Theodora Middleton

Practice Areas

Solicitor, Public Law and Human Rights.

Theodora represents clients in challenges to the decisions and actions of public authorities. She acts in both public law matters, such as judicial reviews and complaints, and in civil claims against public bodies.

Theodora has expertise in cases at the intersection of immigration and public law, and is accredited as a Senior Caseworker in immigration and asylum. She represents individuals who have been unlawfully detained by the Home Office, and people who have been refused adequate support while they await the determination of their asylum claims. She represents a number of individuals who were wrongly accused by the Home Office of cheating on a TOEIC English language test, in both public law challenges and civil claims.

Theodora has a particular interest in rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and frequently acts for protestors. She acted on behalf of Reclaim These Streets in their successful challenge to the Metropolitan Police’s decision to prevent a proposed vigil in memory of Sarah Everard, a woman who was brutally murdered by a serving officer in March 2021. She also acted in a number of other cases concerning restrictions introduced during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Theodora also assists with community care matters, including support under the Care Act 2014, support for care leavers, and support for families with no recourse to public funds.

Career

Before joining Bindmans, Theodora worked in the Housing department at another firm, and volunteered with the immigration team at a law centre. She moved into law after a number of years working with children and young people, and campaigning on issues around housing and the environment. Theodora joined Bindmans as a paralegal in 2017, and qualified as a solicitor in September 2020.

Notable Cases:

R (Leigh and others) v the Commissioner for the Police of the Metropolis [2022] EWHC 527 (Admin)

Successful judicial review on behalf of Reclaim These Streets of the Metropolitan Police’s handling of a proposed vigil in memory of Sarah Everard, a young woman who was brutally murdered by a serving police officer in March 2021. The High Court held that the police had failed properly to consider the Article 10 and 11 rights of the organisers in preventing the vigil from going ahead, and had therefore acted unlawfully

R (SOK) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

A severely disabled child who was forced to go into hotel quarantine after returning from a ‘red list’ country during the Coronavirus pandemic. Following an urgent application for interim relief he was permitted to return home. The government has since agreed to pay him compensation

TOEIC litigation

Theodora advises on public law, immigration and civil matters arising out of the TOEIC scandal. She is instructed together with Salima Budhani in compensation claims on behalf of a group of individuals who were wrongly accused of cheating by the Home Office

R (SZA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Successful challenge to the relocation of an asylum-seeking family out of London. It was accepted that the family must be provided with accommodation close to their children’s school

Publications

“The Role of Rhetoric in the criminalisation of squatting,” chapter within Moral Rhetoric and the Criminalisation of Squatting, edited by Lorna Fox O’Mahony, David O’Mahony and Robin Hickey (Routledge 2014)