Benjamin Tankel

Ben has been practising in procurement law for around a decade and is ranked as a leading junior in public procurement by Legal 500. He is regarded as “one of the most capable, hard-wording, barristers in procurement law” and as “extremely knowledgeable [with] a great rapport with clients.” He acts for bidders and for contracting authorities in equal measure, in litigation and advisory work, whether as sole counsel or part of a team. He has a particular interest in defence procurement, and has the benefit of developed vetting.

Cases of Note

• In 2026, Ben has been instructed by Kone in a challenge to a 17-year, £500M+ contract award to Otis for the maintenance and replacement of the whole of the London Underground’s network of escalators.
• Through 2024 and 2025, Ben acted for the Home Office in the Airwave litigation (led by Joseph Barrett KC), a major challenge by Motorola to a new contract for the provision of emergency communication services across the UK.
• In 2024, Ben acted for the Home Office (led by Michael Bowsher KC) in a claim by Teleperformance Contact concerning the worldwide processing of UK visas.
• Ben represents the defendant health authority in Braceurself v NHS England [2022] EWHC 1532 (TCC), a seminal case on the meaning of “sufficiently serious” in Francovich damages.
• Ben also regularly acts in a range of other procurement cases including acting for:
  • International SOS in a claim against the Ministry of Defence for the provision of healthcare advice to deployed UK personnel: International SOS Assistance UK Ltd v Secretary of State for Defence [2025] EWHC 2634 & 3009
  • Werfen, an international manufacturer of blood tests, against a consortium of NHS trusts.
  • NHS England in many challenges to procurements of medicines and devices
  • Government Property Agency concerning the crossover of employment and procurement law in its nationwide facility management services contract

Ben is ranked as a leading junior in professional disciplinary and regulatory law by The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. He acts for most of the main regulators including the Solicitors Regulation Authority, General Medical Council, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and the Professional Standards Authority. He is currently instructed by a major national regulator in an investigation against its own president.

Ben also acts for individuals and businesses who are facing disciplinary proceedings or investigations.

Ben acts at first instance, on appeals, and in claims for judicial review. He is a contributor to the latest edition of Disciplinary and Regulatory Proceedings (ed. Gregory Treverton-Jones KC).

Cases of Note

• Professional Standards Authority v (1) GDC (2) Arthif Danial [2024] EWHC 2610 (Admin) – representing the GDC in a sex misconduct case about a dentist/boxer/Instagram influencer, and which reversed the result in Aga concerning the date on which an order for suspension “takes effect”
• SRA v Parrish – Representing the SRA in proceedings against a high-flying Geneva-based solicitor who tried to recover around £1mil of unpaid fees by reporting his clients’ alleged wrongdoing to several intelligence agencies.
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers v Lloyd Davies – representing the managing director of the UK’s largest conveyancing practice and founder of The Conveyancing Academy, facing a dishonesty allegation.
• SRA v Salam – Representing the SRA in proceedings against an immigration solicitor caught giving fraudulent immigration advice in a BBC sting
• SRA v Hyland, SRA v Bayliss – Representing the SRA in proceedings against solicitors who used their professional titles to promote COVID-19 misinformation
• Guise v Solicitors Regulation Authority [2022] EWHC 124 (Admin) – Ben represented the SRA in an appeal brought by a well-known City solicitor, who had been struck for dishonesty.
• Professional Standards Authority v General Dental Council [2021] EWHC 3230 (Admin) – Advising the General Dental Council (“GDC”) regarding an orthodontist who offered “jaw realignment” treatment in the genuine belief that it could cure a wide range of serious physical and mental conditions, but without a reasonable body of medical opinion to support his claims.
• Solicitors Regulation Authority v Claire Matthews [2021] – Ben represented the SRA in this dishonesty claim against a solicitor who left a briefcase with confidential case papers on a train, and then lied to her supervisor about it. The claim became a widely reported example of SRA prosecutions of junior solicitors suffering with mental health difficulties.
• R(Simon Bramhall) v General Medical Council [2019] EWHC 3525 (Admin) – Simon Bramhall was a renowned and well-respected surgeon, who “branded” his initials on the livers of a number of his patients. Ben advised the GMC in his judicial review of the GMC’s decision to prosecute him for a second time following his criminal conviction.

Ben advises a wide range of bodies on compliance and regulatory issues, in both non-contentious and contentious matters.

His clients include law firms, ombudsmen, independent financial advisers, healthcare bodies, local authorities, care homes, and educational institutions.

In the last twelve months, he has acted for a diverse range of regulators including the SRA, GMC, the Financial Ombudsman Service, and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman; and businesses ranging from a cannabis startup to a global provider of remote education.

In addition to the cases noted below, please also refer to the Disciplinary part of Ben’s CV.

Cases of Note

• Heathrow Express Operating Company Limited v Heathrow Airport Limited [2022] – Advising the Office of Rail and Road in its adjudication of a dispute between Heathrow Express, TfL, CrossRail, and Heathrow Airport, as to the timetabling of connecting services between Heathrow Airport and Central London.
• London Capital & Finance complainants v Financial Conduct Authority [2022] – Advising the Financial Services Complaints Commissioner in a group complaint by victims of the London Capital & Finance scandal about the absence of compensation by the Financial Conduct Authority.
• Rishi v NHS England [2021] – Representing NHS England in regulatory proceedings in the First-Tier Tribunal concerning a pharmacist alleged to have been dishonest in their registration application.
• R(Ideal Care Homes) v Care Quality Commission [2018] EWHC 886 (Admin) – Representing a care home company in its application for an injunction to prevent the publication of an adverse CQC inspection report.

Ben has a wide-ranging financial services practice acting for the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Financial Services Complaints Commissioner, central government, and individual claimants. In 2014, Ben undertook two full-time secondments in financial services, one in the general counsel’s department of the Financial Conduct Authority and one in house with MacFarlanes LLP concerning the mis-selling of Interest Rate Hedging Products. In 2017, Ben spent several months on secondment to King & Wood Mallesons, dealing with a claim in negligence against Standard & Poor’s for giving an AAA credit rating to junk derivatives. Ben is also currently advising the UK government on sanctions issues relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Cases of Note

• London Capital & Finance complainants v Financial Conduct Authority [2022] – Advising the Financial Services Complaints Commissioner in a group complaint by victims of the London Capital & Finance scandal about the absence of compensation by the Financial Conduct Authority.
• R(TF Global) v Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd [2020] EWHC 3178 (Admin) – Ben represented the Financial Ombudsman Service in a claim by TF Global, a trading platform, about the FOS’ investigation into its handling of suspected algorithmic trading.
• R(Laura Critchley) v Financial Ombudsman Service [2019] EWHC 3036 (Admin) – Representing the Financial Ombudsman Service in a judicial review concerning the way in which it investigated complaints about PPI mis-selling.
• Yuchai Dongte Special Purpose Automobile Co Ltd v Suisse Credit Capital (2009) Ltd [2018] EWHC 2580 (Comm) – Representing the defendant bank in a claim concerning how to construe a letter of credit in the context of the SWIFT system of interbank communications.

Much of Ben’s work – be it in public law, disciplinary, regulatory, procurement, or the Court of Protection – arises in the healthcare context. Ben has very extensive experience working with all kinds of local and national NHS bodies and has an excellent understanding of the culture of the NHS and of the types of issues which arise.

Cases of Note

• Please refer to the Public and Administrative section of Ben’s CV for examples of healthcare work including hospital reorganisations, infected blood, determination of the level of funded nursing care fees, access to drug treatments, and the junior doctors’ contract.
• Please refer to the Medical Treatment section of Ben’s CV for examples of serious medical treatment cases including the Charlie Gard case.
• Please refer to the Disciplinary section of Ben’s CV for examples of Ben’s work on behalf of healthcare regulators including the GMC, GDC, and PSA.
• Please refer to the Regulatory section of Ben’s CV for examples of Ben’s work in respect of healthcare regulatory and registration issues.
• Please refer to the Court of Protection – Welfare section of Ben’s CV for examples of Ben’s work on behalf of Integrated Care Systems (“ICS”), Health Boards (in Wales), and NHS Trusts, in the Court of Protection in welfare cases.

Ben acts regularly for the Official Solicitor, local authorities, health trusts, and Integrated Care Boards in all manner of health and welfare cases in the Court of Protection including serious medical treatment, section 16 welfare decisions, and s.21A challenges.

Ben aims to take a pragmatic and balanced approach to Court of Protection proceedings.

Ben’s diverse experience in the related areas of public law, healthcare, medical treatment, education and community care mean that he is able to provide full-service advice and representation in complex cases with cross-cutting issues.

Cases of Note

• WA v North Bristol NHS Trust [2021] – Ben acted for the ICS in the latest instalment of this ongoing case about the mental capacity of a Palestinian refugee on prolonged hunger strike because of a refusal by the UK government to accept his claimed date of birth.
• Re NRA [2015] EWCOP 59 – Acted (with Sir Robert Francis KC) for the Official Solicitor in ten joined cases concerning the procedural requirements of s.21A deprivation of liberty challenges.
• Re X (Deprivation of Liberty) [2015] EWCA Civ 599 – Acted (with Alex Ruck Keene and Richard Gordon KC) for the Official Solicitor in litigation in the Court of Protection and Court of Appeal about the Court’s attempt to create a streamlined procedure for managing applications to the court to deprive mentally incapacitated adults of their liberty.
• P&Q v Cheshire West and Chester District Council [2014] UKSC 19 – Acted (with Richard Gordon KC, Brick Court Chambers, and Fenella Morris KC) for the Official Solicitor in this leading case on the definition of “deprivation of liberty” in the case of mentally incapacitated adults.

Ben advises local authorities, Integrated Care Boards, and claimants, on community care issues including:

• Children’s Services
• Adult Social Care
• Judicial review
• The social care/healthcare interface
• The interaction of community care with housing and with special educational needs
• Those with no recourse to public funds
• Ordinary residence disputes. Ben regularly decides ordinary residence disputes on behalf of the Secretary of State and so has extensive experience in this area.
• Financial assessment, charging, and deprivation of asserts, including where there are property law issues.
• Court of Protection

Ben acts for universities, education businesses, students, and local authorities, in all areas of education law.

This has included claims for breach of contract and educational negligence (in relation to universities); special educational needs claims; equalities and discrimination; compliance/registration issues; and matters concerning freedom of speech and academic freedom.

Cases of Note

• R(Article 39) v Secretary of State for Education [2022] 1 WLR 4240 – Ben represented the Secretary of State in this high-level judicial review challenge to the introduction of a prohibition on unregulated care homes for those aged 16 or under.
• Da Silva v Kings College London [2021] EWHC 1421 (QB) – Ben represented Kings College London (“KCL”) in a breach of contract claim brought by a student withdrawn from his medical course for failure to present for an academic exam whilst he was caring for his grandmother. The claimant claimed that KCL had wrongly exercised its discretion in deciding to withdraw him form the course, and that this was a breach of its contract with the student.
• Orbis Education and Care Limited v Secretary of State for Education [2020] – Representing the Department for Education in an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal by a school against a decision to de-register it following a number of critical Ofsted reports.
• R(Devon Buchanan) v Kings College London [2018] – Ben represented Kings College London (“KCL”) in a judicial review claim by a medical student who claimed that social communication difficulties arising from his Asperger’s syndrome made it more difficult for him to pass his practical exams (“OSCEs”), and that reasonable adjustments ought therefore to have been made.