Jamie Beagent > Leigh Day > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Leigh Day Offices

Leigh Day
Panagram
27 Goswell Road
LONDON
EC1M 7AJ
England
Visit website 020 7650 1200 020 7253 4433

Jamie Beagent

Jamie Beagent photo
020 7650 1200 jbeagent@leighday.co.uk

Work Department

Human Rights

Position

Jamie specialises in judicial review and public law. Jamie works for a range of clients including individuals, groups, NGOs and charities. He undertakes judicial challenges to the decisions and failings of public authorities from quangos to central Government departments. He has particular expertise in the fields of planning and environmental law and unlawful detention but has a wide-ranging judicial review practice. He has worked closely with NGOs such as Bail for Immigration Detainees, Detention Action and Medical Justice to identify systemic unlawfulness by the Home Office and bring strategic litigation to assist the large and growing marginalised group of immigration detainees. Jamie has a strong interest in corporate accountability and worked the Corner House and Campaign Against Arms Trade in their challenge to the decision of the Serious Fraud Office to drop their investigation into BAE and Saudi Arms deals. He also helped a group of complainants (including Corner House and the Kurdish Human Rights Project) bring the first successful complaint to the UK’s OECD National Contact Point. The NCP upheld the complaint finding that a consortium led by BP had breached the OECD Guidelines by failing to consult properly with the local population in Turkey when developing the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Jamie has also been involved in some of the leading cases relating to the ‘war on terror’. He worked on the case of Binyam Mohamed in the judicial review that helped secure his release from Guantanamo Bay and has worked with Reprieve on the cases of other victims of ill-treatment and unlawful detention, including the application for habeas corpus brought by Bagram detainee Yunus Rahmatullah. An area of particular interest for Jamie is access to justice. He was involved in the leading case on Protective Costs Orders (Corner House v the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry), intervened on behalf of the Public Law Project in the leading case on claimant’s costs (Bahta & Ors-v-SSHD) and has brought challenges to the Legal Services Commission where they have cut legal funding without proper consultation.

Career

Obtained CPE and LPC at College of Law, Guildford (1998-2000). Trained at Sharpe Pritchard with particular emphasis on public law and planning (2001-2003). Joined Leigh Day on qualification in 2003 and worked since then in the Human Rights Department as a public law specialist. Made partner in 2014.

Memberships

Administrative Law bar Association; Refugee Legal Group.

Education

Bedford School, Somerville College, Oxford (Classics – 1998).

Leisure

Current affairs, international affairs, sport (rugby and cricket).

Lawyer Rankings

London > Public sector > Civil liberties and human rights

(Leading individuals)

Jamie Beagent – Leigh 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.

London > Public sector > Administrative and public law

(Leading individuals)

Jamie Beagent – Leigh Day

Operating at the forefront of high-profile claimant work, Leigh Day combines a core set of administrative and public law experts with specialists across a broad range of relevant disciplines, from healthcare and immigration, to refugee law and prisoners’ rights. Human rights specialist Jamie Beagent leads the team; his practice focuses particularly on the environment, and the detention and welfare of immigrants and asylum seekers. Tessa Gregory is a vastly experienced litigator and represents a wide variety of clients in complex judicial reviews, including individuals and NGOs. Benjamin Burrows is another key contact and heads the prison law team, while Merry Varney is well regarded for inquests concerning child rights.

London > Real estate > Environment

The environmental team at Leigh Day exclusively focuses on representing claimants in matters ranging from multi-party actions, in jurisdictions where legal representation is difficult to come by, often arising from environmental damage; to UK and European public law challenges regarding climate change and human rights; to UK-based litigation in relation to breaches of environmental regulations, defending clients against such well-known corporations as Shell. Martyn Day specialises in international work.  Daniel Leader has a notable focus on complex, multi-party, cross-jurisdictional action work. Richard Meeran, who has particular experience handling disputes in South Africa, and planning specialist Jamie Beagent co-head the practice. Tessa Gregory is a litigator who stands out for her expertise in wildlife and habitat protection-related work in relation to the planning and development of infrastructure which threatens it, experienced associate solicitor Carol Day also has expertise in this area. Key associates in the team include Rowan Smith, who is adept at handling climate change work.

Lawyer Rankings

Top Tier Firm Rankings

Firm Rankings