement Support Payment for the partners and families of people who are unable to work due to life-long disability; and an intervention to the Independent Monitoring Authority’s challenge to the lawfulness of the EU Settlement Scheme.

Dr Jo Hynes is a Senior Researcher at Public Law Project and recently completed her PhD in legal geography at the University of Exeter. Her work at Public Law Project focuses on immigration, legal aid and related access to justice issues, as well as the role of digitalisation in the justice system. She is particularly interested in interdisciplinary research and partnership working across academia, civil society and grassroots organisations.

Find Jo on Twitter or LinkedIn. 

Joe is an Associate Fellow at PLP. Alongside his role as Senior Lecturer in Public Law at the University of York, Joe is a consultant to PLP and shares our interest in producing research that aims to improve the public law system. Prior to becoming an Associate Fellow, Joe was PLP’s Research Director and grew the division into a thriving interdisciplinary team.

Joe’s work focuses on administrative law, with a particular emphasis on policy problems and systemic issues. His research has been influential and widely cited in the courts, the charity sector, government, and Parliament. Joe is also a member of the Academic Panel at Blackstone Chambers.

Joe is a research fellow whose work focuses on automated decision-making in the public sector and the civil legal aid scheme. He first joined PLP in 2023, where he worked as a research assistant while he studied an LLM (with a specialism in Law, Politics and Social Change) at LSE. 

Before joining PLP, Joe graduated top of his year with a BSc in Philosophy and Economics from LSE in 2021, and with a GDL from City University in 2022. After he graduated, Joe started work representing homeless people in West Wales as a housing law caseworker. 

Lee Marsons joined PLP in February 2021 as a Research Fellow focusing on post Covid and Brexit public law matters. He is currently finishing a PhD at the University of Essex, a socio-legal project concerning the impact of emotions on appellate court hearings and decisions. Lee is also editor of the UK Administrative Justice Institute (UKAJI) blog and co-editor of Public Law’s Current Survey.

Maja graduated from Law School in Slovenia and has been working in and for the charity sector for as long as she can remember. Before joining Public Law Project, she worked at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, and volunteered with Minority Rights International, Slovene Philanthropy, Association for Promotion of Volunteering, and other humanitarian organisations committed to advocating for vulnerable groups in society.

At PLP she works closely with other members of the operations and finance team to ensure all aspects of HR, IT, compliance and premises are managed, as well as providing other support needed to deliver charitable activities. She is playing a key role in developing a programme of well-being, training and resources, as well as ensuring PLP’s office and technology is geared to support collaborative working and contributing to developing the support of internal communication and connectivity.

When not at work you’ll generally find her hiking, dancing, visiting gigs, hiding from the world with a good book or planning a cheeky weekend trip out of the country.

Matthew is a lawyer who joined Public Law Project’s casework team in 2020.Before coming to Public Law Project, Matthew worked as a solicitor at GT Stewart Solicitors, where he acted for a wide range of clients including migrants, looked after children and care leavers. He assisted clients to bring judicial review challenges against public bodies, often on an urgent basis, and regularly acted for parents in Court of Protection proceedings relating to their children.Prior to qualifying as a solicitor, Matthew worked for over 10 years in the charity sector supporting refugees and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, at organisations such as the Refugee Council and the Manor Gardens Advocacy Project.

Niall joins PLP from Amnesty International UK. Niall was head of Media, PR and Supporter Communications there for 10 years. His team won the prestigious in-house PR team of the year in 2019, beating the likes of M&S and Barclaycard. He is also directly responsible for creating the phrase “sportswashing”. Prior to that he was head of media at the teaching union NASUWT and Director of Communications for the children’s hospice Richard House. A former sports journalist for the Independent, he has written three books, The Spirit of Wimbledon published in 2003, This Is Our Time, published in 2012, and Womble Till I Die, published in 2023. This Is Our Time was longlisted for the Sports Writers’ Association’s Sports Book of the Year.

In his spare time, Niall is the volunteer CEO of Fair Game, an organisation of men’s professional football clubs campaigning to change the governance of football in England and Wales. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the Union of European Clubs. Niall has twice served as a directly-elected member of the Dons Trust of AFC Wimbledon. Apart from his love of football, he also has an unhealthy obsession of 90s Britpop.

Niamh joined PLP in May 2021 as a casework paralegal and qualified as a solicitor in May 2023. She joined PLP from the AIRE Centre where she worked as a Project Coordinator for their UK National Support Fund project which assisted at-risk UK nationals with securing their residence in Europe post-Brexit. Niamh studied law with Spanish at the University of Glasgow and is committed to a career in public law.

Nicole began her professional career in London after earning her Master’s degree in International Communication from the University of Leeds. Before joining PLP in April 2024, Nicole worked one year at Shelter, where she delivered high-profile stewardship events for major donors. Prior to that, she worked at the Taiwan Tourism Board in London. Nicole is interested in the role of public law in migration and social housing policy, shaped in part by her volunteer work with the Refugee Council.

Nikhil began his career in costing with no prior knowledge of the field, however quickly developed an interest. His focus, dedication and enthusiasm to learn all about Legal Aid billing soon led to a management role. Having managed an in-house billing team for over 4 years, as well as leading teams for external Legal Aid firms, Nikhil is no stranger to adapting with the needs of each firm. Additionally, Nikhil has the expertise in understanding how Legal Aid billing teams work to maximise costs.

Niran joined PLP in July 2023 after three years at the Young Women’s Trust, where she effectively managed the organisation’s grants. Prior to that, she worked in the international development sector and lived in Ghana for five years, working in child rights and education.

Niran holds a Master’s in Globalisation & Development from SOAS and a degree in International Politics from City University. Her current role at PLP centres on the strategic management and expansion of the Grants portfolio, aimed at driving sustainable growth for the organisation.

Rakesh joined PLP in September 2013. He is a solicitor who qualified in 2000 and prior to joining PLP was a partner in two of his previous firms, specialising in refugee and human rights law. He acted in a series of test cases in counter-terrorism law that reached the House of Lords, Supreme Court and Court of Justice of the EU. He also acted in test cases concerning unfair hearings and unfair Home Office policies. This work was recognised in the “Legal 500” and “Chambers and Partners”. He was a Thomson and Reuters “Super Lawyer” and a finalist for the Immigration Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year in 2013. At PLP, Rakesh has been involved in a wide range of judicial reviews including challenges to unfair processes – notably closed material procedures in the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, the Work Capability Assessment and the legal aid Exceptional Case Funding scheme. Rakesh specialises in access to justice issues. He acted for the charity Medical Justice in a challenge to Home Office’s “removal windows” policy. He had acted for several clients who had to be returned to the UK because they had all been denied access to lawyers under that policy before they were removed. The Court of Appeal held that the policy unlawfully restricted access to justice. Rakesh was named “Lawyer of the Week” by The Times in October 2020. The Legal Aid Practitioners Group named him the Public Law Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year in 2021. Rakesh regularly delivers judicial review training for PLP.

Ray is a finance officer and joined PLP in 2021. He has an economics degree from the University of Kent. Ray is no stranger to working diligently with numbers due to his past studies in accounting and undergraduate degree. His aim is to build his experience in finance, study further and eventually become a chartered accountant. During his spare time Ray can be found watching and taking part in sports and has a strong passion for football in particular.

Saba recently completed her BA Jurisprudence at Mansfield College, University of Oxford, where she was JCR President and recipient of the Worsley Prize for Law. She joined PLP as a Fellow of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, and is now assisting the SIFT Project and working as a general research assistant. In the past, she has acted as research assistant to Helen Mountfield QC and interned at JCWI and Shelter. She is deeply passionate about public law and using the law to assist the disadvantaged.

Sarah joined PLP’s casework team as a paralegal in 2024. Before coming to PLP, Sarah worked at Coram Children’s Legal Centre in education and community care law. Sarah graduated from the University of Warwick in 2022 where she studied Law with German Law, gaining a comparative understanding of different legal systems. Whilst at university, Sarah provided immigration advice and assistance at Coventry Law Centre and worked on public education law projects.

Sarah has a particular interest in access to justice, strategic litigation, and the protection of human rights.

Shameem began her career as an advisor in Government, developing policy and legislation in the wake of the financial crisis. She then went to the City where she became a senior associate and solicitor advocate in a market leading public law team. She has represented individuals, corporates, public bodies and charities. Prior to becoming its Director of Advocacy, Shameem helped set up the Black Equity Organisation, a racial justice charity.

Before joining the Public Law Project as legal director, Victoria Pogge von Strandmann was head of the public law and human rights department at Simpson Millar.

Pogge von Strandmann has spent more than a decade practising public law specialising in defending the rights of children, young people and vulnerable migrants.

Her practice covered public law challenges to trafficking decisions, unlawful detention, challenges in respect of asylum support, challenges under the Children Act 1989 relating to looked after children, care leavers and age assessment cases and Care Act challenges for those without settled status. She co-authors the Legal Action Group’s updates on community care issues relating to children.

Yvonne started out in banking but moved into the charity sector and has many years’ experience working as a charity accountant. She spent some time living in the US where she worked at the Art institute of Chicago, Orchestra of St Luke’s and The Royal Oak Foundation in New York before returning to the UK. She also works part-time for The St Peter’s College Foundation and in her other life is a classically-trained singer.