[photo] Sarah Steinhardt (2008)Sarah Steinhardt (2008)

Team

Employment & Discrimination, Housing & Property, Public Law & Judicial Review, Community Care

Profile

Sarah joined 1 Mitre Court Buildings in March 2010. She has experience of a range of civil practice areas with a particular focus on discrimination, employment law, education and housing. She has a strong interest in disability discrimination, public law duties and capacity issues and is keen to gain experience in community care, Court of Protection work, and mental health.

Prior to coming to the Bar Sarah was a senior advisor with Southwark Citizens Advice Bureaux, advising on enquiry areas including housing, welfare benefits, family law, immigration and debt, and gaining particular experience in employment law.

Sarah is a Harmsworth Scholar and graduated top of her year on her Masters in Human Rights Law, where she also achieved the law school's highest dissertation mark for her work on intellectual property rights, essential medicines and the right to health.

Practice

Employment law

Sarah is regularly instructed in the employment tribunal and has appeared in cases concerning unfair dismissal, breach of contract, remedy, procedural issues, unlawful deductions from pay, and discrimination. She has represented both claimants and respondents and is instructed to provide written advice and pleadings, to attend preliminary hearings and to represent at trial.

She has successfully represented claimants in a number of complex multi-day trials and has particular experience of discrimination matters. She successfully represented a former police officer in a four day case concerning failure to make reasonable adjustments, winning compensation of over £50,000.

Sarah was instructed to represent a doctor in a 2 day Fitness to Practice hearing before the General Medical Council concerning allegations of serious violence against a child and is keen to develop further experience of disciplinary hearings.

She is an accredited FRU employment representative and, in that capacity, successfully represented an appellant at full hearing before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (Drewett v. Penfold UKEAT/0659/09).

Education law

Sarah regularly represents parents in appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal (SENDIST) and has appeared in appeals against Local Authority SEN Statements concerning independent schools and academies as well as in a multi-day disability discrimination case. She is a volunteer tribunal representative for the Independent Panel for Special Educational Advice (IPSEA) and is happy to take instructions on a pro bono basis.

Housing law

Sarah has appeared in possession proceedings in relation to both mortgaged and let property. She represents residents' management companies in service charge disputes in the county court and LVT and has appeared in unlawful eviction proceedings. During pupillage, she worked on cases concerning homelessness, disrepair, negligence, squatting and public law defences, drafting advice and pleadings and assisting with trial preparation. She is particularly interested in the cross over with community care and supported living arrangements and has some experience of judicial review proceedings to challenge the removal of on site wardens. As Stephen Knafler's pupil, she assisted with Moran v. Manchester City Council [2009] UKHL 36.

Memberships

  • Industrial Law Society
  • Employment Law Bar Association
  • Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
  • Human Rights Lawyers Association