What can I do for you?
Working in our public law and regulatory team, I advise education and public law clients on a wide range of issues. These include education law, governance, contentious matters (court proceedings, including judicial review; claims made to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education and internal regulatory procedures), freedom of information, the Data Protection Act, under 18s and equality matters.
I also undertake training for clients and have a particular interest in in-house training, for example, for senior administrators who deal with student disciplinary hearings.
Supporting my clients’ ambitions
A particular highlight was when I advised on the setting up of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (the OIA). My role was to work with the first adjudicator, her deputy and the advisory board to draft and finalise the first set of procedures and regulations with which the OIA would be operating.
Another interesting job was advising a higher education institution (HEI) on a student complaint. We provided advice on disability discrimination, data disclosure law, the operation of the HEI’s internal procedures, interaction with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, internal staff training and the practical implementation of changes needed to avoid future similar problems arising. The HEI was able agree a positive future course of action with the student and avoided the need for the student to take legal action, which would have been of detriment to both parties.
I am currently involved in co-ordinating the settlement of a class action where 140 students have claims against a HEI regarding course provision on two IT courses.
What do others say?
I really enjoy working with our clients and I am always pleased to receive positive feedback such as: “Jan is dealing with it in her usual efficient, competent way”.
Having embarked on my legal career later in life than others, it is especially rewarding to be recognised by Chambers UK as a leading individual in education law. Clients quoted in the directory describe me as follows: “[Jan Harris] has a wide understanding of the law – you can talk to her about anything”.
What else should you know?
Prior to becoming a lawyer, I worked in university administration, which has given me a good background understanding of the needs of our education clients.
My current work also includes supervising junior and trainee solicitors in my team.
I regularly attend relevant conferences, sometimes as a delegate and sometimes as a contributor. In March 2009, I was one of the speakers at our annual higher education conference, talking about the latest student related issues.