Profile description
Alan is one of the very small number of London Counsel with a thorough knowledge of EU State aid law and procedure. He is the author of the State aid chapter in the current edition of Bellamy & Child European Law of Competition (having co-authored the same chapter in the previous edition), as well as of the ‘compatibility of aid’ chapter in Bacon, European Union Law of State Aid.
As well as litigating State aid cases in both the English and EU courts, Alan has provided advice in numerous State aid matters, to clients who have included UK government departments, local authorities, lottery fund distributors, aid recipients, and complainants about unlawful aid. The industry sectors covered by his work in this field have included transport, public broadcasting, aviation, healthcare, telecoms, banking, social care, tourism, community services, and energy.
Alan has written for the journal European State Aid Law Quarterly and previously served as UK rapporteur for the European State Aid Law Institute.
Alan combines his thorough knowledge of public law with a pragmatic and client-focused approach, and a willingness to grapple with cases involving economic issues or a high degree of technical complexity. He is a particularly sought-after choice for challenges to price control and other regulatory decisions turning on complex technical and economic issues, impact assessments or cost-benefit analysis.
He also has a particular interest in local government law, and has advised public bodies on complex reorganisations of public services provision raising multiple legal issues including procurement, State aid, TUPE, local government, general public law, and equality impact assessment.
Alan has an easy familiarity with the Human Rights Act and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (including as applied in the commercial context), as well as with the protections of fundamental rights under EU law. From 2000-2001 he worked at the Law Commission, auditing the compatibility of legislation with the European Convention on Human Rights, contributing to guidelines that were subsequently issued to judges in advance of the coming into force of the Human Rights Act.
He is also familiar with the interaction between public law litigation, political campaigning and parliamentary processes. He has advised campaigning organisations on UK Parliamentary procedure and political lobbying strategies, and has drafted submissions to Parliamentary select and standing committees. He recognises that judicial review proceedings are often only part of a client’s wider political or commercial strategy, and is keen to work with clients to develop a multi-pronged approach that is best adapted to achieve their objectives.
Data protection and information law
Alan’s experience in this growing area of legal practice spans the protection of personal data, access to public sector information, and freedom of information. He has advised both public authorities and commercial organisations on a wide range of data protection issues, including data storage, cross-border data sharing, the Data Retention Directive, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, and Data Protection Act requests. Alan also has considerable experience of litigating freedom of information disputes in the First-tier and Upper Tribunals.
As well as having expertise in information law itself, Alan is also familiar with related private and human rights law rules, including the common law duty of confidence, the Aarhus Convention on public participation relating to the environment, statutory bars to disclosure, and the right to private life under Article 8 ECHR.
He has provided training for commercial organisations and NGOs on compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, and on how to make most effective use of the Freedom of Information Act, the Environmental Information Regulations, and the right to request documents from the EU under Regulation 1049/2001.
