Leigh Day

Areas of Expertise

1. Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of school pupils, including when the abuse took place many years ago. We have extensive experience of bringing claims for abuse in a variety of school settings such as State schools, private schools, boarding schools, schools for military families (including abroad), academies, Rudolph Steiner schools, and schools for children with additional needs. We recognise that abuse by a teacher or member of care staff can have wide reaching effects upon a child’s development, education and ability to engage in studies, and future career options. We are experts in high complex and high value litigation, including assessing the impact of the abuse across a client’s life. In some cases we have secured substantial six figure sums for specific needs such as care and treatment, and loss of opportunities in employment. 

2. Abuse and neglect in nurseries and early year settings. We are currently acting for over 100 clients in claims arising from exposure to sexual and physical abuse in nurseries, including for families whose children attended Bright Horizons Finchley Road and Bristol Partou King Street nurseries. Where we bring group litigation, we utilise the strength in numbers of acting for multiple clients, whilst also ensuring that individual clients are listened to and feel heard.

3. Abuse in children’s homes and foster care for children who were under the care of the State. We have acted for many survivors of abuse in Islington and Lambeth children’s homes, as well as children who were abused in children’s homes run by religious orders, such as the Catholic Church. We understand the vulnerabilities of looked after children and the importance of obtaining redress from the authorities that failed them. We are regularly instructed by the Official Solicitor to bring compensation and Human Rights Act claims for children who have been the subject of care or family-law related cases, and who have been harmed as a result of State safeguarding failures. We acted for the Child Migrants Trust to obtain redress, accountability and an ex-gratia compensation payment scheme for children in care who were separated from their families and forcibly sent abroad by the UK government, where they experienced appalling abuse and mistreatment.

4. Abuse in religious institutions and connected to religious orders. We have brought cases for children who were physically, sexually and emotionally abused by religious leaders, priests, vicars, nuns, rabbis, and other religious figures. Many of our clients feel betrayed by the religious organisation which failed to protect them. We recognise the ways in which the hierarchy and authority of a religious setting can make it much harder for a survivor to disclose abuse, and the complex feelings religious survivors can experience in relation to their own faith or spirituality.

5. Abuse of children in voluntary organisations such as the Scouts, Cadets and Sea Cadets, in after school clubs, on holiday camps, and in sports settings. We have brought cases for elite athletes whose careers have suffered because of abuse by their coach, as well as for children who have lost the love of their sport because of physical, sexual or emotional abuse they experienced at their club or during competitions.

6. Abuse and mistreatment of children with special educational needs, autism, and / or learning disabilities. We have a long history of supporting survivors with additional needs, whether directly or through an appropriate family member. We have brought ground-breaking cases under the Human Rights Act and in negligence to obtain redress for non-verbal autistic children who have been harmed through the use of restraint, including mechanical restraint devices, or locked in seclusion rooms. We are members of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation’s expert legal panel and regularly advocate with charities on the misuse of restrictive practices against children for policy change. We are currently acting in a large number of cases arising from the excessive and cruel punishment of children at a well-known state school.

7. Peer-on-peer sexual violence and harassment in schools. We regularly bring claims in negligence and under the Human Rights Act for children who were exposed to sexual violence, or harmful sexual behaviours, by their peers at school. We take cases against schools for safeguarding failures that could have prevented the abuse. We recognise the difficulties victims and survivors face when staying within the school environment, particularly when the perpetrator continues to attend the same institution. Where appropriate, we challenge school decision making and internal investigations and seek additional support for our client to be able to continue their education.

8. Abuse in health and medical settings. We represent children and young people who were sexually abused by medical professionals, often under the guise of legitimate medical examinations or treatment. This can be a confusing experience for our clients, who may struggle to understand whether the examination was justified. Many of our clients experience health related anxiety and difficulties trusting doctors or nurses, which can impact upon their ability to access healthcare services. Some of our cases include claims for negligent medical treatment by the perpetrator. We brought successful claims for more than 90 children and teenagers who were sexually abused and harmed at the Hill End Adolescent Unit, where they were supposed to receive treatment for their mental health.  We have also acted for children and young people who were abused and mistreated whilst receiving treatment for eating disorders and anorexia.

9. Abuse in youth and detention centres. We are acting for a group of survivors of abuse and mistreatment in youth detention centres in the 1970s and 1980s, and who were subjected to the “Short Sharp Shock” policies for juvenile detention.

10. Claims through alternative redress options, such as the CICA and redress schemes. We have obtained redress and accountability for clients through schemes such as the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority scheme, the Lambeth redress scheme, the Northern Ireland Historical Abuse Redress Scheme, and the Windrush compensation scheme.