Sarah Crowe

Legal Expertise

Her work currently focuses on judicial review challenges, including claims under the Human Rights Act 1998 and Equality Act 2010. Sarah represents individuals, NGOs and other organisations across a range of areas, including immigration and asylum, social welfare, children in care and more.  

Prior to joining Leigh Day, Sarah worked in the public law team of a city firm, where she developed a broad advisory and judicial review practice, representing claimants in commercial judicial reviews, as well as public bodies, including central government departments instructed by the Government Legal Department. She frequently advised public bodies on issues such as defensible decision-making, discrimination, legislative drafting, policy implementation and more. She also maintained an extensive pro bono practice, focusing on representing asylum seekers and immigrants in challenging public body decision-making. Before this, Sarah was a paralegal in the human rights department at Leigh Day, working in both the prison team and wider public law team.  

Sarah qualified as a solicitor in Scotland (not currently practising) and upon qualification began practising public law in London, subsequently being admitted in England & Wales.  

Sarah has previous experience working with a number of human rights organisations, including the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling in Ramallah, Occupied Palestine,  Human Rights Watch in London, the Human Rights Law Network in Delhi, India and the Scottish Refugee Council.  

Significant cases she has worked on include: 

R (on the application of Karmakar and BMA) v Royal College of General Practitioners [2024] EWHC 2211 (Admin) – representing the BMA in a challenge to a Royal College of GPs policy disadvantaging disabled doctors 

Scottish Ministers v Advocate General for Scotland [2023] CSOH 89 – representing Stonewall and Gendered Intelligence as interveners in the significant constitutional case concerning the UK Government’s use of s.35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to block Scottish Government gender reforms. 

R (West Coast Railway Company Ltd) v Office of Rail and Road [2023] EWHC 3338 (Admin) – representing West Coast Railway Company in a judicial review challenge of a regulatory decision in relation to train door locking on its historic steam trains. 

R (Doncaster MBC) v Peel L & P Investments [2022] EWHC 3060 (Admin) – representing Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council in a judicial review challenge of an airport operator, seeking to stop the closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport 

R (on the application of Kellogg Marketing and Sales Co (UK) Ltd) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2022] EWHC 1710 (Admin) 

R (on the application of the Good Law Project Limited) v the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2022] EWHC 2468 (TCC) – representing the Department of Health and Social care in defending a challenge brought by the Good Law Project in relation to Covid-19 antibody test contracts 

Education