Olivia McGonigle

Olivia McGonigle

Year of Call: 2021
Email Address: [email protected]
CJSM: [email protected]
Telephone: 01962 868884

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Clerks Details

  • Clerk Name: Stuart Pringle
  • Clerk Telephone: 01962 868 884
  • Clerk Email: [email protected]
  • Clerk Name: Gemma Faulkner
  • Clerk Telephone: 020 7583 8055
  • Clerk Email: [email protected]

Overview

Olivia McGonigle is a specialist barrister with a multi-disciplinary practice that includes education, criminal/regulatory, and public law. She acts for children and young people, parents, schools, local authorities, and government departments. Her caseload regularly concerns judicial review proceedings, Upper Tribunal appeals and public inquiries.

Outside busy work demands, Olivia enjoys going to the theatre, reading, and playing sports.

Expertise

  • Education
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    Olivia has undertaken a large variety of cases in both the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and the Magistrates’ Court. She frequently deals with appeals relating to the contents of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHC Plans), focusing on sections B, F and I and Health and Social Care. These often involve high-cost placements and health/social care recommendations.

    Examples include:

    • Securing extended day placements at residential schools despite the Local Authority’s opposition
    • Successfully opposing cease to maintain decision for a 24 years old client. Amendments then made to section B and F, with the desired changes to section I and social care recommendations.
    • Securing placements at independent schools, with amendments to the EHC Plans.
    • Negotiating settlements which lead to the Local Authority naming a specialist independent school in section I of the EHC Plan.

    Olivia is also involved in exclusions works. She represents parties in IRPs and is available to clerk when required. Olivia uses this first-hand knowledge to advise parties in relation to judicial review proceedings and has appeared in the High Court for substantive hearings about exclusions.

    Olivia is happy to provide training in relation to education law.

  • Public and Administrative Law
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    Olivia appears in the High Court for judicial review matters, focusing on exclusions and Special Educational Needs and Disability. She regularly advises and drafts letters before action, often leading to early settlement.

    Olivia is currently instructed as a second junior on a large scale, long-running, complex public inquiry for CTI. Accordingly, Olivia has developed skills and experience in this field, including reviewing significant amounts of material, advising on and applying privacy orders, providing legal advice, and acting as a junior in various hearings.

  • Crime and Regulatory Crime
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    Olivia maintains her regulatory and criminal practice. This includes Crown Court trials, and various work in firearms regulation and health and safety cases. Olivia often advises at the earliest stages, including responding to invitations to interview in regulatory cases. She is well placed to use the cross-over of criminal and public law to assist.

    Examples of cases include:

    • Suspended sentence for a director with no requirements for serious health and safety breaches
    • Case dropped against director and manager in food standards matter, limited fine for the company
    • Successful half time submission in a four handed affray trial
    • Secured a suspended sentence for PWITS class A drugs
    • Client found not guilty in ABH case, which involved cross-examination of a young child and unexplained injuries
    • Community order imposed in a case of multiple breaches of a SHPO
    • Prosecution offered no evidence in an intentional strangulation case, accepting a plea to battery

    In the Magistrates’ Court Olivia is often instructed for private clients. She has recently had multiple successful exceptional hardship and special reasons arguments, allowing drivers who would otherwise be disqualified to keep their driving licences.

  • Sports law
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    Olivia undertook a 6-month secondment to the International Tennis Federation (ITF). She provided legal support on regulatory and disciplinary issues, dealing with cross-jurisdictional applications and advising on various issues, including potential offences under the relevant Regulations.

    Following this secondment, Olivia has been instructed by other sports organisations to conduct investigations and consider disciplinary proceedings.

  • Articles

    • School Exclusions and Child Criminal Exploitation

      12th Mar 2025

      Olivia McGonigle analyses the case of R (RWU) v The Governing Body of A Academy [2025] EWCA Civ 147, which provides clarification on the application of Article 4 ECHR for schools and academies when considering the need to protect vulnerable students.

      Exploitation should be taken into account when considering permanent exclusion, and educational institutions’ policies should reflect that.

      View Article

    • 'Suitable' vs 'Appropriate' - naming schools in EHC plans

      12th Feb 2024

      Olivia McGonigle looks at the appeal to the Upper Tribunal of LC and RC v Hampshire County Council [2023] UKUT 281 (AAC) which concerned, among other things, the test that should be applied when section I of an Educational Health and Care Plan ('EHCP') is in dispute.

      View Article
  • Recommendations

    Olivia “represented the Crown with great skill and fairness.” An “excellent” advocate. Crown Court Trial Judge

    Olivia has a “very appealing court room manner.”  Crown Court Judge

    "Olivia went above and beyond.”  Solicitor

    “I had the benefit of working with Olivia who I found to be extremely hard-working, diligent, pleasant and someone who was able to help us out at extremely short notice to prepare a very complicated witness statement in response to a fairly complicated judicial review matter. Olivia was able to get to grips with a very urgent court deadline and we were able to meet this deadline with her administrative and client care skills. She was able to take detailed instructions from the litigation friend and put this in a witness statement and not only that, was then able to put together a very detailed court bundle at very short notice.”  Gregg Burrough – Senior Education Solicitor – Coram Children’s Legal Centre

    “Your support gave me great relief. Thank you for fighting so hard.” Lay client

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