Paul Conrathe
Founding Partner
A leading human rights lawyer with significant depth and breadth in public interest litigation.
Biography
Paul studied History at Birmingham University, graduating in 1988. Following his training with PearceLegal in Solihull, Paul moved to London and joined Coningsbys Solicitors, where he became senior partner from 2000-2004 before selling the practice to Ormerods Solicitors. He remained a partner of Ormerods until retiring from legal practice (temporarily, as it turned out) in 2006.
Between 2004 and 2022, Paul set up an international group of schools for children and young people with autism. Overlapping with this work, Paul returned to legal practice in January 2019 to practice human rights litigation. Paul has consistently received strong recommendations in the Legal 500 assessment of leading lawyers in this field.
James Gardner
Founding Partner
Former Linklaters partner with extensive experience in banking and commercial litigation.
Biography
James studied law at Downing College, Cambridge, graduating in 1989, and trained at Linklaters LLP in London and New York. He was a litigation partner there for many years, acting for many of the world's leading banks and specialised in banking and commercial litigation and regulatory investigations. The Legal 500 rated him as a leading (Band 1) practitioner in both banking litigation and contentious financial services disputes.
Between 2016 and 2024 he undertook various non-executive board roles, including as executive chair of a medium-sized charity in Oxford and non-executive board director of a global organisation with operations in 130 countries.
In 2023 he began working with Paul Conrathe on public interest cases in the English High Court.
Rachael Rook-Williams
Paralegal
Former barrister with extensive criminal, civil, and immigration law experience.
Biography
Rachael worked as an accredited specialist in the field of immigration and asylum law, and frequently conducted judicial review cases with a particular focus on those involving complex medical and mental health issues. After qualifying as a barrister, she continued this work while also gaining broad experience across civil and criminal law, both prosecuting and defending. In addition, she delivered specialist training in areas such as youth justice and asylum law. Rachael is currently working as a paralegal as she awaits authorisation from the Bar Council to work as in-house Counsel to the Firm.
Eileen Gardner
Communications Director
Former corporate finance lawyer with communications experience in top tier legal firms.
Biography
Originally a corporate finance lawyer at Linklaters, Eileen subsequently switched into communications, recruitment and training, working at Clifford Chance and Hogan Lovells.
Married to James, she home educated their twins for many years until completion of their exams at the age of 16, and more recently she coordinated accommodation and support locally for Ukrainian refugees.
She's now delighted to be returning to the legal sector in a communications role.
