Sapna Malik > Leigh Day > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Leigh Day
Panagram
27 Goswell Road
LONDON
EC1M 7AJ
England
Sapna Malik photo

Work Department

Personal injury

Position

Sapna is a partner with over 20 years’ litigation experience, specialising in international personal injury and human rights claims.  She has a reputation for bringing ground-breaking cases, raising novel points of law, often against HM Government. In October 2019 she won the Law Society’s Excellence Award for Human Rights Solicitor of the Year – the judges found that she had “proven herself to be a model for young lawyers, fighting fearlessly against huge odds” and were “impressed by her outstanding dedication, commitment and perseverance.” Her cases resulted in 3 milestone Supreme Court judgments in 2017 concerning the constitutional role of the courts and issues of public international law in cross-border disputes involving HMG. Her case of  Belhaj & Anor v Jack Straw & Ors concluded in May 2018 with an unreserved apology from the British Prime Minister to her clients, while in a landmark judgment in 2017, her clients in the Iraqi Civilian Litigation v MoD, were found to have been subjected to  breaches of the Geneva Conventions and/or the ECHR. In 2021 she negotiated a settlement of £2.3m on behalf of 36 Malawian women who alleged they had been the victims of sexual assault and harassment while working on tea and nut plantations for a Malawian subsidiary of UK-based Camellia Plc.

Career

Trained Leigh Day; qualified 1998; partner 2005.

Memberships

Lawyers Advisory Committee of Peace Brigades International.

Education

University of East Anglia (1992 BSc Hons Environmental Sciences, 1st); University of Westminster (1994 graduate diploma in law, commendation; 1996 post-graduate diploma in legal practice, distinction); University of London (2002, part-time LLM Masters in Law, distinction).

Lawyer Rankings

London > Insurance > Personal injury: claimant

(Leading individuals)

Sapna MalikLeigh Day

Sally Moore oversees the personal injury offering at Leigh Day, alongside head of international law Richard Meeran, and joint heads of industrial disease Harminder Bains and Daniel Easton. The collaboration between the international and personal injury teams compliments the wider firm’s human rights focus, an area in which Martyn Day and Sapna Malik are recognised experts; recent highlights in this space include an action involving allegations of forced labour and abuse of migrant workers in Malaysia. Additionally, the team has expertise in food allergy cases, spearheaded by Michelle Victor. The team also specialises in catastrophic injury cases, sitting on the legal panels of a number of hospital major trauma centres, as well as providing services to the British Cycling Federation and British Triathlon Association – senior associate Rory McCarron is the key name to note for such work. The asbestos and industrial disease team acts both on specific claims, including those involving mesothelioma victims, and wider issues affecting those impacted by asbestos-related diseases, including advising on proposed changes to the law. Ewan Tant is also recommended.

London > Public sector > Civil liberties and human rights

(Leading individuals)

Sapna MalikLeigh Day

Renowned for its considerable breadth of expertise across the spectrum of human rights issues, Leigh Day continues to represent a wide variety of individuals, NGOs and charities in ground-breaking cases. The practice has also established a stellar inquests reputation, handling a large number of Article 2 claims concerning deaths of children and young people. Jamie Beagent oversees a department which focuses primarily on the environment, and the detention and welfare of immigrants and asylum seekers. International and group litigation lead Richard Meeran is a pioneer regarding cases involving UK-domiciled multinationals, while Sapna Malik has a wide caseload of international claims. Daniel Leader’s practice focuses on business and human rights, founding member Sean Humber remains a key contact, and senior associate Andrew Lord continues to represent survivors of abuse in childhood.