Presenting Grace Brown, in celebration of black history month
Grace Brown is a public law practitioner with a specialisation in human rights, immigration, and refugee law. She commenced her practice in 1995, motivated by a deep commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of marginalised and disadvantaged individuals.
Grace’s work in immigration law has been critical in challenging a system that presents itself as objective and race neutral. Her work recognises that the law’s guise of neutrality makes it harder to contest, legitimising its biases. Through her advocacy, she has striven to dismantle these structures and promote fairer outcomes for marginalised communities. This is apparent in her work on the Windrush scandal. Over the course of a year, Grace provided pro bono representation in three interconnected Windrush cases.
One of Grace’s cases involved the judicial review of Mr. Howard, who had lived in the UK since the age of three and was denied a British passport by the Home Office in his late 50s. A key issue in this case was the “good character requirement,” which often disqualifies individuals with prior convictions, regardless of the severity or time passed. This requirement reflects one of the many stringent rules in the Windrush Compensation Scheme that prevented affected individuals from receiving the necessary reparations.
Grace worked tirelessly to achieve an equitable outcome for Mr Howard and following his death, she pursued the judicial review through his daughter. As a result of her efforts, the judgment made deemed the actions of the Home Secretary to be irrational and unlawful.
Grace is not only a leader in her field but a source of inspiration for minority students and young lawyers. She actively engages in reshaping legal education and fostering a more inclusive environment. This can be evidenced by her volunteer work as a supervisor for the immigration law clinic at Exeter University and her work as a mentor on the Inner Temple Mentoring Scheme. Her commitments are reflective of the importance in addressing the shortcomings of the legal core curriculum which often alienates minority legal scholars.
Grace has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to the legal profession, winning BSN Lawyer of the Year at the UK Diversity Legal Awards 2021 and receiving high commendation at the Women & Diversity in Law Awards 2024. As she continues to make a significant impact, we eagerly anticipate following her career.
