About us: our people

Elaine Maxwell

Elaine qualified as a barrister in 1974, and a few years later joined the Civil Service. After taking time out to have three children, she decided to return to practising law. She chose to become a solicitor rather than remain as a barrister, because solicitors have a higher level of direct contact with clients. Elaine began advising educational institutions and individuals on issues of education law in 1990, and in 1994 decided to specialise in education law. In 1998 she established her own firm, based on the philosophy that an exclusive concentration on a highly specialised area of law would result in a better service to clients.

Until recently she was a peer reviewer in education law for the Legal Services Commission, and assists them in the drafting of advice booklets on education law for the general public. Elaine has been recognised as a leader in education since 1996 in both Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession and the Legal 500. Much of her current work in the preparation and presentation of cases for Special Needs Tribunals although she has run many important cases on education law, from student entitlement to grants claims to special needs.

Elaine has personal experience of children with special educational needs. Of her three children, one has Attention Deficit Disorder and dyspraxia, while another is dyslexic. She has acted as a governor at a local special school, and provided training for members of charities and parents groups including IPSEA and the National Autistic Society, as well as student unions and university administrators. She regularly talks to parent groups about the law relating to special educational needs and has also been interviewed on Radio 4 on a number of occasions about education law issues.

Although interested in all aspects of education law, she has a particular focus on autism, particularly in those cases which need support from health and social services as well as education. She is also concerned to make sure that the introduction of academy schools does not reduce rights for parents and children.

Her reported cases include:

• Jones v Staffordshire County Council, [1997]ELR 357
• R v Manchester City Council ex parte S [1999]ELR 414
• White v Clitheroe Royal Grammar school (first DDA case against a school), 6 May 2002 Preston County Court
• Governors of F Primary School v T and Sendist [2006] EWHC 1250
• Hill v Bedfordshire County Council, [2008] EWCA 661

as well as many others she has supervised as head of the education department.

Quoted in Chambers and Partners 2010:

Education: Individuals Elaine Maxwell "brings both empathy and expertise to every single case."

Contact em@mglaw.co.uk

To find out more about how we can help you, please contact Maxwell Gillott Solicitors.