Charlotte Haworth Hird

Charlotte advises and assists on a wide range of health and public law issues including mental health, mental capacity, community care, inquest law and prison law, having trained at Bindmans and qualified in 2008. Her practice focuses mainly on representing vulnerable individuals and their families including individuals detained under the Mental Health Act; those who lack mental capacity; children; prisoners; and families whose loved ones have died in custody.

Charlotte has a well respected mental capacity law practice and is instructed both by the Official Solicitor on behalf of adults who lack capacity, as well as family members. She is currently acting in a number of Deprivation of Liberty cases, which raise novel and complex points of law under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Article 5 of ECHR. Charlotte’s mental capacity work also often involves issues regarding the provision of medical treatment to adults who do not consent to treatment but lack capacity to make such decisions. Her mental health practice includes regular instruction by individuals detained under the Mental Health Act and representing individuals in issues arising out of that detention. She conducts her own advocacy before the First Tier Mental Health Tribunal and is a member of the SRA’s Mental Health Review Tribunal Accreditation panel.

Charlotte has acted in numerous inquests into the deaths of psychiatric patients involving evidentially and legally complex issues such as the use of restraint; the systemic lack of physical healthcare to psychiatric patients; access to alcohol on psychiatric wards; training of psychiatric nurses; and common problems such as poor record keeping, failures to properly risk assess patients and poor communication. These inquests have resulted in neglect and critical verdicts, and Rule 43 recommendations by Coroners. 

Charlotte has a developing practice in children’s rights incorporating mental health, community care, inquest and prison law aspects, including acting for homeless teenagers; advocating the rights of children of prisoners; obtaining support for children whose parents have no recourse to public funds; and representing the families of young people who have died in Young Offenders Institutes.

Together with her colleague, Sara Lomri, Charlotte regularly advises and trains stakeholders, NGOs and campaigning organisations on issues arising out of deaths of psychiatric patients and linked specialist points of inquest and Human Rights law as well as sitting on the Steering Committee for the INQUEST Lawyers Group. Charlotte and Sara also regularly advise on Action for Advocacy’s advice line, advising Independent Mental Health Advocates on legal issues arising in cases of detained and community psychiatric patients.

Charlotte is a member of Inquest Lawyers Group, Liberty, MIND, Legal Action Group, Young Legal Aid Lawyers, Haldane Society, and Amnesty.

Prior to joining Bindmans, Charlotte worked as a paralegal at a firm specialising in employment discrimination law. She also worked at the Prison Reform Trust as a volunteer in the Advice and Information Service for two years. She graduated from Manchester University, with a degree in Social Anthropology. She completed the PgDL (distinction) in 2005 and LPC (distinction) in 2006 at the College of Law.