Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Julie qualified as a solicitor in 2004 and joined the public law team at SCOMO in 2023. Julie is committed to promoting access to justice for all and welcomes legal aid as well as privately funded cases. Prior to joining SCOMO, Julie worked for her local law centre and for national charities: Shelter, Mencap and Access Social Care.
Julie specialises in community care law, helping adults and children with physical and learning disabilities and their carers to obtain the social care support they need from local authorities and health, by providing early legal advice and support on legal entitlements and challenging unlawful decisions.
Julie can help where a local authority is failing to properly assess an individual's needs, or is failing to meet those needs, in cases involving care and support at home or to access the community, direct payments, adaptations, respite care, supported living or care home placements.
Julie works on cases across England and Wales and is particularly interested in taking on cases involving Surrey County Council and neighbouring authorities.
Through her work at Access Social Care, Julie has experience working with individuals and their care providers using individual rights to ensure that a fair price is being paid by the local authority for care being provided, avoiding service breakdown due to inadequate funding. Julie’s work in this area is included at page 11 of Access Social Care’s annual report 2023 https://www.accesscharity.org.uk/annual-report/annual-report-2023 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f2160ae3e84ef21653b8190/t/6565d3576563980a48c516c5/1701172060211/Access+Social+Care+-+2023+Annual+Report+and+Accounts.pdf
Julie also has considerable expertise in care funding issues, including top up fees, having recently secured repayments totalling in excess of £50,000 in two Birmingham cases where family members had wrongly been having to pay substantial sums each week towards their relatives care home placement because no suitable placement had been found within the rate the council was willing to pay.
Testimonials:
‘We would like to thank you for all the work you have done but also for all the care and support you have shown our family, we will never forget it.’ Daughter of former client
‘Julie is one of the most skilled, experienced and dedicated solicitors I have met working in this area. She is great at the technical, legal side of the work, brilliant at working with individuals and family members including vulnerable disabled people, and she takes a really effective problem-solving approach to cases which gets great outcomes for clients.’ Legal Charity Manager