THE COMMUNITY LAW PARTNERSHIP - Key Persons
Andy has completed the Bar Professional Training Course and was called to the Bar in 2016. Having previously worked as a paralegal in commercial property matters, and having also previously volunteered to help applicants in Employment and Support Allowance appeals and defendants in possession claims, he moved to the Community Law Partnership in 2018. He initially worked full time on the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme. He now acts as a Trainee Solicitor, assisting clients in matters relating to defending possession proceedings, taking action on disrepair, homelessness and unlawful eviction. Andy qualified as a solicitor on the 13th March 2023.
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner
- Solicitor
Chris Johnson was a founding partner in 1999. He has now stepped down from the partnership. He has acted in some of the leading cases involving Gypsies and Travellers including three cases in the House of Lords and one in the Supreme Court. He travels the country to represent them, as well as lecturing, training, writing and campaigning on issues affecting Gypsies' and Travellers' rights. He is co-editor of the Legal Action textbook "Gypsy and Traveller Law" and writes regularly for Legal Action and other publications. He is a member of the Free Tibet Campaign.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Partner
Craig worked largely in the voluntary advice sector for 15 years at the Hull Independent Housing Aid Centre, for Cambridge CAB and Warwick District CAB, before joining us in April 2005. Craig qualified as a Solicitor in 2010 and works in the Housing Team. He advises on all aspects of Housing Law, Public Law and Community Care law. Craig was the instructing solicitor in the Court of Appeal case of Omar v Birmingham City [2007] HLR 43 CA. He became a Partner of CLP on 1st September 2015.
Emma Westwood has extensive administrative and secretarial experience in the legal sector. Emma joined CLP in May 2000 as a Secretary and the Travellers Advice Team Administrator. Following the continued growth of the firm Emma was appointed as Assistant Manager in September 2015 and also remains the TAT Administrator. Emma was promoted to Practice Manager from 1 February 2018.
Fiona joined the Community Law Partnership in January 2014 as a Solicitor specialising in housing law. Fiona's previous experience includes family law and mental health law representing clients detained under the Mental Health Act. Before training as a solicitor Fiona worked for the YMCA and the Youth Offending Service in various roles focused on rehabilitating young offenders.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Partner
Holly previously worked at the Citizens Advice Bureau as a caseworker undertaking housing and debt casework. She completed her training contract with Community Law Partnership and qualified as a solicitor in 2010. Holly was the instructing solicitor in the case of Makisi v Birmingham City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 355. She became a Partner of CLP on 1st September 2015.
Jenny Malone has worked for the Partners since 1995. Her career has always been in administrative work, previously in the insurance industry before moving into the legal sector in 1995. In 1999 when CLP was founded, Jenny provided administrative and technical IT support, secretarial work, legal accounting and any other duties required to support the Partners in their quest to build a successful Legal Aid firm. As the firm expanded and with one of the founding Partners leaving in 2005 her managerial role as Practice Manager was established. From 1 February 2018 Jenny's role has changed from Practice Manager to Finance Manager.
Following the Legal Practitioners Course, Jenny worked at Derbyshire Housing Aid as a caseworker on the Community Legal Services Advice Line. She then completed her training contract at Hammersmith and Fulham Law Centre before joining CLP in February 2011. Jenny qualified as a solicitor in April 2011 and works in the Housing Team. Jenny left CLP in October 2013 due to relocation and returned to work for the firm in July 2016 when she moved back to the area.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Partner
Laura worked as a legal advisor for the Community Trade Union before joining the Community Law Partnership in September 2011 as a Trainee Solicitor within the Housing Team. Laura qualified as a Solicitor on 1 March 2013. She became a Partner of CLP on 1st April 2018.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Partner
Mike McIlvaney studied Politics and Sociology at Durham University and following graduation studied law at Leeds. Passionate about the rights of the politically and socially oppressed he embarked on a career in social welfare law and has worked in both private practice and the voluntary sector. For the past 20 years he has specialized in housing and has taken cases to the Court of Appeal, House of Lords and Supreme Court and represented clients in some of the leading cases in this area of the law. He was a founding partner of the Community Law Partnership (CLP).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Partner
Nashin worked as a housing law caseworker at Fountains Solicitors from 2009 - 2010, before joining the Community Law Partnership as a housing caseworker in 2011. Nashin became a Trainee Solicitor in January 2012 working in the housing team and qualified as a Solicitor on 1 August 2013. She became a Partner of CLP on 1st April 2018.
Parminder completed her LPC at the University of Central England in 2002. She qualified as a Solicitor in 2005 and joined the Travellers' Advice Team. Parminder specialises in advising on accommodation issues including evictions, planning appeals, injunctions and homelessness. Parminder also takes on a number of Judicial Review cases against Local Authorities and other public bodies. She was the instructing Solicitor in Charmaine Moore -v- SSCLG and London Borough of Bromley [2013] EWCA Civ 1194 and in the case of Moore & Coates -v- SSCLG and Others [2015] EWHC 44 (Admin). Parminder was also shortlisted for the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards 2015 in the Housing category and is the firm's Public Law Supervisor.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Partner
- Solicitor
Rosaleen Kilbane qualified as a solicitor in 1989. She has practised in Housing Law throughout her career. She is a past member of the Law Society's Civil Litigation Committee and a former Chair of the Law Society's Housing Law Committee. She sits as a Deputy District Judge in the County Court. She was a founding partner of the Community Law Partnership (CLP), but undertakes only a limited amount of casework nowadays as she is primarily responsible for the management of the firm. She won the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award in the social and welfare law category in June 2012.
Rose qualified as a solicitor in 1986, initially specialising in family law (primarily victims of domestic violence) and crime. She then moved to be senior solicitor at Dudley Law Centre and later to McGrath & Co. solicitors, specialising in Housing Law, before joining CLP in 2000. Rose was one of the instructing solicitors in Ali & others -v- BCC [2010] 2 WLR 471 SC.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Partner
Samitra has specialised in Housing Law since 2002. She was admitted as a Solicitor in 2004. She specialises in the areas of Private and Public Sector Landlord and Tenant matters. Samitra has an interest in duties owed by Local Authorities to those who are vulnerable and has experience of advising on homelessness and allocation rights and challenging local authority decisions by County Court appeals and/or Judicial Review. Samitra has conducted work on reported cases in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in relation to Homelessness and Possession proceedings. She became a Partner of CLP on 1st April 2018.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Legal Team
- Solicitor
Sean has practised housing law for 20 years, and during that time he has been nominated for a number of awards. He was a partner heading the housing team at Evans Derry before joining CLP in Sept 2015. Sean has run ground breaking cases in the United Kingdom Supreme Court including BCC v Frisby [2011] UKSC 8 (a tenant's human rights); Solihull MBC v Hickin [2012] UKSC 39 (children's rights to succeed to their parent's tenancy); and Solihull MBC v Johnson [2015] UKSC 30 (vulnerable homeless adults). In Sept 2016 he successfully appealed to the Court of Appeal against a possession order made in the County Court, preventing a very vulnerable tenant from being evicted; BCC v Stephenson B2/2016/2501.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Legal Team
- Solicitor
Shaheen qualified as a solicitor in 2005, specialising in Housing Law. She joined CLP in 2007 and now her main area of responsibility is to support the Birmingham County Court Duty Possession Scheme on behalf of the firm, where she offers advice, representation and advocacy to all those facing eviction.
Syma qualified as a Solicitor in September 2007 and specialises in all areas of Housing Law. Syma joined Community Law Partnership in November 2015, having previously worked as a Housing Solicitor at firms in London and Birmingham.