David Ball specialises in civil and human rights work. He has a broad administrative law practice, specialising in immigration, housing and education law. He has particular expertise in regulatory matters involving commercial and consumer law work. He has a strong appellate practice and regularly appears in the High Court, Upper Tier and Court of Appeal.

Public Law & Human Rights

Before coming to the Bar David worked at Liberty. There he worked on a number of test cases pending variously before the High Court, the House of Lords, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. David was awarded an EU scholarship by the Centre for Capital Punishment Studies and was an intern at the Public Interest Litigation Clinic in Missouri, assisting in appeals for defendants on death row. He has recently advised an international charity on cases pending before the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States. He is currently working for the Serious Fraud Office in a complex multi-jurisdictional case involving suspected international corporate corruption where he is advising and assisting in various applications for international mutual legal assistance.

Consumer & Regulatory

David has a detailed understanding of consumer law with a particular expertise in civil proceedings. He worked in house at the Office of Fair Trading. There he was instrumental in helping secure undertakings from Groupon to change a number of their trading practises following an in depth investigation. He has lectured to regulators across the EU on the consumer law issues arising out of group buying websites. He has advised regulators extensively on the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, and associated legislation. In addition, before coming to the Bar, David qualified as a solicitor at Linklaters. He practised in media law with a particular emphasis on data protection and freedom of information. He has appeared before the Information Rights Tribunal and Upper Tier of the Administrative Chamber in complex cases involving questions of construction of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Civil Litigation - Property

David regularly acts in all aspects of landlord and tenant matters, whether it be disrepair claims or counterclaims, or claims / defences relating to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. He has acted in various boundary disputes and general civil law claims involving real property.

Civil Litigation - Commercial

David has a strong background in commercial litigation following his time at Linklaters. He has advised and acted in various multi-track High Court and County Court trials in a broad range of civil and commercial disputes.

Immigration, Nationality & Asylum

David has extensive knowledge and experience of immigration, nationality and asylum law. Before coming to the Bar he worked at the Immigration Advisory Service. He regularly appears before the First Tier, Upper Tier, and Court of Appeal in all immigration matters, as well as in the High Court in unlawful detention and associated judicial reviews. He has particular expertise in judicial review matters whether before the Upper Tier or High Court, acting for individuals, non–governmental organisations and sponsor companies. He has acted in notable asylum cases for nationals from a broad range of countries including in particular, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, Turkey, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Housing

David has a detailed knowledge of housing and property law. He regularly acts in possession matters for both tenant and landlord. He was involved in one of the first successful applications for relief from sanctions before the Court of Appeal in the defence to possession proceedings of Nelson v Circle 33 Housing Association [2014] EWCA Civ 106; [2014] 3 Costs LO 355.

He regularly acts in judicial reviews involving Part VII of the Housing Act 1996, and emergency applications for interim relief to prevent homelessness. He frequently advises and acts in appeals under s204 of the Housing Act.

Whilst acting as a Judicial Assistant to now Lord Carnwath he was involved in the landmark line of cases dealing with the application of Article 8 as a defence to possession proceedings (Doherty v Birmingham City Council [2006] EWCA Civ 1739; [2008] UKHL 57).

Education Law

David acts and advises in all areas of education law, and has particular expertise in special educational needs. He regularly appears before the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal in the Health Education and Social Care Chamber of the Tribunal structure and is a specialist in tribunal advocacy at both the First Tier and Upper Tier. He has particular experience in complex home-schooling cases, and those requiring detailed challenges to expert evidence.

David has acted as both legal adviser and representative in admission and exclusion appeals. He has a strong public law practice and regularly advises on education law and judicial review. He is a member of the Education Law Association.

Extradition

David has considerable expertise in international mutual legal assistance (‘MLA’) and extradition. He is currently on secondment to the Crown Prosecution Service Extradition Unit where he is working on a wide range of extradition matters. He will return to full time practice in January 2019.