Children and vulnerable adults

Our work

It is incredibly important that everyone has access to justice. Our public law team can act for children and vulnerable adults who may often lack the mental capacity to provide instructions to us. In this case, we can be appointed by a Litigation Friend. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to involve the Official Solicitor to represent the best interests of the child or vulnerable adult. Our instructions would be provided by them to enable us to act on behalf of the child or vulnerable adult and ensure the process is as smooth as possible, minimising any potential distress.

Arrange a consultation:

Our expert public law department acts on behalf of businesses and individuals who need legal representation on matters concerning the Government. We are proud to have developed long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients we advise, helping them achieve the best possible outcomes. Get in touch with our team of experts to arrange a consultation.

“The business is founded on strong principals of client service and good financial management. With an experienced finance team, MSB produces regular management information for partners and department heads to monitor performance across the firm.”

Understanding the issue

Children and vulnerable adults can rely on and be heavily involved with public authority services. For example, this could be social services taking a child into care, or failing to take a child into care, a decision by a health authority to provide or withdraw medical treatment, or schooling. At MSB, our experts are able to act in cases against such public authorities where there may have been abuse in school, neglect by a council of a child in care or a failure to provide for their needs.

MSB has in-depth knowledge in all matters relating to children and vulnerable adults. It is vital to identify quickly whether the client is able to provide instructions or whether a Litigation Friend needs to be appointed. Based on our experience, we will be able to identify breaches of statutory duty and/or negligence to provide the best possible advice and plan of action.

Why MSB?

We have experience across all areas of public law and actions against public authorities. We can also call upon the expertise of our family, crime and social housing departments who interact with public bodies on a day to day basis. We understand the worrying and stressful issues some of our clients will face, which is why the specific case handler acting for each client will be considered in advance, helping us to provide the best possible service for you.

Funding options

We can offer various methods of funding to our public law clients. The most common method is legal aid as MSB has the benefit of contracts from the Legal Aid Agency for Public Law and also Actions Against Public Authorities. Such funding is subject to assessment of the financial means of a client, and also the merits of a case.

For those clients and cases where Legal Aid is not available, matters can be paid for privately. Depending upon the nature of the instructions we are also able to give consideration to damages-based agreement and no win no fee agreements.