National law firm Simpson Millar has expanded its public law division with the appointment of solicitors Bethany Parr and Ffion Davies, based in its Bristol office.
Both have joined the firm’s national education law team amid a major increase in its caseload helping children and young people with special educational needs and their families. 
Simpson Millar’s education team, which has been praised by respected law sector directory Legal 500, has a strong reputation for dealing with cases involving children with special educational needs and education, health and care plans (EHCPs), as well as helping parents and carers with exclusions, children out of education, bullying, discrimination, judicial reviews and other types of disputes with schools.
Bethany, pictured, left, with Ffion, has joined Simpson Millar after eight years in the Bristol office of Irwin Mitchell.
Specialising in matters relating to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), she is able to offer legal advice on a range of matters including education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments and EHCPs, as well as Statements of SEN and Individual Development Plans (IDPs) in Wales.
She also has a wealth of experience acting in first-tier tribunal appeals – the courts which deal with matters relating to education – to secure placements in special schools, independent schools and residential placements, and in judicial review challenges to the decisions of public authorities.
Her practice is complemented by her understanding of complex issues concerning discrimination, mental capacity law, human rights and community care which often arise in the education context.
Ffion joins from HCB Solicitors in Cardiff and brings four years’ experience as an education solicitor representing parents of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities to challenge decisions made by their local authority across England and Wales.
This includes bringing appeals to the first-tier tribunal, as well as supporting families with their annual education reviews, person centred reviews and admissions appeals.
Simpson Millar partner and head of education law Sarah Woosey said the pair’s ‘expertise and understanding of their clients’ needs’ would further enhance the experience of the wider team and would allow the firm to take on more cases and support more families with ‘urgent and often distressing’ matters relating to accessing education.
She added: “Bethany and Ffion demonstrate a real passion and commitment to supporting families to ensure that children and young people with special needs have access to the right educational support.
“Given the nature of what we do, our clients are often in distress when they reach out to us.
“They are looking for transparent and straightforward legal advice that can help get results, and the team’s extensive legal experience and understanding of education law means we are perfectly placed to help.
“Sadly, due to funding issues across the education sector, we have seen a real increase in parents and carers struggling to secure suitable provision in recent years.
“We are committed to the continued growth of our team to ensure that we have the right people in place to help families when they need us.”
Bethany Parr said: “Simpson Millar’s education department has an outstanding reputation for going above and beyond when it comes to helping children and young people with special educational needs and their families to understand their rights and access the support and provision, they are legally entitled to, which is sadly so often denied to them.”
Leeds-headquartered Simpson Millar has seven offices across the UK.
