Claire Powell

Claire is an associate solicitor working across the International and Human Rights departments. She works on international and domestic human rights law cases against states, corporations and government actors and has experience in claims in public and private law.

Claire was part of the public law team representing a group of Tamil asylum seekers detained on the remote British Indian Ocean Territory of Diego Garcia from October 2021 to December 2024. The team were successful in several high-profile claims for judicial review in the BIOT Supreme Court and appellate court including:

1. Claims in habeas corpus and unlawful detention, which established that the group, including 16 children, had been unlawfully detained for over 1,000 days.
2. Establishing that provisions of the Children Act 1989 apply on Diego Garcia, Claire was the lead solicitor working with Tessa Gregory on the judicial review proceedings and applications for wardship.

The team also bought claims against the Secretaries of State for the Home Department and Foreign and Commonwealth Department and in December 2024, the UK government finally transferred the group from Diego Garcia and Rwanda to the UK. In the International department, Claire works on private law claims in negligence and false imprisonment against the BIOT Commissioner and G4S Limited on behalf of 39 individuals, including 13 children.

Claire has experience bringing claims on behalf of individuals targeted by spyware and other forms of state surveillance including NSO Pegasus. She has worked on cases against The Republic of Rwanda, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdoms of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which established principles for the application of the State Immunity Act 1978. Claire is also part of the team instructed by Liberty and Privacy International in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, in challenge to the use of Technical Capability Notices by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, including against Apple, allegedly seeking to force a “back door” into their data. 

Working with Tessa Gregory, Claire is also instructed on several cases relating to non-consensual intimate image abuse (“NCII”) and the failings of public bodies to protect women and girls from sexual violence. She is particularly interested in cases relating to the safety of women and girls online, and how the law can be used to hold public and private bodies to account.

Prior to joining Leigh Day, Claire was an immigration advisor at a large legal aid firm, working on asylum and immigration matters. She completed her training contract at Leigh Day with seats in the Employment and Discrimination and Clinical Negligence departments. 

Outside the office, Claire is training as a Legal Observer 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.

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.