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Maxwell Gillott Solicitors
King's Yard, High Street, Lancaster LA1 1LA
Telephone 01524 596080

ABOUT OUR FIRM

We are a specialist firm, helping clients who have problems with the three main public services – education, health and community care. We act for people throughout England and Wales on all aspects of education and medical law, advising them on their rights, representing them at Tribunals and panels, and bringing Court actions where necessary. Much of our work is for children with disabilities, but we act for people of all ages who have problems in these areas.

Unlike nearly all other solicitors practising in these fields, we do not undertake any other kind of work, such as conveyancing or divorce or crime. Consequently, our clients can be confident that our focus is exclusively on the areas of concern to them – education law, special educational needs, clinical negligence and community care - subjects rarely covered by most generalist law firms. We are fully franchised by the Legal Services Commission in these areas, and can provide the full range of publicly funded services in all categories. The Commission has now recognised our high level of expertise by appointing us as the only solicitor’s firm in the country to provide national telephone advice on education law in their new CLS direct service.

We deal with any legal matter relating to education, health and medical law. For details of the areas in which we are most frequently asked to act, follow the links below.
Education

Health

Community Care

We also help clients with admission and exclusion appeals from preparation of the paperwork to representation at the appeal panels.

ABOUT OUR PEOPLE

Elaine Maxwell
Elaine is nationally recognised a one of the leading practitioners in the field of education law. She 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, because solicitors have a higher level of direct contact with clients than barristers do. 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.

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.
em@maxwellgillott.co.uk

Charles Gillott
Charles has specialised in clinical negligence and personal injury law since he qualified as a solicitor in 1986 and is described In Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession as a leading practitioner in clinical negligence in the North West. He has been a member of The Law Society’s Clinical Negligence specialist panel since its inception in 1995. He is also been a member of the referral panel of AvMA (Action Against Medical Accidents). Charles has handled many claims for people who have suffered very serious injury, particularly cerebral palsy, following trauma at or around birth. He has lectured on clinical negligence and medical law and is co-author of the chapter on the conduct of legal proceedings in the current edition of Powers and Harris “Clinical Negligence”, the leading textbook in this field. He is an accredited ADR Group mediator. He has three children. He is recognised by Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession.
cg@maxwellgillott.co.uk

David Duffey
For 14 years, David was headteacher of schools with enhanced resource units for children with learning difficulties. Following this he was an education officer with two LEAs, with responsibility for Special Educational Needs. Since taking early retirement he has worked for IPSEA as a representative at Special Needs Appeals, and provides training on this for both IPSEA and the National Autistic Society as well as chairing the governing body of a local school. He has extensive experience of the Tribunal system and has undertaken several disability discrimination appeals since the Disability Discrimination Act was widened to cover education in September 2002. Within the firm he is one of the main specialist telephone advisors on the CLS Direct Telephone Advice Line. He also advises parents of children with special needs and provides Tribunal representation.
dd@maxwellgillott.co.uk

Anne McLean
Anne has provided telephone advice on special needs and other educational issues for organisations such as IPSEA, and Resources for Autism since 1997, having become involved in the work since the birth of two children with special needs. She originally worked as an assistant for people with mental health difficulties, and has also run a specialist advice line for parents who are home educating children with special needs. She also provides full support on the specialist Telephone Advice Line, as well as working within the firm on cases involving home education and related issues.
am@maxwellgillott.co.uk

Sara Denver
 Sara qualified as a solicitor in 1999 and joined Maxwell Gillott’s Medical Law team in January 2005. Throughout her legal career she has specialised in medical negligence litigation. She has wide-ranging experience in this specialised area of legal work. Sara is also a qualified nurse, with experience of nursing in intensive care units, general medical wards and oncology units. Her particular area of expertise was in cardiothoracic care. She is a member of the Nurses in the Law Association.

Isobel Brookfield
Isobel has worked part time with Elaine since 1996, carrying out case work, and providing telephone advice on education cases. She has also provided advice and tribunal representation for IPSEA (Independent Panel for Special Education Advice), the National Autistic Society, and Resources for Autism, and has two sons with special needs. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Education Law from University of Buckingham covering all aspects of education law. She is now working for us on a part time basis, providing telephone advice on the advice line.

Emily Gent
Emily qualified as a solicitor in March 2005 having trained in clinical negligence and public law with a focus on community care issues. She joined Maxwell Gillott in February 2006. Emily has worked with disabled people and their families throughout her career. Initially she was employed by a charity to support people in their own homes and later in a managerial position. She then spent some time working for local authorities to facilitate provision of social services to people in need of support. Emily decided to study law in order to acquire the skills and knowledge to better assist people to access social services and health care and to maintain and improve standards of care and she is now advising on community care and education cases.

Trainee solicitors
Rephael Walmsley and Paul Baxter

Telephone advisors
Gurvinder Kaur and Sarah Gurney