Tom Battarbee

He joined Youngs Law in June 2009 as a trainee Solicitor and qualified as a Solicitor in June 2011. Prior to working at Youngs Law he did further study into Human Rights and Equality Law and also worked at his local CAB.

Tom has been a member of the Law Society Mental Health panel for a number of years.  He represents clients at Mental Health Review Tribunals and Managers Hearings.  Tom is passionate about assisting his clients to realise their objectives.  He  believes the key is listening carefully to what his clients say and tailoring his advice so it is specific to their individual situations.  Tom feels that it is crucial to involve his clients in the preparation for their hearings.  He also believes it is critical that all proper investigations are made in advance of a hearing to ensure that what the detaining authority say is not simply accepted without careful scrutiny.

Tom has clients in every setting: the community, acute wards, PICUs, rehab wards, low, medium and high security hospitals.  This enables him to provide targeted advice  to his clients in whatever setting they find themselves detained in.

Tom’s other specialism is prison law and representing his clients before the Parole Board.  As with his clients detained under the Mental Health Act, he seeks to ensure his clients are best prepared to face the Parole Board and present their evidence in a way that means they are able to do themselves justice.

Tom’s dual specialisms complement each other well and enable him to add value when he is assisting prisoners who have transferred over to the Mental Health system and likewise those who have mental health difficulties who are in the prison estate.

Tom has also handled a number of successful public law cases, where he has been challenging the unlawful conduct of public bodies through judicial review proceedings.  This is an important avenue of redress to uphold and defend his clients’ rights particularly in the mental health and prison context.

Tom’s academic background includes a BA in Law from Oxford, LLM Comparative Human Rights and the International Protection of Human Rights Law – UCL and an MSt – Masters in Legal Research from Oxford.

His interests include running, football, spending time with his wife, friends and family and living out his Christian faith.