Millie Polimac > Chambers of Rachel Sleeman > London, England > Barrister Profile

Millie Polimac

020 7815 3200 milliepolimac@fivepaper.com

Position

Millie is an experienced barrister in property, immigration and employment law.  She has a particular interest in litigation with an EU law angle, having worked as a référendaire to the Finnish Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union for 2 years. She is regularly instructed as sole counsel in applications, trials and appeals in a range of courts from the Court of Appeal to the specialist tribunals.

Millie has extensive appellate experience, having worked as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal for 9 months.

In 2019 Millie was appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s panel of Counsel.

Property
Immigration
Employment 

At the Court of Appeal Millie worked on the following cases in the field of property, housing and public law :

• R (on the application of Parveen) v Redbridge LBC [2020] EWCA Civ 194 (sole counsel): Whether judge was correct to make no order as to costs following settlement, where no causal link between offer of accommodation and judicial review was established.
• R (SH) v LB Waltham Forest [2019] EWHC 2618 (Admin) (sole counsel): Whether the main housing duty was properly discharged by two offers of private accommodation.
• R (SH) v LB Waltham Forest [2019] EWHC 2160 (Admin) (sole counsel): Whether interim relief should be granted pending a final determination in a case concerning a victim of human trafficking.
• Aldwyck HA v Forward [2019] EWCA Civ 1334 (led by Nicholas Grundy QC): The extent of the application of the PSED in a possession claim brought on reasonableness grounds.
• Alibkhiet v London Borough of Brent [2018] EWCA Civ 2742; [2019] H.L.R. 15 (led by Nicholas Grundy QC): Extent of the duty to give reasons for out of borough placements where an applicant does not qualify for in borough placement under the council’s policy.
• Watkins v AMSH [2019] Env. L.R. 2 (sole counsel): Whether proprietary interest needed to establish standing in bringing a private prosecution under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
• XPQ v Hammersmith and Fulham [2018] EWHC 1391 (HC); [2018] 4 WLR 102 (led by Nicholas Grundy QC): 5 day trial to establish whether the authority had breached its duties under the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive, Articles 3, 4, and 8 ECHR and/or was negligent when placing a homeless applicant in to sets of accommodation in discharge of their housing duties.
• Leach v St Albans [2018] EWCA Civ 1616 (sole counsel): whether there was a breach of natural justice to not inform homeless applicant of the right to make representations at an oral hearing

Employment 

Millie is instructed by both companies and individuals in all areas of employment law. She has appeared in multi-day trials at the Employment Tribunal and also has experience of cases before the EAT and the Court of Appeal.

Recent experience:

At the Court of Appeal Millie worked on the following cases in the field of employment law

• Shrestha v Genesis Housing Association Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 94
• Kiani v SSHD [2015] EWCA Civ 776

Millie recently acted for the successful respondent in an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Odukoya v Hopkins (UKEAT/0251/16/DA).  The case involved the question of jurisdiction and time limits for claims brought under the Equality Act 2010.  The case can be found here.

Career

Called 2007; Lincoln’s Inn. Publications of note: ‘When 3 became 1: the ECJ’s judgment in C-31/09 Bolbol’ (2010) 9 European Law Reporter 303.

Languages

Fluent French.

Memberships

ELA, BEG, SHLA.

Education

KU Leuven (2005 European and International Law); King’s (2006); Cantab (2012 LLM).