Court of Protection cases involve making decisions about the rights of vulnerable adults who do not have capacity under the Mental Health Act 2005 to make those decisions for themselves. These can either be welfare decisions or decisions about financial matters.

These cases often involve family members, local authorities, healthcare bodies and the Official Solicitor, as well as the vulnerable adult themselves. The court can appoint deputies to make future decisions in the best interests of those who lack capacity to do so themselves.

Welfare decisions include:

• Personal welfare applications on issues such as where the vulnerable adult should live, disputes about contact with family members and decisions upon complex care packages.
• Cases involving applications for or challenges to deprivation of liberty in care homes or hospitals.
• Applications concerning authorisation of serious medical interventions.
• Overlapping jurisdiction with the Children Act 1989 concerning decisions for 16 and 17 year olds.

Financial decisions include:

• Contested applications for the appointment of deputies.
• Property and affairs applications involving decisions about access to supported living, long-term residential care or other disputes about financial matters concerning the vulnerable adult.

These cases require great sensitivity as well as expert and committed advocacy. At Pump Court we have extensive experience of protecting the rights of vulnerable adults and children through the Court of Protection and related proceedings within the High Court.

Headed by Leslie Samuels KC and Jennifer Lee, our Court of Protection team consists of a core group of barristers with expertise in this field, and includes a Deputy High Court Judge with authorisation to sit in the Court of Protection, Recorders, and Deputy District Judges. Several of our team members have also worked in-house for local authorities dealing with adult social care and Court of Protection matters.

Our team also benefits from our strong technical expertise in the related fields of family law (both in children law and family finance), mental health law, inheritance law (including contentious probate), and property law. This breadth and depth of experience ensures that we are well placed to advise and represent parties to the highest standard in this specialist area of practice.

Members of the team regularly provide in-house seminars to solicitors in private practice and to local authorities, and at times in conjunction with Solicitors for the Elderly and the Hampshire Law Society. We also run a series of Court of Protection seminars in London, Hampshire and elsewhere, which are open to all who have an interest in this field.