Andrew Burrell

Andrew gained experience of various public law matters during the non-practising part of his pupillage. He assisted with drafting opinions, pleadings and pre-action correspondence about:

• Age assessment cases related to asylum-seekers
• Ordinary residence under the Care Act 2014 and section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983
• Duties to accommodate children under section 20 of the Children Act 1989
• Duties owed to care leavers under the Children Act 1989
• Recovering fees from former care home residents under the Care Act 2014.

Andrew also assisted in drafting the skeletons for two upcoming judicial reviews:

• A judicial review between a local authority and an NHS trust over whether a child is eligible for NHS Continuing Care (supervised by Rebecca Davies)
• A Court of Appeal hearing about whether a local authority’s approach to allocating temporary accommodation is indirectly discriminatory (supervised by Genevieve Screeche-Powell)

As a High Court Judicial Assistant, Andrew assisted with the judgment in R (FH) v SSHD [2024] EWHC 1327 (Admin), a modern slavery judicial review. He also worked on a statutory planning review relating to a proposed new oil field.

Before studying law, Andrew was an adviser to the Liberal Democrats on a wide range of public policy areas, including education, political reform, business, trade and social security.

Alongside his studies, Andrew volunteered for the School Exclusion Project, where he successfully appeared before an Independent Review Panel to appeal a child’s exclusion from school.

During the non-practising part of his pupillage, Andrew experienced a wide range of Court of Protection cases. He assisted with drafting orders and position statements in cases involving:

• Section 21A appeals against standard authorisations in care homes
• Deprivations of liberty in the community
• Forced Marriage Protection Orders and Port Alerts

During the non-practising part of pupillage, Andrew gained experience of a wide spectrum of children’s and financial remedies proceedings. They included:

• A 5-day public law threshold hearing in which the local authority alleged that the mother’s over-protectiveness had stunted the child’s development. Andrew has since been instructed on further hearings in the same matter during his second six.
• A 3-day private law fact-finding hearing involving allegations of domestic abuse and manipulation of the children against their mother
• Contested divorce and financial remedies proceedings, including cases where parties have disputed the court’s jurisdiction as simultaneous divorce proceedings were taking place abroad.

Andrew is keen to develop his practice in children’s public law. He was the drafter of the Kinship Care Bill, a Private Member’s Bill proposed in 2022 to strengthen the rights of special guardians and other kinship carers. Whilst working in Parliament, Andrew coordinated the Liberal Democrats’ response to the Independent Review on Children’s Social Care.

During the non-practising part of his pupillage, Andrew assisted in Santers Solicitors Limited v Law Society [2024] EWHC 3003 (Ch). This is thought to be the 1st successful application under Schedule 1 of the Solicitors Act 1974 to withdraw an intervention notice against a solicitor (assisting John McLinden KC and John Critchley).

As a High Court Judicial Assistant, Andrew assisted extensively during the trial in InterDigital Technology Corporation v OnePlus Technology (Shenzen) Co, a case about the ‘Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory’ cost of 4G and 5G mobile network patents. He also assisted with two cases concerning trade mark validity and infringement.

As a High Court Judicial Assistant, Andrew assisted extensively with the judgment in Leonard v Leonard [2024] EWHC 321 (Ch) and [2024] EWHC 979 (Ch), a contentious probate case about testamentary capacity.

Andrew is keen to build a practice in ecclesiastical law. His article on the impact of ECHR Articles 8 and 14 on Church of England burial arrangements was published in the peer-reviewed Ecclesiastical Law Journal. He was a finalist in the first Inner Temple Ecclesiastical Law Moot.

• Postgraduate Diploma in Bar Vocational Studies (City, University of London) 2021-2022, Distinction
• Graduate Diploma in Law (City, University of London) 2020-2021, Distinction
• BA Human, Social & Political Sciences (University of Cambridge) 2013-2016, 2.1

• Stephen Seabrooke Memorial Prize (2022), awarded by City Law School for exceptional performance in the advocacy assessments on the Bar Course
• Inner Temple Bar Course Exhibition Scholarship (2021)
• Inner Temple GDL Exhibition Award (2020)