David Lawson

Call 2000

Overview

David is a public lawyer working with all public services, in particular education, health and care services. Recent work includes judicial reviews on access to services, representation at public inquiries (IICSA and Infected Blood) and regulatory cases on schools and care homes at  First Tier and Upper Tribunal level.

He has a busy Court of Protection practice, in particular in medical and ethical cases.

Chambers & Partners notes he is “absolutely outstanding” and “achieves remarkable results… gives everything to his cases, and is always approachable and great to work with”.

David is clerked primarily by Lee Johnson, Clare Sabido, Jennifer Pooler and Emma Bell.

“Very thorough and very calm.”
The Legal 500

The CoP Guide
David Lawson authors this guide collecting the key principles of the Court of Protection and of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in one document for speed of access. Read the full free guide here.

Experience & Expertise

David has appeared in many reported cases in in a wide range of courts and tribunals. In addition to advocacy he advises on access to services and the organisation and regulation of provision. David is instructed by the major firms and public bodies in his field and consistently recognised in legal directories as a leading junior.

  • David has appeared in many key education law cases at all levels. He has experience in all aspects of education law, from nursery provision to post-graduate, and individual rights to national policy, and has experience in a range of claims including special educational needs, disability, and university issues such as academic and disciplinary matters. He is widely acknowledged as a leading practitioner in the field.
  • David has a thriving healthcare practice and writes extensively about access to healthcare, including the chapter on access to healthcare in Medical Treatment Decisions and the Law. Recent instructions include judicial reviews about which CCG is responsible for treatment, about access to treatment (continuing care and medication) and about closure of services.
  • He regularly appears in the Court of Protection. He has particular experience on questions of sexual relations and marriage. His medical treatment work includes covert treatment, birth and end of life issues, blood transfusions and anaesthetics. He co-wrote the chapter on feeding in Medical Treatment Decisions and the Law.  David also writes a 150 page guide to the Court of Protection available here.

David has experience of a wide range of areas related to legal practice. He has recently spent several years as a part-time Ombudsman for the Financial Ombudsman Service. He has undertaken trial observation in Lesotho (environmental damage) and Turkey (language rights). He is a past editor of the Education Law Monitor.

recommendations

David is consistently recommended by the legal directories as a leading junior. He is ranked for Education and Court of Protection.

Clients cited by Chambers and Partners state that he is very good with clients, he is very thorough, and has a great success rate”

Other recent directory editorial has included the following:

publications

  • Medical Treatment: Decisions and the Law
    David co-authored chapter eight: Access to Healthcare – Funding in the fourth edition of the book Medical Treatment: Decisions and the Law, edited by Christopher Johnston KC and Sophia Roper KC and written by 27 members of Serjeants’ Inn.
  • Education Law Monitor – past editor
  • Local Government Lawyer, Public Law Today, Education Law Journal and Health Service Journal – contributor

reflections

Ultimately law is about managing risk. Sometimes you have to leave key interests at risk but if you don’t have to it’s best not to.  It’s usually sensible to narrow down what’s at stake.

“The best answers come from listening to the clients.”

Like many colleagues I act for claimants and defendants. It brings valuable insights – the most important of them – organisations are trying to do the right thing and never forget how much individuals have at stake.  More than anything else acting for all parties to disputes is a constant barrier to cynicism and reminder of what works in the system.

The best ideas come from the clients. Sometimes clients – and even the lawyers – look to the lawyers for the answers.  The best answers come from listening to the clients and then trying to work out how the answer they can see fits into the law or can be based in the facts the court may find.

privacy

David adopts and adheres to the provisions of his privacy notice which can be accessed here.

Further Information

For further details of David’s practice please click on the links to the left or contact a member of the clerking or client service team.

Bar Council Membership No: 41350
Registered Name:
VAT Registration No: 848653876