Emily is an Associate Solicitor within the Private Client team and joined Trethowans in July 2024. Emily qualified as a solicitor in July 2019 and specialises in Court of Protection and Private Client Disputes.
Emily has significant experience of advising on mental capacity law, representing clients in contentious Court of Protection proceedings and challenging decisions made by public bodies. Emily acts for vulnerable individuals and their family members and also advises professional deputies in respect of health and welfare related issues.
Emily appreciates the personal and often emotionally charged nature of these matters and takes pride in building trusting relationships with her clients, which maximises her ability to support them in a person-centred way and advocate effectively on their behalf. Emily is driven to promote the human rights of her clients with impaired decision-making capacity and adopts a holistic approach, enabling her to actively consider opportunities to improve their quality of life throughout the course of their matter.
In her previous role, Emily was regularly instructed by the Official Solicitor and independent mental capacity advocates to represent clients in welfare proceedings in the Court of Protection, in cases which concerned their human rights and important areas of their lives, such as their residence, care, contact with others, sexual relationships and use of the internet and social media.
Emily’s prior experience also includes representing clients detained in psychiatric hospitals for treatment of their mental health and she is therefore well-placed to advise upon the interface between the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Mental Health Act 1983.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Emily trained and worked as a Healthcare Assistant for over a year alongside her full-time role as a solicitor, which involved delivering end of life care to clients in their own homes. This has given her an invaluable insight into the workings of the health and social care sectors and first-hand experience of the care, support and treatment needs of the clients she supports.
Notable work highlights
- Acted for a vulnerable client with dementia who was a victim of cuckooing and at significant risk of ongoing abuse and neglect, in mixed Court of Protection proceedings relating to their welfare and finances
- Acted for a retired Nepalese Gurkha who was deprived of their liberty in a care home in the UK and worked with the local authority and The Gurkha Welfare Trust to support them to be safely repatriated to Nepal and reunited with their family
- Acted for a client who was a conditionally discharged patient under the Mental Health Act 1983 and deprived of their liberty in the community under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and obtained independent expert evidence which persuaded the relevant public bodies to change their longstanding position surrounding the client’s return to their family home
- Successfully challenged the deprivation of liberty of a client with Korsakoff’s Syndrome, which resulting in them moving to their own flat and regaining their independence, with no ongoing need for formal care and support
- Acted for a displaced child with complex war-related trauma in connection with their detention under the Mental Health Act 1983
