Katie Sinclair

Katie acts in a wide range of public law and human rights cases, including claims for judicial review and welfare applications in the Court of Protection. She has a particular interest in health and social care and mental capacity law.

She has particular expertise in Court of Protection matters, having acted on behalf of adults who lack capacity as well as on behalf of their family members in best interests disputes. Katie has represented clients deprived of their liberty both in a residential setting and in the community, and she has been involved in a range of complex cases involving the intersection of discrete areas of capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Katie also has experience in acting for claimants in complex claims for judicial review, including the closure of public services and local authority budget cuts. She assisted in R (WX & Ors) v Northamptonshire County Council Libraries [2018] EWHC 2178 (Admin) in which the Claimants successfully challenged Northamptonshire Council’s decision to close 21 public libraries.  Katie has also assisted in cases challenging local authorities to obtain social care packages for children and adults, and in cases representing parents of children with Special Education Needs in appeals regarding their Education, Health and Care Plans.

Before joining Rook Irwin Sweeney, Katie worked as a solicitor in international injury and travel law, where she acted for individuals with life-changing injuries following accidents abroad. She also has experience as a volunteer for an access to justice charity, representing individuals in their appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal following a decision by the Department for Work and Pensions (“DWP”) to remove, reduce, or not to grant a benefits award. Katie has been successful in overturning the DWP’s decision for all the clients for whom she has acted, including one client who was granted the enhanced rate of state benefits on an indefinite basis for the remainder of their life.