Isabel Bertchinger > One Pump Court > London, England > Barrister Profile

Isabel Bertchinger

02078427070 biz@onepumpcourt.co.uk View profile

Work Department

Civil Actions Against Public Authorities

Position

Call: 2021

Career

Isabel accepts instructions in housing and immigration law, inquests, and actions against public authorities.

Housing

Isabel regularly represents tenants in possession proceedings and in claims brought against private landlords and social housing providers. She has experience representing individuals in unlawful eviction claims, disrepair claims, committal proceedings, and injunction applications. She has represented a number of people with complex needs and is able to work sensitively with vulnerable clients.

Inquests and actions against public authorities

Isabel represents bereaved families in Article 2 and non-Article 2 inquests. She has experience representing families following deaths in custody, in care settings, and in the community. She has also represented families of armed forces personnel.

Isabel also accepts instructions on civil claims against public authorities. She has experience bringing claims arising from breaches of Article 2, and on behalf of claimants against prisons, local authorities, and healthcare providers.

Immigration

Isabel represents appellants in asylum and human rights appeals. She was recently successful in an appeal of an Albanian male victim of trafficking. His foster mother made the following comment: “You represented A in such a powerful yet gracious way. Me and my family are beyond grateful for all your work.”

Isabel also conducts bail hearings on behalf of people detained, and regularly acts on behalf of appellants at case management review hearings. She draws on her prior experience working within the immigration sector to diligently pursue her clients’ cases.

Previous experience

Isabel joined chambers in October 2023 upon successful completion of pupillage. Before starting pupillage, Isabel worked as a paralegal within the Human Rights department at Leigh Day, focusing on inquests and inquiries. Alongside this, she managed a charity that advocates for the rights of migrant domestic workers in the UK.

Isabel has extensive casework experience in solicitors’ firms and NGOs. While studying for the BPTC, she worked at Prisoners Abroad, supporting families of British people imprisoned abroad, Bail for Immigration Detainees, representing people held in prisons under immigration powers, and Luqmani Thompson, a boutique immigration and public law firm. She later provided advice on issues such as protest rights, police powers, data protection and Coronavirus regulations as part of her work with Liberty.

Isabel previously worked in policy and campaigns in the trafficking sector. She helped draft an amendment to the Nationality and Borders Bill as Coordinator of the Voice of Domestic Workers, and was a research assistant on a project mapping the experiences of victims of trafficking with Bangkok-based NGO, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.

Isabel is a legal observer with Black Protest Legal Support and is active in several community groups in north London. She was a member of the Human Rights Lawyers Association’s Young Lawyers Committee until starting pupillage.

Memberships

Young Legal Aid Lawyers (YLAL)

Housing Law Practitioners Association (HLPA)

INQUEST

Police Action Lawyers Group (PALG)

Education

University College London: BA History, First class (2017)

The University of Law, Bloomsbury: GDL, Commendation (2018)

The University of Law, Bloomsbury: BPTC, Outstanding (2021)