The Legal 500

Position

Has worked and accepts instructions in all areas of chambers’ expertise and has recently been appointed to the Attorney General’s panel of junior counsel to the Crown (C Panel). Cain has appeared before a range of courts and tribunals, including the Supreme Court, High Court, County Court, Magistrates and Crown Courts, the Employment Tribunal, Social Security Tribunal and at inquiries on planning/enforcement notice appeals. Cain has worked for a range of public authorities, private clients and interested parties. In appropriate cases, he is prepared to consider acting on a pro bono basis. He is a referral member of the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), and has advised various clients through ELF. Cain is also an active member of the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA) and the Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA). Cain has also undertaken a secondment with Sevenoaks District Council, providing advice on a wide range of matters, many of which have involved points under the Planning Acts. He has also written guides to equality and human rights law in the environmental field for the Environmental Law Foundation, and worked closely with Friends of the Earth on various environmental law matters. Cain has been instructed by central government through the ‘Baby Barrister’ scheme to conduct several weeks of hearings before the Criminal Inuries Compensation Appeal Panel and appears frequently for McDonalds at licensing hearings, enjoying a near 100% success rate. Cain has also advised private clients and local residents, the most recent example of which was on the effect of conditions precedent and the extent of rights under the GPDO. Cain has experience of advice work in respect of waste, statutory nuisance (abatement notices) and water law. He also has a particular interest in highway law and regularly advises local authorities on highway points, and works with the Open Spaces Society and others to promote and defend public rights of way. He recently assisted Robert McCracken QC with the book ‘Alternative Sites in Planning Law’ and has also contributed to the new textbook on the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008. In R (Lewis) v Redcar and Cleveland BC, Cain successfully represented Mr Lewis in the Supreme Court as junior counsel, in a case that marked a significant development in town and village green law. He has also successfully represented the Garden Square Committee as sole counsel in Herman v (1) Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (2) Ovington Garden Square Committee, the first case on the garden square provisions in the Kensington Improvement Act 1851.

Career

Called 2007; Lincoln’s Inn. Western Circuit Advocacy Prize for best advocacy on BVC. Lord Bowen, Walter Wigglesworth and Hardwicke Scholarships from Lincoln’s Inn. Winner of UKELA Lord Slynn of Hadley mooting competition. Works on a pro bono basis for ELF.

Member

Attorney General’s C Panel of approved counsel; UKELA; AUBA.

Practice Areas

Administrative and public law; Environment; Planning