Claire Powell
Associate solicitor
Claire is a associate solicitor in the international department, she is currently working on emission claim cases
Claire is an associate solicitor in the international department, currently assisting Nicola Marshall and Martyn Day with vehicle emissions claims.
During her training contract Claire worked in the employment and discrimination department, assisting on equal pay claims, including the ASDA Supreme Court hearing in March 2021. She also gained experience with individual employment and discrimination claims; and secured public funding for a sexual assault survivor for her discrimination claim against the DWP. Her second seat was in the clinical negligence department, working on a wide range of cases, and assisting with the team’s inquest work.
Prior to joining Leigh Day, Claire was an immigration advisor at a large legal aid firm, working on asylum appeals, immigration bail and private immigration matters. She also has experience in social housing and welfare benefits law.
Outside the office, Claire is training as a Legal Observer with Black Protest Legal Support and is a member for Amnesty International and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She has written for the Centre for Women's Justice and is a regular contributor to the Discrimination Law Association Review.
She is a member of the firm's Green Committee and has assisted the BAME Committee with a mock interview scheme for students at schools with low university attendance.
Read Claire's articles in DLA Briefings
- EAT rules DWP’s disability discrimination is justified DLA Briefings July 2021 956
- CA rules that failure to pay London allowance during maternity leave is not direct sex discrimination DLA Briefings July 2021 979
- Reconciling freedom from discrimination and freedom of expression DLA Briefings July 2020 939
- Making Comparisons in Equality Law. Book review. DLA Briefings March 2021 961-972
- ‘Words have wings’: Advocate General Sharpston considers that homophobic comments made in a radio interview can contravene the Equal Treatment Framework Directive DLA Briefings March 2020 925.
Related blogs
Sri Lankan asylum seekers successfully challenge decision that the Children Act 1989 does not apply on Diego Garcia
The BIOT Supreme Court, sitting remotely in London, has accepted the arguments made on behalf of Sri Lankan asylum seekers including five children that sections 17 and 47 of the Children Act 1989 applies in the British Indian Overseas Territories (BIOT) where they have been detained on the island of Diego Garcia since October 2021.
Sri Lankan asylum seekers challenge unlawful detention on Diego Garcia
Six Sri Lankan asylum seekers, including one child, who claim they are being unlawfully detained on the British Island Territory (BIOT) of Diego Garcia have been granted a hearing on the island where they will be represented by their UK lawyers.
Euro 7 – Has nothing been learned from Dieselgate?
Hannah Donnelly and Claire Powell discuss the release of the Euro 7 proposal, and the European Commission’s missed opportunity to implement stricter emissions standards, and improve the air quality in our towns and cities.