Our firm is accredited by the Legal Services Commission to represent people detained under the Mental Health Act.
Mental Health is a demanding area of law where clients are generally in a highly vulnerable situation.
All 3 members of the Department are on the Law Society Mental Health Review Tribunal Panel.
From January 2008, the Department has been headed by Gemma Purt.
We visit clients at the earliest opportunity to explain their rights, procedures, timetabling and any other queries. We then investigate the case thoroughly, keeping the client fully informed. Ultimately, the client will be represented at the final hearing by one of our specialist team members.
Where appropriate, court applications for judicial review are made, for example if we view a detention as being unlawful.
In R (KB and others) v Mental Health Review Tribunal and Secretary of State for Health, we successfully represented a client in a group action concerning delays in hearings taking place which established clear listing guidelines and the right to damages in delayed cases.
