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Stephanie David

“Stephanie has a brilliant legal brain: she is able to see problems and work them through before arriving at the best answer.” The Legal 500 2024

“An engaging, courageous advocate.” The Legal 500 2024

Steph has a multi-disciplinary practice focussing on matters affecting health, sport and the environment. She is ranked as a “rising star” in administrative law and human rights, as well as Court of Protection, and a “leading junior” in environmental law by The Legal 500. Her experience spans a wide range of work, from public interest judicial reviews, regulatory work to private law claims and commercial claims.

She holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics, where she was awarded the prize for the best mark in the LLM in Human Rights (2014).

Steph is a regular contributor to the Journal of Environmental Law, LawInSport and Sport Resolutions. She has peer reviewed for the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal.. She has also contributed to the latest edition of Wilmot-Smith on Construction Contracts (4th edition, May 2021),

Areas of expertise

Administrative and Public

Steph specialises in public law and human rights; and is ranked as a “rising junior” in the The Legal 500. She regularly appears as sole or junior counsel in the High Court and Court of Appeal. She is consistently junior to leaders in the field.
Steph’s broad public law practice spans planning and environmental matters, health and social care, procurement and commercial judicial review, regulatory work and financial services. 

Notable recent instructions include: 

  • R (Hexpress Healthcare Ltd) v Care Quality Commission [2023] EWCA Civ 238 and [2022] EWHC 2943 (Admin)As junior counsel to Daniel Stilitz KC, successfully represented the CQC in the Court of Appeal and High Court in a challenge to the CQC’s factual accuracy process and inspection methodology; an interim injunction was also sought. Judgment in the Court of Appeal and judgment in the High Court
  • Advising on an urgent judicial review relating to an anti-abortion protest outside a hospital engaging Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the Convention   
  • R (Meenal Viz and Nishant Joshi) v (1) Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2) Public Health England (case no. CO/2095 /2020) – As junior counsel to Jenni Richards KC, acted for the British Medical Association,an interested party in a challenge to  guidance on Personal Protective Equipment on Article 2 and 8 grounds, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Representing a local authority in a challenge in respect of a ticket allocation at a Premier League football match
  • R (LSA Secure Limited) v Care Quality Commission Case no. CO/028122021 – As sole counsel at the hearing, successfully defended the CQC in a case concerning the meaning of “care and treatment” within the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014/2936.
  • R (Good Law Project Limited) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2022] EWHC 2468 (TCC) - As junior counsel, represented the Good Law Project in their procurement challenge to the award of contracts for the manufacture and supply of rapid Covid-19 antibody tests.
    Judgment
  • R (Thomson and Anr) v (1) Secretary of State for Health and (2) NHS England (case number CO/4187/2020) – As junior counsel to Vikram Sachdeva KC and Benjamin Tankel, represented the claimants in their challenge to the defendants’ failure to produce a national triage policy in relation to the prioritisation of access to critical care resources, during the pandemic, raising the statutory duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and Article 8 Convention rights 
  • R (London Borough of Hillingdon and others) v Secretary of State for Transport [2019] EWHC 1070 (Admin); R (Plan B Earth and others) v Secretary of State for Transport [2020] EWCA Civ 214 - As junior counsel to Nigel Pleming KC, Stephen Tromans KC, Ben Jaffey KC and Catherine Dobson, representedfive local authorities, Greenpeace and the Mayor of London in thischallenge to the Airports National Policy Statement raising climate change, air quality, and habitats issues.
  • Advised on the interpretation of Civil Aviation Authority guidance on hydraulic hoses, within the domestic and EU regulatory scheme.
  • Advising the Financial Ombudsman Service on jurisdictional and other matters, for example, in relation to SIPP operators and contractual transfers of business (including transfers of liability under the Financial Services and Markets Act s.234B).

Commercial

Steph has expertise in commercial matters, in particular those that intersect with her other specialisms such as healthcare and environmental matters. She has a particular interest in procurement, regulation of private entities, and commercial judicial review.

Notable recent instructions include:

  • R (Good Law Project Limited) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2022] EWHC 2468 (TCC) - As junior counsel for claimant in their procurement challenge to the award of contracts for the manufacture and supply of rapid Covid-19 antibody tests. The case raised a number of complex interlocutory matters, including (i) expert evidence; (ii) searches of private email and WhatsApp accounts held by the Secretary of State for Health ([2021] EWHC 2595 (TCC)), and (iii) costs of third- party disclosure ([2021] EWHC 2783 (TCC)).
  • Sole counsel in an ad hoc arbitration relating to dispute arising from a service-level agreement.
  • R (Hexpress Healthcare Ltd) v Care Quality Commission [2023] EWCA Civ 238 and [2022] EWHC 2943 (Admin) – As junior counsel to Daniel Stilitz KC, successfully represented the CQC in the Court of Appeal and High Court. Case considered the issue of when an interim injunction could be granted against a regulator with a statutory duty to publish an inspection report in circumstances where the regulated entity asserted that it would impact on their reputation and business interests. Judgment in the Court of Appeal and judgment in the High Court.
  • Junior counsel assisting Adrian Hughes KC in advising on the effect of an agreement between parties as to the price for varied work in an architect’s instruction and other matters arising from a construction contract (including notice requirements).
  • Sole counsel advising a Premier League football club on a sponsorship agreement.
  • Junior counsel assisting James Strachan KC in responding to an appeal brought by Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration Ltd, challenging the decision of Jacobs J ([2018] EWHC 2878 (Admin)), which considered the regulatory duties on Self-Invested Personal Pension (“SIPP”) providers and administrators.
  • Seadrill Ghana Operations Ltd v Tullow Ghana Ltd [2018] EWHC 1640 (Comm) - Junior counsel assisting Sean Wilken KC, Adam Robb KC and Stephen Kosmin in considering whether a provisional measure issued by ITLOS in Case No 23 between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire was a force majeure within the contract for a deepwater drilling unit.
  • Advising on the interpretation of Civil Aviation Authority guidance on hydraulic hoses, within the domestic and EU regulatory scheme.
  • Junior counsel to Marion Smith KC advising on advance payment bonds and autonomous guarantees.
  • As sole counsel, she successfully applied to strike out a Defence and have judgment entered for the Claimant for unpaid sums of nearly £45,000 due under a contract.
  • Junior counsel to Jennie Thelen, advising a university on a breach of contract claim arising from their cancellation of a Bachelor degree course.
  • Advising on auditor liability arising from accounts for a financial institution in the Caribbean.
  • As consultant counsel to the Financial Ombudsman Service, she provided advice on jurisdictional and other matters, for example, in relation to SIPP operators and contractual transfers of business (including transfers of liability under the Financial Services and Markets Act s.234B).
  • As sole counsel, she represented an employer in a claim arising from breach of a contract of employment turning on the oral variation of notice period.

Civil Liberties and Human Rights

Steph has a wealth of experience in human rights claims in both public and private law proceedings for declarations and damages trafficking, new and novel medical conditions (raising important issues relating to medical ethics), social care, care leavers, prisoners, mental health and sport. 

She was also instructed by Liberty and Bindmans, as junior counsel to Fenella Morris KC and Nicola Greaney, in the claims, brought by former residents of Winterbourne View, for damages under the HRA 1998. 

She co-wrote the chapter on the Equality Act in a forthcoming Legal Action Group book. 

Notable recent instructions include:

  • Ted Jennings v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority [2022] EWHC 1619 (Fam) - As junior counsel to Jenni Richards KC and Catherine Dobson, acted for the successful claimant and obtained a declaration  that it was lawful for him to use an embryo, created using his sperm and the eggs of his late wife, in treatment with a surrogate. The claimed was based upon a disproportionate interference with his Article 8 Convention rights. 
  • R (Meenal Viz and Nishant Joshi) v (1) Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (2) Public Health England (case no. CO/2095 /2020) – As junior counsel to Jenni Richards KC, acted for the British Medical Association, an interested party in a challenge to guidance on Personal Protective Equipment on Article 2 and 8 grounds, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Advising on an urgent judicial review relating to an anti-abortion protest outside a hospital engaging Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the Convention.   
  • As junior counsel to Vikram Sachdeva KC, representing two social worker managers in Court of Appeal proceedings relating to anonymity, transparency and reporting restrictions in family proceedings, following re S [2005] 1 AC 593, para 17; Abbasi v Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Trust (Fam D) [2022] Fam 180.
  • Welsh Ministers v PJ [2019] 2 W.L.R 82 - As junior counsel to Kenni Richards KC and Peter Mant, successfully represented the appellant. The Supreme Court confirmed that it was not permissible for a responsible clinician to impose conditions on  a Community Treatment Order (CTO) that would amount to a deprivation of a person’s liberty. 

Healthcare

Steph specialises in matters relating to health encompassing public law, commercial disputes (including procurement), Court of Protection (including serious medical treatment) and clinical negligence (including fatal accidents and data protection issues). 

She has a particular interest in cases with a human rights aspect and those in the fertility sector.
She regularly appears as sole counsel, as well as being junior to the leading silks.

Notable recent instructions include:

  • Re X (Catastrophic Injury: Collection and Storage of Sperm) [2022] EWCOP 48 –As sole counsel, instructed by the hospital trust in an urgent out of hours application made by the parents of a 22-year-old man, X, who suffered from a catastrophic stroke, for a declaration that it would be lawful to retrieve X’s gametes and for them to be stored both before and after his death on the signing of the relevant consents. Raised issues in relation to X’s Article 8 Convention rights and the consent requirements in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
    Judgment
  • Ted Jennings v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority [2022] EWHC 1619 (Fam) - As junior counsel to Jenni Richards KC and Catherine Dobson, acted for the successful claimant and obtained a declaration that it was lawful for him, a widower, to use an embryo, created using his sperm and the eggs of his late wife in treatment with a surrogate.
  • R (LSA Secure Limited) v Care Quality Commission Case no. CO/028122021 – As sole counsel at the hearing, successfully defended the CQC in a case concerning the meaning of “care and treatment” within the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014/2936.
  • R (Hexpress Healthcare Ltd) v Care Quality Commission [2023] EWCA Civ 238 and [2022] EWHC 2943 (Admin) – As junior counsel to Daniel Stilitz KC, successfully represented the CQC in the Court of Appeal and High Court in a challenge to the CQC’s factual accuracy process and inspection methodology; an interim injunction was also sought. Judgment in the Court of Appeal and judgment in the High Court.
  • R (Good Law Project Limited) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2022] EWHC 2468 (TCC) - Steph was junior counsel for the Good Law Project in their procurement challenge to the award of contracts for the manufacture and supply of rapid Covid-19 antibody tests.

Environment and Planning

“A brilliant lawyer with a real ability to find the kernel that is likely to win a case, she is going to be a star of the environmental Bar." The Legal 500 2023

“She has an impressively diverse environmental law practice and she is a popular and hardworking member of the team.” The Legal 500 2022

Steph has a strong environmental law practice and is ranked as a “leading junior” by The Legal 500 . She was instructed junior counsel in the high-profile litigation regarding the third runway at Heathrow in the High Court and Court of Appeal ([2019] EWHC 1070 (Admin) and [2020] EWCA Civ 214). She is involved in cutting-edge climate change litigation; and has experience in regulatory and private law disputes affecting the environment. Her work in this area includes advice on litigation on: the environmental permitting regime (in respect of water discharge activities, waste and air pollution), habitats, biodiversity, waste,, statutory and private nuisance claims, enforcement notices, and planning appeals. She has a keen interest in energy regulation, including in respect of nuclear and hydrogen power, as well as renewable energy.

Notable recent instructions include:

  • R (Possible (The 10:10 Foundation)) v (1) Secretary of State for Transport (2) Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (case no. CO/3830/2022) – As junior counsel to David Wolfe KC, Steph  challenge to the Defendants’ Jet Zero Strategy (“JZS”) within which the Government sets out how aviation will achieve net zero by 2050, following the case of R (Friends of the Earth Ltd) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2022] EWHC 1841 (Admin) (“Net Zero Strategy Case”)
  • R (Global Feedback Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (case no. CO/3078/2022) – As junior counsel to David Wolfe KC, acting on behalf of Global Feedback in their challenge to the Government’s food strategy.
  • R (Martin) v Folkestone and Hythe District Council [2020] EWHC 1614 (Admin) - As junior counsel to Richard Harwood KC, in successfully defended a judicial review challenge to a large development on the coast, raising issues of flooding and interpretation of planning policy.
  • R (Walker) v London Borough of Redbridge (case no CO/2471/2022) - As junior counsel for the Claimant, the claim concerned thedisproportionate impact of poor air quality on children and vulnerable people. 
  • R (Wasik) v Wealden District Council (case no. CO/4578/2020) - As junior counsel in this challenge relating to the impact of nitrogen oxides on the Ashdown Forest Special Area of Conservation and the correct interpretation of the CJEU decision in the Dutch Nitrogen Cases (cases C-293-17 and C-294-17). Junior counsel to Stephen Tromans KC advising a Scandinavian company on water pollution offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and related regulations; and the approach under English law to sentencing of environmental offences, in the context of pollution of the sea.
  • Junior counsel to Daniel Stedman-Jones in successfully defending the decision of Milton Keynes Council to refuse planning permission for up to 250 houses at Linford Lakes in the open countryside, in an area rich in biodiversity and hosting a local nature reserve (APP/Y0435/W/17/3175391).
  • As sole counsel, she advised on a judicial review challenge to a reserved matters decision on the grounds inter alia of the local planning authority’s failure to properly assess the air quality impacts of the development, particularly on an air quality management area.
  • As junior counsel to Daniel Stedman-Jones advising a local authority on the merits of a fly-tipping prosecution, as well as on practice and procedure.
  • As sole counsel, she successfully resisted an application for judicial review brought on the ground inter alia of an alleged breach of Article 15 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.
  • Advising on an appeal of an enforcement notice in relation to alleged breaches of condition at a wood waste recycling plant.

Sport

Steph’s expertise in sport covers commercial disputes (such as sponsorship contracts and eSports) and regulatory matters (including doping and safeguarding). She is on the Sport Resolutions Pro Bono Panel and is regularly instructed by National Governing Bodies and independent investigators.

Recent highlights include representing a local authority in a challenge in respect of a ticket allocation at a Premier League football match and advising a national governing body in relation to a Paris investment decision. 

  • As sole counsel, she advised a national governing body in respect of UK Sport’s Paris Olympic Games investment decision
  • As sole counsel, advised and represented a national level rugby player in relation to an anti-doping rule violation of evasion sample collection and the interpretation of the World Rugby Regulations and the Rugby Football Union’s Regulations
  • Advising a number of investigators into safeguarding allegations in relation to data protection and arbitral proceedings
  • As sole counsel, represented an amateur rugby player in dealing with whether an anti-doping should be published by the national governing body.
  • Advising two national governing body on their safeguarding policies.
  • Advising a horse trainer in relation to allegations of doping contrary to the British Horseracing Authority’s Rules of Racing
  • As sole counsel, representing an Olympic gold medallist in anti-doping proceedings
  • Drafted successful responses on behalf of two athletes in relation to doping allegations: one served with notice by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) of an apparent Domestic Testing Pool filing failure, and the other, who had been designated for inclusion in the UKAD National Registered Testing Pool, concerning an allegation of missed test
  • Being selected to be part of an ad hoc panel providing advice and representation to athletes and officials at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships.
  • Sole counsel advising a Premier League football club on a sponsorship agreement.

She has acted as an arbitral secretary for Sport Resolution and The FA regulatory commissions. She regularly writes on sports law.

Court of Protection and Medical Treatment

Steph has an extensive practice in the Court of Protection, spanning matters relating to health and welfare, including serious medical treatment and urgent applications. She is ranked as a "rising star" by The Legal 500. She regularly represents the Official Solicitor, family members, NHS Trusts, and Integrated Care Boards. 

She is a member of the Court of Protection Bar Association. 

Notable recent instructions include:

  • Re X (Catastrophic Injury: Collection and Storage of Sperm) [2022] EWCOP 48 – As sole counsel, instructed by the hospital trust in an urgent out of hours application made by the parents of a 22-year-old man, X, who suffered from a catastrophic stroke, for a declaration that it would be lawful to retrieve X’s gametes and for them to be stored both before and after his death on the signing of the relevant consents. Raised issues in relation to X’s Article 8 Convention rights and the consent requirements in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
    Judgment 

  • Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust & Anr v (1) GW (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) and (2) PW [2021] EWHC 2105 (Fam) – As sole counsel, sought authorisation for two treatment plans (in relation to multiple sclerosis and self-harm) and the use of physical restraint for a young person. The application raised a complex jurisdictional issue and was determined pursuant to the inherent jurisdiction and section 8 of the Children Act 1989.
  • Birmingham City Council v (1) MS (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) (2) LS and (3) NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG (Case No: 13607901) – Raised a discrete issue of information-sharing with P’s mother; and engaged the Article 8 Convention rights of both MS and LS 
  • CD (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) v Suffolk County Council & Others (case no. 13667835) - As sole counsel for the NHS hospital trust,  case raised difficult issue   ofCD’s capacity to manage her diabetes; and consideration of whether capacity should be assessed on a macro basis or in respect of each micro-decision (Greenwich London Borough Council v CDM [2019] EWCP 32)
  • A NHS Hospital Trust v T (by her proposed litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) & Anr (case no. 13960658) - As sole counsel for the applicant NHS Trust, seeking an anticipatory order in the event that T lost capacity to make decisions about her obstetric care and delivery. There was an issue in relation to the authorisation of deprivation of liberty, following the case of NHS Trust 1 and another v G [2014] EWCOP 30 and GSTT v R [2020] EWCOP 4. 

Recommendations

  • "She has an impressively diverse environmental law practice and she is was a popular and hardworking member of the team." The Legal 500 2023
  • “A brilliant lawyer with a real ability to find the kernel that is likely to win a case, she is going to be a star of the environmental Bar.” The Legal 500 2022