Louise Christian

Louise Hilda Christian (born 22 May 1952, Oxford) is a British human rights solicitor.[1] She is the daughter of Jack and Maureen Christian.

Christian was admitted to the Law Society as a solicitor on 16 January 1978.[2] In 1985,[3] she and Michael Fisher, a solicitor best known for his work representing those accused of Irish terrorist offences, whose firm, Fisher Meredith, she had worked in,[4] set up a firm called Christian Fisher.[5][6][7] An early case was representing 49 Liverpool councillors who were being prosecuted for wilful misconduct.[7] The councillors were surcharged a total of £106,000; however, they appealed unsuccessfully to the high court, which awarded £242,000 legal costs against the councillors.[8] Sadiq Khan (now Mayor of London) joined the firm as a trainee in 1994, and became a partner in 1997. The firm was renamed Christian Khan when Fisher left in 2002.[5][6] Khan left in 2004;[5] at the time the firm employed about 50 staff.[7] Christian Khan earned money almost entirely from legal aid.[3] Christian has represented detainees at the American Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.[9][10] and the bereaved in various disasters – the Marchioness disaster, the Southall, Ladbroke Grove and Potters Bar Rail crashes and the Lakanal House fire. Christian left in 2010; and the firm merged with Imran Khan & Partners in 2012.[7]

Christian has been prominent in left-wing politics, fighting Hendon South for Labour in 1987 (finishing third of three candidates, with 20.85% of the vote) before standing as a Socialist Alliance candidate in Hornsey and Wood Green in the 2001 election (coming fifth of seven candidates, with 2.5% of the vote).[11] Louise Christian has long been associated with human rights' pressure group Liberty (formerly known as the National Council for Civil Liberties) and was the chair from July 2007[12] until October 2009.[13] She has contributed to The Guardian,[1] and is the author or co-author of several books.

Publications

  • Louise Christian; Joanna Glynn (1995). The law: freedom of expression and human rights advocacy in Turkey. KHRP.
  • Leslie Thomas (barrister), Danny Friedman, Louise Christian (2002). Inquests: a practitioner's guide. Legal Action Group. ISBN 978-0-905099-97-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Louise Christian (1983). Policing by coercion: the Police and Criminal Evidence Bill. Greater London Council. Police Committee Support Unit.
  • Louise Christian; Joanna Glynn; Philip Kirkpatrick (1995). The European Convention under attack: the threat to lawyers in Turkey and ... International Bar Association. ISBN 978-1-85328-313-0.

References

  1. ^ a b "Louise Christian contributor page". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  2. ^ find a solicitor: Louise Christian, Law Society of England and Wales, retrieved 25 May 2017
  3. ^ a b Brennan, Zoe (20 April 2012), "Terror and the law, a nice little earner for lawyers", The Telegraph, retrieved 25 May 2017
    The Telegraph article refers to the firm as Christian Khan, which is its current name.
  4. ^ "Claims that Sadiq Khan's former human rights firm 'was worth".
  5. ^ a b c Hattenstone, Simon (31 May 2015), "Sadiq Khan: 'Ruthless? No. Decency can get you to the top in politics'", The Guardian, retrieved 25 May 2017
  6. ^ a b Christian, Louise (May 2015), "Dear Sadiq Khan. When you left Christian Khan to become an MP, you said you could bring about more change as a politician than a lawyer. What happened?", Legal Action magazine, Legal Action Group, archived from the original on 26 June 2017, retrieved 25 May 2017
  7. ^ a b c d Bawdon, Fiona (December 2015), "Claims that Sadiq Khan's former human rights firm 'was worth millions' queried by lawyers", Legal Action magazine, Legal Action Group, archived from the original on 17 January 2018, retrieved 25 May 2017
  8. ^ "Liverpool: The City That Fought Back", Liverpool 47: Socialism on Trial www.liverpool47.org, The Socialist, 20 September 2003, retrieved 25 May 2017
  9. ^ "Campaigning solicitor Louise Christian receives top accolade". www.christiankhan.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Human right lawyer award for Louise Christian". www.christiankhan.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  11. ^ "2001 - 2001 General Election - Hornsey and Wood Green". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  12. ^ Liberty & The Civil Liberties Trust Annual Review 2007 (PDF), p. 14, archived from the original (PDF) on 31 October 2017, retrieved 24 May 2017
  13. ^ Liberty & The Civil Liberties Trust Annual Review 2009 (PDF), p. 15, retrieved 24 May 2017
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