Interview with: Dean Hulse, Director & Barrister

Dean Hulse, Director and Barrister at HY Education Solicitors, discusses building the UK’s first and only law firm dedicated exclusively to schools and reshaping legal support for the education sector.

 

What do you see as the main points that differentiate HY Education Solicitors from your competitors?

There are three key differentiators between HY Education Solicitors and our competitors.

The first is that we are a boutique law firm dedicated exclusively to the education sector. We are the only law firm in the country entirely focused on schools. We act solely for education providers – MATs, SATs, maintained and independent schools; we do not act for other stakeholders within the sector such as parents, regulators or government bodies, including the Department for Education. Our client base is deliberately and exclusively confined to schools and multi-academy trusts.

The second differentiator is that our services flow directly from that exclusivity. Working with over 500 schools nationally gives us clear visibility of the recurring systemic pressures within the sector. That insight enables us to design education-specific services that go beyond the traditional model of simply providing legal advice. These include Education+, our subscription-based legal service; our DPO Service, under which we fulfil the statutory Data Protection Officer role and deliver strategic compliance support through our DPO App; SAR Genie, providing structured review and management of subject access requests; and our SEND Review and Challenge service, which incorporates a bespoke funding analysis tool enabling schools and MATs to take an evidence-based approach to challenging local authority underfunding in relation to Education, Health and Care Plans.

The third differentiator is our people. Every lawyer in the firm works exclusively within education law. The sector operates within a unique regulatory landscape in which our team is immersed every day. Those who work in education understand how distinctive and complex the environment is, and we operate within that environment alongside them. We understand not only the legal framework, but the leadership, governance and commercial pressures the sector faces, down to the individual acronyms, systems and regulatory expectations that shape daily decision-making. We operate in our clients’ world and speak their language.

Together, the combination of exclusive sector focus, purpose-built services and genuinely specialist lawyers is what sets us apart.

 

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

 The legal sector is built on tradition and can be slow to react to change. Technology and innovation are sometimes viewed as threats to established models. For us, that has never been the case. Innovation sits at the heart of what we do, so developments in technology present opportunity rather than risk.

Because we operate at scale across hundreds of schools and MATs, we see patterns emerge of problems that they are struggling to resolve. That broader vantage point enables us to develop structured, sector-wide solutions. From that perspective, we are pro-active rather just being reactive. Technology therefore plays an important role in allowing us to push the boundaries of creativity.

A good example of how we approach innovation is our DPO App. The App is a structured digital compliance platform which translates over a decades worth of legal expertise in delivering data protection services into a user-friendly compliance solution. It reduces operational pressures by removing inefficiencies that arise though consultancy-led compliance projects which can be expensive, time-consuming and disconnected from operational realities.

The lawyer – client relationship will always be central to how we deliver legal services; that is something technology can never replace. Technology supports that relationship by enhancing service delivery, removing inefficiencies and ensuring genuine value for money.

 

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

It is an interesting question – and the answer is yes.

From our experience working with multi-academy trusts, it is clear they want more than a reactive legal adviser. They are looking for a strategic partner who can help them navigate the multiple pressures they face. For many of the MATs we work with, growth is central to their strategy; whether that means expanding from five to ten schools, or from ten to fifteen and beyond.

Those periods of growth are often uncharted territory for trust leaders. We act as the trusted strategic partner who has walked that path many times before. That provides immediate reassurance; not only that we understand the challenges, but that we can draw on first-hand experience to help them overcome them. Our products and services reflect that approach. They are designed not simply to answer legal questions, but to support growth and provide stability.

Our vision is to become a household name within the education sector. We have already reached a significant milestone on that journey by establishing ourselves as a leading national specialist in education law. Over the next three years, we intend to build on that momentum, strengthening our position as the most specialist law firm for schools in the country.

 

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

Adding value to our clients is most clearly demonstrated through the products and services we continue to develop and enhance. However, I would also say that being a law firm exclusively dedicated to schools naturally establishes a deep affinity with the sector. That perspective naturally leads us to consider how we can support education beyond the provision of legal services alone.

Over the last year, we have looked more closely at the wider pressures schools and multi-academy trusts face, not just through the lens of legal risk and regulation, but wider operational and commercial challenges that affect day-to-day delivery and consider whether we can offer solutions.

A good example is our forthcoming strategic partnership with Zen Internet, a Which? Recommended broadband provider and certified B Corp. Through working with hundreds of schools nationally, we identified a recurring issue: many trusts were tied into poor-value, inflexible broadband arrangements, despite reliable connectivity being critical to safeguarding, teaching and operational resilience.

By partnering with Zen, we are able to introduce clients to a provider whose service standards and values are better aligned with the needs of the education sector. The arrangement has been deliberately structured so that any commission generated is reinvested back into participating schools, ensuring tangible benefit to pupils. This reflects a broader shift in mindset. Where we see systemic inefficiency or poor value affecting schools, we look at how we can help address it; whether through structured legal services, technology or carefully chosen strategic partnerships.

 

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

 I would not readily identify with the idea of a single “main change”. The most successful businesses are those that are constantly striving to improve every aspect of what they do  from outward-facing products and services to the more routine administrative processes where small refinements can significantly improve the client experience.

The strongest businesses are built on a simple idea. Ours is clear: we are a schools-only law firm. Because we focus on one sector and one client group, we have absolute clarity about who we are and who we serve. Everything else flows from that foundation.

That clarity drives the natural evolution of our services. Developments such as our DPO App are not departures from our core offering; they are structured enhancements of well-established services. They build on years of specialist expertise and translate that knowledge into scalable, efficient systems that improve consistency and value for money, while retaining direct legal oversight.

Whether through strategic partnerships such as Zen, the introduction of technology like the DPO App, or continued investment in our specialist team, each development represents the natural evolution of a single, clear identity – the schools-only law firm.

 

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

 Two significant growth areas over the next 12 months are SEND and employment law.

In relation to SEND, the crisis in supporting children with special educational needs is well documented. Local authorities have a statutory duty to secure the provision specified in Education, Health and Care Plans, yet demand for specialist support continues to rise sharply while funding has not kept pace. Many authorities are operating with substantial high needs deficits. Although the legal duty rests with the local authority, it is schools that must deliver the provision in practice. For many MATS and schools, this is no longer simply about meeting the full extent of specified provision; it is about protecting financial sustainability and, in some cases, maintaining safe and effective learning environments.

Reform is on the horizon. The direction of travel points towards greater mainstream inclusion, reduced reliance on expensive independent specialist placements, and tighter control over EHCP thresholds. Government has accepted that the current system (particularly the sustained growth in plans and widening deficits) is financially and operationally unsustainable. However, structural reform will take time to implement. In the interim, schools and MATs face a prolonged period of uncertainty and pressure. We expect to advise extensively both on the implications of reform and on the immediate legal and funding challenges that arise during this transitional phase.

Employment law reform represents a further area of significant change. Government reforms expanding early-service protections, including reducing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from two years to six months,  will materially alter the risk landscape for schools and MATs. The removal of what has historically been an important period of relative flexibility in managing performance and conduct will require far more robust probationary procedures from the outset of employment. These changes form part of a broader programme of reform which will increase tribunal exposure, reshape industrial relations dynamics and drive demand for strategic workforce planning advice. Collectively, they are likely to generate substantial advisory and contentious work over the next year and beyond.