Elizabeth Fortin

Senior Associate

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Elizabeth is a Senior Associate in the firm’s Education Team. With over 25 years’ experience in a range of professional roles, she has been recognised as a “Key Lawyer” in Education by the Legal 500.

Elizabeth specialises in advising mainstream and special schools and academies (SATs and MATs) in operational matters concerning their pupils. She advises on all aspects of education law, including admissions, exclusions, safeguarding, data protection and parental complaints.

She is passionate in particular about supporting schools and academies with matters relating to:

the Equality Act, including all aspects relating to protected characteristics;
The Children and Families Act, including all aspects relating to SEN and EHC processes (including LA obligations).

Elizabeth has supported schools with pursuing legal challenges against Local Authorities in relation to SEN funding and support. She frequently advises clients on disability discrimination claims in the First Tier Tribunal and in responding to judicial review claims, with clients being successful in a significant majority of cases.

Particular highlights include: working with special and mainstream schools in ensuring LA compliance with their legal obligations under the Children and Families Act; strike out applications against disability discrimination claims upheld by the Tribunal; and achieving settlement, with claimants withdrawing claims before they have gone to court or Tribunal.

Elizabeth advises on a range of operational issues for schools, including:

Equality Act (e.g. disability and transgender);
SEN and school/LA obligations towards pupils with EHC plans;
exclusions (preparing governors for reviews of exclusions and schools for Independent Review Panels);
Parental complaints; and
Safeguarding.

Elizabeth has also received a BCS Foundation Certificate in Data Protection and frequently advises schools on their legal obligations in relation to SARs and FOI requests.

She has delivered training to local governing bodies and trustees.

Equality Act and SEN.

Information Law (Data Protection/FOI).

PhD, MSc, MA (Distinction), MA (Oxon).

Elizabeth enjoys running (trail and road – in that order) and often raises money for a range of charities when participating in events (half / full marathons etc).

Elizabeth has recently supported a five-site special school in bringing judicial review proceedings against the LA for its high needs funding shortfalls.

Elizabeth has provided extensive advice to another Trust in relation to local authorities’ ongoing obligations to its students with Education Health and Care Plans (“EHCPs”), the suitability of the placement of students at the academy and the ongoing provision for students whose EHCPs had been amended on review. Following correspondence with two LAs, the Trust school has seen LA EHCP referrals reduce by more than half, from over 60.

Elizabeth has advised one MAT in relation to three disability discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010 brought in the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). These related to sanctions imposed on students for behaviour which breached the academies’ Behaviour Policies. All claims were successfully defended.