Matthew Wyard

Year of Call: 2014
Email Address: matthew.wyard@3pb.co.uk
Telephone: 0117 928 1520

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Public and Regulatory

Matthew Wyard’s public law practice - and specifically his judicial review expertise - focuses on the complementary areas of education, health and community care. He has also developed a particular interest in the use of public law remedies within family proceedings (see Matthew’s family law profile for more information).

Having spent significant time practising in Wales, he is familiar with, and happy to advise upon, the relevant legislation across both jurisdictions. Having spent time working in a commercial chambers in Mauritius, Matthew is also happy to consider international instructions relating to his areas of practice.

Health/Life sciences

Matthew is an expert in the health and life sciences matters and disputes, with particular experience in judicial review and Court of Protection proceedings including serious medical treatment issues.

Recent healthcare/pharmaceutical matters include:

Re: KM – Providing pro bono advice on the application of the EU Tobacco Products Directive;
Re: V – Advising upon, settling and drafting the settlement agreement in a dispute between the directors of, and consultants for, an international pharmaceutical company as to the apportionment of liability between the company and consultants upon the consultants’ retirement;
MM v Cardiff and Vale University Health Board – judicial review of a health board’s decision to refuse to provide adequate nursing care at the claimant’s home thereby preventing him from visiting his mother
JW v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council – challenge to the legality of the local authority’s decision not to fund rental costs under section 117 aftercare

Matthew is building a life sciences based advisory practice and has a particular interest in the medicinal cannabis/CBD industries.

Recent cases in the Court of Protection include:

Re: JC – Representing a family member in a long running section 21A challenge concerning allegations of risk of harm to P and whether he should return to live with his family
Re: JDC – Representing a family member in a section 16 challenge concerning whether P should have unsupervised contact with his parents
Re: HC – Representing P in a section 21A challenge regarding the restrictiveness of placement in a care home setting
Re: CEM – Acting for P in a matter concerning end of life arrangements
Re: J – advising on restrictions and best interests in relation to serious medical treatment concerning a dental operation

Alongside welfare matters, Matthew has a developing practice in the property and affairs jurisdiction of the Court of Protection with a particular interest in contested deputyship applications and advisory matters.

He is also happy to provide training on the new Liberty Protection Safeguards, as well as the recent guidance on litigating in serious medical treatment cases.

Education

Within the education sector, Matthew has experience in acting before the Teachers Regulation Authority on behalf of teachers who are accused of wrongdoing. Additionally, he has experience of advising on, drafting and representing clients in a range of education law related judicial review challenges, in particular:

CP v Surrey County Council – Represented the claimant in an urgent out of hours injunction application and at a substantive application in the Administrative Court concerning the right of accommodation pursuant to section 20 of the Children Act 1989. He also drafted the Grounds of Judicial Review;
JPF v Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education – Drafted Grounds of Judicial Review regarding the legality of the higher education sector ombudsman’s decision to dismiss the Claimant’s complaint;
DB v Kings College London – challenge to a university’s termination of a medical student;
DB v London Borough of Richmond upon Thames – challenge pursuant to section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 for failing to maintain an Education, Health and Care Plan;
MG v Hertfordshire County Council – challenge to the legality of the local authority refusing to finalise an Education, Health and Care Plan in accordance with an order of the First Tier Tribunal;
MG v CT Independent Review Panel – judicial review challenge to an IRP’s decision to uphold a permanent exclusion decision;
AM v Cardiff City Council – judicial review against the legality of a local authority’s statutory assessment process; and
G v Newport City Council – challenge to a local authority’s failure to maintain a Statement of Special Educational Needs pending the outcome of a cease to maintain appeal to SENTW.

Whilst in-house, he was part of the team working on a number of reported, high profile education cases including:

DJ v Welsh Ministers & Ors [2018] EWHC 2735 (Admin)
Thilakawardhana v Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education [2018] EWCA Civ 13
Zahid v University of Manchester & Ors [2017] EWHC 188 (Admin)
DS v Wolverhampton City Council [2017] EWHC 1660 (Admin)

Community Care

Community care is a particular area of interest for Matthew who has been involved in a number of judicial review challenges concerning the same:

AA v Newport City Council – a challenge to the legality of the local authority’s withdrawal and subsequent request for repayment of direct payments
LT v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council – a challenge to the local authority’s breach of section 37 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014
CJ v Powys County Council – advice and pre action correspondence concerning the local authority’s failure to assist with an application for a Disabled Funding Grant
Re: AM – advice on reduce liability for care home fees through the efficient structuring of an estate
TL v Newport City Council – a challenge against a failure to maintain support outlined in a Care and Support Plan
Re: TG – advising on liability for a surviving relative to pay care home fees for a deceased family member
TL v Ceredigion Council – judicial review challenge to the local authority’s failure to provide adequate care and support provision

Commercial matters

Matthew Wyard’s interest in corporate work was sparked when he spent six months working as a legal assistant to Urmilla Boolell SC at a top tier commercial chambers in Mauritius.

His public law practise means that he is perfectly placed to advise on the use of public law remedies and challenges to advance commercial interests.

He also maintains an active interest in all areas, with a particular focus on non-contentious drafting within his specialist sectors of education, health and community care, but also in the media field following his appointment as a non-executive director of a music school.

Matthew is familiar with and has experience advising on and drafting a wide range of commercial documentation including:

Joint Venture Agreements;
Asset Purchase Agreements;
Terms and Conditions of Business;
Student contracts;
Debt policies;
Payment plans and financial agreements;
Paid contribution agreements;
Unpaid contribution agreements;
Various forms of licences;
A variety of intellectual property agreements;
Contracts of employment; and
Appraisal forms.

Publications

8th Jul 2020

3PB’s specialist public law barrister Matthew Wyard has reviewed the draft Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) bill. The bill was introduced to the Senedd on 6 July 2020 without prior public consultation.

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8th Jun 2020

3PB’s Public and Regulatory Law barrister Matthew Wyard has reviewed the law regulating novel food products in the UK.

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4th Jun 2020

3PB’s Public and Regulatory Law barrister Matthew Wyard has provided an update on UK tobacco law in light of Article 7 of the EU Tobacco Productive Directive.

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4th Jun 2020

3PB’s Public and Regulatory barrister Matthew Wyard has provided an overview of the MHRA’s Market Authorisation process for bringing new products to market in the UK. Designed for the pharmaceutical industry and those advising them, this article looks at the different types of authorisation available and the process for approving medicines in the UK.

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20th Mar 2020

Education law barrister, Matthew Wyard examines the impact of the Coronavirus Bill on the independent education sector.

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12th Mar 2020

Education and public law barrister Matthew Wyard and Paul Wyard of Sinclairslaw review Nottinghamshire CC v SF and another, a case in which the Court of Appeal held that the First-Tier Tribunal had correctly construed the meaning of ‘necessary’ in section 37(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA 2014) in finding that it was necessary for special educational provision to be made for a child in accordance with an EHC Plan – even though the school had identified and made provisions for the child’s needs and the child was making progress at school.

This article was first published by LexisPSL on 9 March 2020.

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10th Mar 2020

Matthew Wyard analyses Re: ACC &Ors [2020] EWCOP 9, a case concerning the conflicts of interests that may arise where property and affairs deputies instruct a firm with which they are associated to carry out instructions for P, or to conduct litigation on P’s behalf.

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Academic qualifications

2014: Called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn)
2012 – 2013: Postgraduate Diploma in Law, City Law School
2008 – 2012: LL.B (Hons)(SW) Law, University of Surrey

Scholarships

Erasmus Scholarship
Blackstone Chambers BPTC Mooting Competition, Semi finalist, 2013

Professional qualifications & appointments

Chair of the Valuation Tribunal for England
Member of the Welsh Government Public Law Scheme
Member of the Attorney General’s Junior Junior Panel
Bar Professional Training Course, City Law School, 2012 – 2013

Professional bodies

Lincoln's Inn, Member

Direct Access

Matthew Wyard is qualified to accept instructions directly from members of the public and professional clients under the Direct Public Access scheme.

More Information

News

3PB identifies flaws in the draft Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill
3PB’s specialist public law barrister Matthew Wyard has reviewed the draft Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) bill. The bill was introduced to the Senedd on 6 ...
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More judicial appointments for 3PB
3PB is delighted to announce that public law barrister Matthew Wyard has been appointed as a Chair of the Valuation Tribunal for England as of 22 June 2020. Mat...
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3PB reviews the law regulating novel foods and how to bring them into the UK market
3PB’s Public and Regulatory Law barrister Matthew Wyard has reviewed the law regulating novel food products in the UK, specifically how those supplying unlice...
Read more