Jessica Allen

Public Law

Jessica is an experienced public lawyer who welcomes instructions in all areas of public law. She has particular experience of the conduct of judicial review proceedings and frequently appears led and unled on behalf of claimants and defendants in the High Court.

Recent instructions include:

• R (on the application of Wickford Development Company and Ors) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2024] EWHC 2034 (Admin): Acting for the third claimant landowner in a judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision to uphold a restocking notice which raised issues including whether the prospect of a planning permission or an emerging development plan allocation was capable of being a material consideration (led by Hugh Richards);
• Acting for the defendant council in a judicial review of its decision to refuse to list land as an asset of community value (ACV) on grounds including that it had misunderstood the proper legal test and failed to provide adequate reasons;
• Acting for the claimant community group in a judicial review of a council’s decision to grant planning permission in circumstances where a supplementary planning document on development in an area of outstanding natural beauty had not been taken into account;
• Acting for an individual claimant in a judicial review of a council’s decision to grant planning permission on grounds that the planning officer had misinterpreted local policy and reached a conclusion without evidence;
• Acting for the defendant council in a judicial review of its decision to grant planning permission on grounds that it failed to take material considerations into account and there was procedural irregularity;
• Acting for the defendant council in a judicial review of its decision to implement a traffic regulation order on the ground that it had failed to carry out a lawful consultation;
• Preparing pre-action correspondence for an individual claimant in relation to a proposed judicial review of a council’s decision to grant planning permission on grounds that it had breached its duties under the Equality Act 2010;
• Preparing draft pleadings for the claimant developer in a judicial review of a council’s decision to publish a local plan review on the ground that it had failed to carry out without lawful consultation (led);
• Preparing draft pleadings for the interested party in a judicial review of a council’s decision to grant of planning permission on grounds including that a background document had not been published as required under statute (led);
• Preparing draft pleadings for central government in an application for review of a decision of a panel of the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators on the ground that the panel erroneously engaged in a judicial drafting exercise (led);
• Advising an individual on the merits of a judicial review of a council’s decision to grant planning permission on grounds that the comments of a wildlife officer had been misrepresented and reasons had not been given for departing from the views of a statutory consultee; and
• Advising central government on the validity of a general vesting declaration and its amenability to legal challenge (led).

In autumn 2023, Jessica was instructed as a junior to the Post Office counsel team reviewing documents for disclosure to the Horizon IT Inquiry. She is currently a member of the Attorney General’s Junior Junior scheme.

Before coming to the Bar, Jessica was a judicial assistant to the former Vice President of the Court of Protection, Mr Justice Hayden, and assisted with the drafting of judgments in medical treatment and welfare cases.