Ruchi Parekh > Cornerstone Barristers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Cornerstone Barristers Offices
2-3 GRAY'S INN SQUARE
LONDON
WC1R 5JH
England
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Ruchi Parekh
Work Department
Public law, local government, planning and environment, information, housing and licensing law.
Career
Ruchi has a broad public law practice specialising in local government, planning and environment, information, housing and licensing law. She is instructed by a wide range of private and public sector clients, including local and central government and other regulatory bodies. She can also be instructed directly as a public access barrister.
Recent and ongoing notable cases include:
- Acting for a consortium of London boroughs in a test case challenging the decision in Jones v London Borough of Southwark on water-reselling (Royal Borough of Kingston v Moss)
- Defending the lawfulness of a proposed development vehicle to deliver housing regeneration (Peters v London Borough of Haringey)
- Representing the Electoral Commission in one of the first statutory appeals against the imposition of a variable monetary penalty in the County Court
- Appearing in the Court of Appeal in Powell v Dacorum Borough Council which clarified the scope of the public sector equality duty in cases of individual decision-making
- Advising the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the implementation of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation into domestic law (as part of the Cornerstone team)
- Acting for a local authority in a two-week planning inquiry successfully resisting retail development in the setting of a conservation area.
Prior to coming to the bar, Ruchi worked as a legal officer at JUSTICE, where she led the civil justice program. Her previous experience also includes human rights litigation in domestic courts in eastern Europe and southern and eastern Africa, and the European Court of Human Rights, while working at Interights.
Education
Ruchi has an LLM from Harvard Law School, where she was awarded a Public Service Fellowship, and an LLB (First Class Honours) from the London School of Economics, where she won several prizes including two for best overall performance in the year. Ruchi was awarded the Stephen Chapman Scholarship from Inner Temple.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Environment
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Ruchi Parekh – Cornerstone Barristers ‘Ruchi is an outstanding barrister.’
At Cornerstone Barristers, recent work for the team includes Estelle Dehon KC acting for the claimant in R (South Lakes Action on Climate Change) v SSLUHC & West Cumbria Mining, a climate-based challenge to a grant of permission for a new underground coal mine and its associated development in Whitehaven in Cumbria. At the junior end of chambers, the ‘exceptionally knowledgeable and organised‘ Ruchi Parekh stands out for her expertise in handling climate change litigation and contentious waste-related matters.
London Bar > Administrative law and human rights
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 4Ruchi Parekh – Cornerstone Barristers ‘Ruchi is a pleasure to work with. Her advice is careful, but to the point.’
London Bar > Planning
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Ruchi Parekh – Cornerstone Barristers ‘Ruchi is extremely busy and works in some of the most high-profile cases in the country. Her ability to understand and communicate complex ideas is unrivalled.’
With ‘strong barristers at every level of experience‘, Cornerstone Barristers is involved in ‘very high-profile planning challenges‘, handling cases from the inquiry stage up to the Supreme Court. The set’s ‘real expertise in planning law‘, complemented by its proficiency in public law, property, energy, and local government law, makes it a ‘growing force in planning‘. Compulsory purchase and compensation cases is another area of expertise for the chambers. Thomas Cosgrove KC, leading Ruchi Parekh, successfully overturned a High Court decision on behalf of Mid Suffolk District Council in R (Thurston Parish Council) v Mid Suffolk DC and Bloor Homes, a significant Court of Appeal case within the planning arena on the distinction between interpretation and and application of planning policy. Several members have been involved in the Sunnica Energy Farm nationally significant infrastructure project; Michael Bedford KC appeared in the development consent order examination on behalf of Suffolk County Council, with Edward Grant and Parekh representing West Suffolk Council at the ongoing hearings. Harriet Townsend led for the local authority in R (Finch, on behalf of the Weald Action Group) v Surrey CC, arguing that, when considering an application for the commercial extraction of oil, it is not necessary to conduct an assessment of the emissions and climate impact of any subsequently manufactured products, as any such impact would not be an effect of development.