Michael Brendan Brett > Francis Taylor Building > London, England > Barrister Profile

Michael Brendan Brett

Work Department

• public and administrative law, in particular planning, infrastructure planning, environmental, and human rights law;
• highways, waterways, greens and commons;
• EU, Brexit-related, and retained EU law matters;
• personal and premises licensing;
• regulation of cannabis and cannabis-derived products; and 
• civil applications in criminal courts.

Position

Brendan is an established public and administrative law junior specialising in the regulation of the use, development and management of land by public authorities of every stripe, encompassing all of chambers’ practice areas.

His areas of expertise include planning (under both the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and for nationally significant infrastructure projects), highways and rights of way, and open spaces (commons, greens, and rights of access), with environmental issues cutting across and informing all these areas.

Brendan welcomes instructions from all stakeholders, including from public access and licensed access clients. In appropriate cases he will also consider pro bono or reduced fee arrangements. This broad range of clients combined with Brendan’s experience prior to joining chambers as a legal advisor to central government on transport and environmental matters allows him to adopt an approach to advice and litigation which is both holistic and pragmatic.

Brendan has appeared as sole counsel at hearings at every level, from the Court of Appeal to local authority committee meetings. He has also appeared as junior counsel in both the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Recent work undertaken by Brendan includes:

Acting for the successful local planning authority resisting a large data centre development in the Green Belt.
Securing the successful committal of seven anti-HS2 activists for contempt of court for breaches of injunctions restraining trespass and nuisance on land required for the project ([2022] EWHC 2457 (KB)) as junior to Michael Fry, the sanctions being upheld by the Court of Appeal ([2022] EWCA Civ 1519).
Obtaining the quashing of the development consent order for Norfolk Vanguard windfarm as junior to Ned Westaway (Pearce v Secretary of State for BEIS [2021] EWHC 326 (Admin)..
Acting for the local authority in an appeal relating to the listing of a former golf course as an asset of community value.

Career

Called to the Bar 2017

Memberships

• Member of the Chartered Institute for Arbitrators
• Member of the Planning and Environment Bar Association

Education

2017: BPTC (BPP)
2016: Winston Churchill Scholarship (Middle Temple)
2016: Master of Laws (University College, London)
2015: Graduate Diploma in Law (Oxford Brookes University)
2014: Benefactors’ Scholarship (Middle Temple)
2014: BA (Hons) Ancient and Modern History (Somerville College, Oxford)
2012: Hodge Exhibition in Ancient and Modern History; College Prize (Somerville College, Oxford)