Garden Court Chambers invites tenancy applications from busy practitioners at all levels of call to join our Education Law Team.
Applicants should have some experience of education law and a desire to develop this part of their practice further.
Garden Court is the pre-eminent Claimant-focused set for Education Law, with sector-leading expertise in school exclusion, discrimination and special educational needs matters. Members of the team are instructed in much of the most significant High Court and appellate litigation in this area.
Recent landmark and test cases include:
- TYC (by his litigation friend and mother, KVD) v Birmingham City Council [2025] EWHC 623 (Admin);
- R (CWJ) v Director of Legal Aid Casework & Lord Chancellor, MIND intervening [2025] EWHC 306 (Admin);
- R(RWU) v A Governing Body of A Academy and London Borough of Southwark, Black Equity Organisation intervening [2025] EWCA Civ 147;
- R(JSH by his father and litigation friend, RRB) v Westmorland and Furness Council [2024] EWHC 3362 (Admin);
- R(L, by his litigation friend and mother, LC) v Hampshire County Council [2024] EWHC 1928;
- R (A by his litigation friend, B) v North Central London Integrated Care Board and Haringey County Council [2024] EWHC 2682 (Admin);
- EM v Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead [2024] UKUT 317 (AAC);
- R(XYZ) v City, University of London [2024];
- DJ v The Proprietor of Wellington College [2024].
Members of the team frequently write and provide training, sit as Tribunal judges and are on the executive committee of the Education Law Association. We also regularly hold successful events and are the exclusive sponsors of the Legal Action Group Education Law Conference, now in its fourth year.
Garden Court coordinates the School Inclusion Project (‘SIP’), a cross-sector forum to facilitate legal representation and address the systemic discrimination in school exclusions. The School Inclusion Project was shortlisted for The Halsbury Award for Rule of Law at the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2025, the Pro Bono & Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year Award at the Bar Pro Bono Awards 2025 and the Pro Bono Initiative of the Year Award at the Legal 500 UK ESG Awards 2025.
New members of the Education Law Team would be supported to develop their practices in complementary areas such as Administrative and Public Law, Community Care Law and Court of Protection, in which we are also recognised as a leading set in Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.
For a confidential, informal discussion in advance of applying, please contact Ollie Persey of the Garden Court Education Law Team at oliverp@gclaw.co.uk. To find out more about our team, visit our Education Law Team page.
All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
The closing date for applications is 23 May 2025 at 4pm.
To apply, please complete and return both the application form and equal opportunities monitoring form to Mia Hakl-Law, Chief Operating Officer, at miah@gclaw.co.uk.
We consider applications on an equal opportunity basis and we are committed to equality and diversity. Applications for tenancy from ethnic minority and women candidates are particularly welcome. We also welcome applications from exceptional candidates outside the advertised procedure.
