Eleanor Bennett

Practice Summary

As a pupil, Eleanor has been supervised by Hashi Mohamed, Richard Clarke, Julia Smyth KC, Sasha Blackmore KC and Matthew Fraser. During pupillage, Eleanor gained experience across planning, environmental, property, public and administrative law, rating and valuation and local government matters, assisting members of Chambers in a range of advisory and litigation work.

Some notable matters that she assisted with as a pupil include the following:

• A two-week public inquiry concerning an application for the comprehensive redevelopment of the Aylesham Centre in Peckham.
• A Development Consent Order hearing for the proposed Botley West Solar Farm – an £800m national infrastructure project.
• A judicial review concerning Old Sarum airfield which dealt with the issue of the validity of planning permission following a change in circumstance after the grant of permission.
• A High Court trial concerning the mitigation of loss from the failure of the Defendant to complete the sale and purchase of a house valued over £16 million.
• Advising a social landlord in a matter concerning Universal Credit housing overpayments.
• A judicial review by multiple universities against the Department for Education and Student Loans Company concerning to the meaning of “distance learning” and subsequent availability of maintenance loans for students undertaking weekend courses.

Eleanor has a particular interest in planning, environmental, and public and administrative law and edits the Landmark Chambers Climate and Environment Law Blog. She is currently instructed by the Department for Education in The Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs.

Eleanor also acts unled in the County Court, recently securing an order under CPR 42.3 for a solicitor to come off the record.

Before commencing pupillage Eleanor worked in the Law Commission’s Public Law and Law in Wales team, first as a research assistant and then as a legal assistant. She worked on all stages of the Aviation Autonomy project, researching the existing legal framework and making recommendations to enable the regulation of autonomous and highly automated systems and vehicles, including drones and autonomous passenger-carrying aircraft. As a result, she is well placed to advise on legal issues arising from the use of AI and autonomy and has experience navigating technical regulatory regimes.

Additional experience prior to joining the Bar includes:

• Advising on equality law and restrictions on deplatforming following the introduction of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 as a research assistant to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Culture, Equality and Inclusion at the University of Sussex.
• Documenting the international legal response to the COVID pandemic as an editorial assistant on the Lex-Atlas 19 project.
• Researching the legal and constitutional implications of Brexit as a research assistant at the UCL Constitution Unit working on “The Parliamentary Battle Over Brexit”.

Eleanor is a safeguarding link governor at a state primary school and children’s centre in north west London. In this role, she has gained experience of joining a multiple academy trust, ensuring compliance with education law and policy, and school exclusions.

Eleanor graduated with a first-class Law degree from the University of Oxford and obtained an LLM from UCL specialising in public law.