We engaged Richard Nettleton and Sarah Bearman to help us with a dispute with the Local Authority relating to a request for a repeat of one school year for our son for a number of reasons. Richard and his team were absolutely excellent in how they helped us to position the case and his application of the relevant law was exemplary. He achieved a successful outcome for us in a short space of time. I would highly recommend Richard and Sarah to any parents facing challenges relating to LA funding and EHCPs. We also felt the advice was good value bearing in mind this is a very specialist area. SEN Legal are clearly a market leader in this area.

SEN Legal Ltd, Richard Nettleton , highly recommended without hesitation.

I am a strong believer of giving credit when it is due, recently I instructed Richard Nettleton of SEN Legal Ltd to represent my son for his EHCP appeal. I have worked with many solicitors in my own professional field and wanted to share my positive experience. This solicitor demonstrated a remarkable combination of professionalism and friendliness throughout our interactions. Gave me a true and accurate expectation of costs and timescales with regular updates. His attention to detail was truly commendable. His meticulously reviewed every aspect of my son’s case, leaving no stone unturned. Richard comprehensive approach instilled confidence in me that he was fully invested in achieving the best possible outcome for my son.

Richard extensive knowledge of this specialist legal field was evident. He applied his expertise to navigate through complex legal matters with ease. What truly impressed me was his ability to explain these intricate concepts in simple terms that anyone could understand. he had a knack for breaking down complicated information and making it accessible to someone not well-versed in legal terms.

In addition to Richard expertise, this solicitor’s communication skills were exceptional. He was responsive, ensuring that I was always informed of any updates or developments in a timely manner. He made sure to listen attentively to my concerns and questions, addressing them with patience and clarity. his ability to effectively communicate not only put me at ease but also fostered a strong sense of trust and understanding.

Thanks to Richard friendly professional approach, attention to detail, knowledge, and excellent communication skills, I am pleased to say that Richard Nettleton achieved a successful outcome that will develop my son’s future. I am truly grateful for his dedication and expertise throughout the entire process.

I highly Richard Nettleton to anyone in need of legal assistance. His exceptional combination of skills and attributes sets him apart, making him an invaluable asset in navigating EHCP legal matters.

Richard and Allys, I couldn’t thank you enough for the outstanding service, support and reassurance you provided throughout the appeal process. Your expertise in this field is unmatched, and you are deeply committed to advocating for the rights of individuals with special educational needs. With compassion and a thorough understanding of the legal intricacies involved, you both ensured that my son received the best outcome we could have ever hoped for.

The SEN school legal proses varies from county to county and frustratingly East Sussex is one of if not the worst most unprofessional to deal with in everyone I know who has had to experience.

Richard and his team kept us in the loop enough and as balanced as we could be in the whirlwind of crazy that is this process.

I’m not going to lie this was stressful and expensive but SEN legal got us over the finish line as quickly as they could and knew exactly what to do were we would have failed just through Lack of experience on this process. My advice is do use a Lawyer from the start and do use SEN legal they are friendly and professional and kind (you will need that to get through it).

We worked with Richard, James and Bethan and I can’t fault any of their work it was thorough and Richard knew what to do and when to do it for the best result and also what to say when we lost the plot and talked us down several times . Thank you Richard and your team.

We are forever grateful thank you all

Hayley and Sarah were fantastic and helped us achieve our goals in a fast and efficient manner. The advice, action and reactions were brilliant and led to the Local Authority completely changing its position to the correct one.

We instructed Nicole Lee at SEN Legal on behalf of our son who has complex special needs. The local authority had decided to cease to maintain the EHCP on account of our son’s age. Faced with a novel set of facts, Nicole showed great skill identifying the relevant legal basis and putting together a clear and compelling case for our son. Her letter persuaded the local authority to reflect and subsequently change its decision and instead maintain our son’s EHCP for a further year (which will benefit him immensely). She delivered a fantastic result very quickly and for a very reasonable cost on something that was far from straightforward. She is client friendly and highly skilled. Overall, Nicole is a very impressive lawyer who I would recommend without reservation. I would also add that SEN Legal are very organised and easy to deal with as a client.

This firm were very honest from the outset. Had complete confidence in them. It took a long time for the Deputyship for P&A to be awarded, partly due to delays with dealing with the Court of Protection, but it is a long drawn out process. Always kept informed when there was news. Supposedly a family can a go through the process without support from a solicitor, however I think that would be extremely difficult. Recommend SEN Legal 100%.

Richard Nettleton and the SEN Legal team are absolutely amazing!

They made what was an extremely worrying and stressful time, so much easier to deal with and we were successful!

I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.

My husband and I contacted SEN legal to help us fight the LA to get our son into the correct school! Richard Nettleton was absolutely superb and explained the whole process all the way through in a manner we could understand. From our very first meeting with a Richard he filled us with confidence and managed to win our case 8 months before it was meant to go to tribunal. Annabel Moore, Richard’s Paralegal was very good at explaining the process and responding to emails promptly. The whole process was stress free and actually worked out to be cheaper than what we first expected.

We used SEN Legal to appeal against our atrocious Local Authority for their handling of our son’s secondary school placement. From the first day, SEN Legal with the team assigned to us – Richard Nettleton and Annabel were exceptional.

They were friendly, approachable, meticulous and methodical with their explanation of legal strategy, their production of documents and preparation of the groundwork and paperwork and took us step by step patiently through the entire process.

Their recommendations and advice at every step of the way was accurate, to the point and clear. We put our trust in them and they absolutely delivered.

It is expensive, no doubt. But my wife and I knew that it was money well spent from the quality of the work they did.

We won our case with the Local Authority settling the days before the tribunal. They didn’t have a leg to stand on. We couldn’t have achieved this result on our own. It was clear from the legal weight, approach and strategy utilised by SEN Legal, that by ourselves we would have struggled.

Thank you Richard and Annabel for all your help in our son’s case.

We had an issue arising with the local authority concerning the EHCP for our youngest child, who has fairly extensive special needs. It was an enormous relief to deal with the team at SEN Legal, who helped us through a successful outcome.

Richard Nettleton and the SEN Legal team are gold standard. They know their stuff inside and out. They are pragmatic and outcomes orientated. They are smart, informed, experienced, on top of their brief at all times, always available and in touch, straightforward and lovely to deal with. I’m so grateful to them for their support and for the result they achieved.

SEN Legal is gold standard. They know their stuff inside and out. They are pragmatic and outcomes orientated. And their team is best in class: smart, informed, experienced, on top of their brief at all times, always available and in touch, straightforward and lovely to deal with. Most importantly: they get results.

Before contacting SEN Legal, we were completely ignored by the local authority. Within a day of SEN Legal sending a pre-action letter, we had a response from the LA after there had been nothing but silence from them for months despite our trying to contact them repeatedly and their breaching legal deadlines. Richard skilfully navigated us through the appeal process when the LA did not name a school for our child. Without SEN Legal, our son would not be in school and not getting the support he needs. We are so very grateful to Richard, Sophie, and the SEN Legal team for making an exceedingly stressful and incomprehensibly thorny process, manageable – and most importantly, successful. Throughout the process, Richard and Sophie were fantastic at communicating our options, efficient and proactive at chasing loose ends and heading off anything that would have meant our son received less provision than he needs. Their guidance was always sound and frankly, invaluable. We truly appreciated their expertise and sensitivity when dealing with our case. We could not recommend SEN Legal more highly.

We appointed SEN legal to help us get the best education for our grandchild. The LA we’re not taking their responsibilities seriously and not providing anywhere near the support our grandchild needed. After contacting SEN legal it then became very clear what we had to do and SEN legal supported us through what was a very tortuous journey.

We are extremely grateful for the expert advice and support during what was a very anxious and stressful time for us.

We were impressed with your highly professional and competent services and found the fast response reassuring.

The process was greatly helped by your insightful and accurate expertise.

Your hard work gained many results including your attendance at the emergency annual review meeting after exclusion, resolving issues with the Local Authority regarding the Educational Health Care Plan, success in securing HLTA 1-1 in her plan, having the exclusion rescinded and ultimately keeping her in her mainstream setting. You have achieved all this and avoided tribunal and for this we are extremely grateful.

Thank you Richard!

The whole team at SEN Legal have been professional, hard working and of the highest quality. With their guidance we have achieved all our goals and established an EHC plan which will enable our son to meet his potential.

Richard and his team were helpful and supportive. I went to tribunal to get my son a place in specialist College (post 16). Despite him having an ehcp + specialist school, sen dept were trying to place him in mainstream and then an unsuitable specialist. Richard gave me pointers of people to do specialist reports etc for the tribunal when I couldn’t find anyone and generally made the whole process less stressful than it would otherwise have been.

We came to SEN Legal after we had applied for our 3 year old girls EHCP and after 10 months the LA produced a poor EHCP which failed to specify even a 1:1 for her, when we had provided evidence of her successful ABA program and private weekly SLT and requested these to continue. SEN Legal supported us through the appeal process as well as through tribunal, and following tribunal, to obtain the final EHCP and secure the personal budget for ABA and SLT. SEN Legal were professional, kind, knowledgeable and patient. We could not have obtained an adequate education for my daughter without them. The investment I made in them is worthwhile and I will not hesitate to use SEN Legal in the future to further secure education or social care provision for my daughter when the LA fail to do so.

SEN Legal have helped us enormously for many years with two of our children’s SEN. Nicole Lee (and the whole team) have provided invaluable legal advice to us- resulting in a successful outcome every time. We highly recommend them.

SEN Legal have provided us with expert legal knowledge, invaluable help and successful outcomes! We are extremely grateful and delighted with this service.

Instructed Idhren Drew to help appeal my son’s case and take it to Tribunal. We didn’t end up going to Tribunal in the end as the LA allocated an appropriate school for my son. All my dealings with Idhren were great and she was really helpful and knowledgeable in talking us through the process, explaining the law and helping us to understand our rights. If I need legal advice in the future for my son’s education I would definitely come to SEN Legal again and would recommend them.

We are sincerely grateful to Richard Nettleton and the team at SEN Legal for all their help and advice on what has been a very difficult, personal family matter. Richard provided us with excellent first class service and expert advice in a very specific situation with the local authority. We needed prompt action and Sen legal delivered. Thank you for everything you’ve done for our son during what has been for us the most difficult of times.

Very pleased with outcome which meant provision of 1:1 support, and back classing 1 year, to ensure our daughter can remain within existing placement, which SEN Legal secured for her in the first place. Supported parents in pre annual review meeting with School, and also represented us at the Annual review with the Local Authority also in attendance. Successful negotiation with Local Authority, and also reviewed the 3 specialist reports to ensure our daughter’s needs are accurately reflected in the updated EHCP. Helpful in discussions with the School, and provided clear legal advice. SEN Legal have now secured good placements for our Daughter and our Son, as well as supporting us with the additional resourcing required for our daughter following the last Annual Review. Very pleasant to deal with, and provided practical legal knowledge and advice. Thank you.

We used Richard’s firm as we had already been through a protracted, painful process to get our eldest son assessed under the EHCP with our local authority. This had been a slow process, (often outside of the statutory milestones), with poor communication and little understanding of how we would get to the right outcome for our child. Whilst we had better experience with some of the individual practitioners who assessed our child, we also had frustrating experiences including an educational psychologist who did not actually see our child in person.

This resulted in an assessment and initial plan where we simply did not have any guidance as to what the right educational placement was and significant delays in even naming a placement even after most children already had their school places decided. Richard was a recommendation from the manager of the special needs playschool our child had been attending, and was an excellent one. He quickly assessed the situation, patiently and cogently set out our options and took us through the process of issuing a pre-action letter to the local authority to force them to name a placement.

Richard then took us through the process of both appealing against the placement named by the local authority, which was blatantly inappropriate, and into the tribunal process. He was diligent, patient with us and excellent at taking us through the process step by step. He was also excellent at dealing with the local authority and identifying when they were pushing boundaries and when to push back.

As a result of Richards and Bethan’s input, we were able to get the right assessments done independently, identify the right placement and get our child into an excellent specialist school that is already benefiting our son. Was it cheap? Probably not, although I suspect you could spend a lot more as well. But, more importantly, was it good value for money? Completely. Whilst we are lucky we can afford to do so, I fully believe that we would not have been able to achieve the outcome we did without Richard and his team, and our son would not have the placement and package of care that he did. Highly recommended.

I only have positive things to say. Very professional and responsive and a pleasure to deal with. The LA backed down on every issue prior to Tribunal. I dealt with Richard Nettleton & Bethan Hone.

Our son is doing really well at Holmewood after SEN Legal helped to secure his place, the first term was great fun for him and he has made a lot of progress, particularly with his reading.

Our son is loving his new setting. He has settled in very well and enjoys going to school. We wish to thank all the team at SEN Legal for their support, hard work and being very professional but also caring in our case. It was an extremely stressful experience, but the team supported us throughout. On the tribunal day we could not have had a better team, we really felt supported and a team. We can not thank James and Sophie enough and we know the last weeks of the tribunal was as stressful for them as us. The process was difficult especially how our LA and local schools conducted themselves, having SEN legal on our side made the difference and ultimately the outcome was the best provision for our son which we achieved. James and Sophie explained situations when they came up and we always felt we could contact them, very approachable and professional.

I have used your services twice and would not hesitate to recommend you to parents in a similar position where the Local Authority does not agree with a particular placement. I have found SEN Legal very knowledgeable and helpful.

Can you feed back to your team that our son did really well in his GCSEs. He would never have achieved this without your expert help and guidance not only with the funding but also the experts who helped us out in all the areas to access Fairley house school who have been brilliant for him. He is extremely proud of what he  has achieved, and you really helped us with this!

My case was handled very well, the costs and process explained to me thoroughly, I was updated as regularly as I needed to be. My son is now finally getting the support he deserves after 4 years of fighting a loosing battle, I wish I had sought advice sooner. Highly recommended

Would like to say Haley and Sophie have been brilliant from the get go . They gave me hope and confidence to get the best for my son . Thank you always

Saved my daughter and helped make her the wonderful person she is.

Not the cheapest, but so glad we went with SEN Legal. They were professional and helpful, and most importantly, they helped us to win the case. Our son now has the help he needs to thrive at school. It’s made such a huge difference to his life and ours.

We used SEN Legal for a discrimination dispute with a Higher Education organisation at degree level. They were very professional and supportive throughout the process, and their advice lead to us achieve our aim. We would highly recommend them.

Simply amazing!! Helpful, informative and professional. They made what was an extremely worrying and stressful time so much easier to deal with … and we were successful!

So grateful to the whole team, with a special mention for Nicole. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.

I simply cannot recommend the expertise of SEN Legal enough. Like so many others, we were in a hopeless situation with our ASD diagnosed child being forced to stay in mainstream by the LA – who had chosen to ignore all the evidence from medical and educational SEN professionals stating the help desperately needed. Despite being regularly sent home due to not coping and reduced to half days the LA refused to amend the EHCP or offer alternative schooling options. Other legal legal services we consulted gave us false hope/misled us and were not prepared. Thanks to SEN Legal our situation was resolved thoroughly, professionally and successfully. They immediately took control and we were continuously supported and updated. Our costs were managed efficiently and within our expectations and our child now has an educational path that will prepare them for life. From my now lengthy experience I would highly recommend that you do not waste your time negotiating with the LA or other firms who do not specialise the way that SEN Legal do. Early consultation and the right action at the start of your journey, could save months/years of suffering for your child and family, as well as unnecessary costs. SEN Legal are now assisting us with another of our ASD diagnosed children and once again we feel in safe hands knowing that they will achieve the appropriate and best possible outcome. We feel blessed to have had such amazing support.

This practice is top in their field and parents should feel reassured they are in good hands when seeking advice for their relatives.