Expertise and experience
Rachel is a recognised expert in mental health and mental capacity and has been actively involved in shaping the development of the law in this area.
She usually represents vulnerable individuals and is often instructed by the Official Solicitor or an advocate, as well as acting for private individuals and their families.
The types of cases that Rachel has been involved in include:
- representing people who lack capacity in Court of Protection hearings where they are decisions need to be made about their residence, care, contact with others, medical treatment, and whether they have capacity to enter into marriage or sexual relations;
- representing clients before a mental health tribunal if they have been detained under the Mental Health Act;
- clients whose movements are restricted by Ministry of Justice;
- challenging the lawfulness of decisions via judicial review cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal, such as in regard to exclusion zones or deprivation of liberty;
- securing compensation for unlawful detention in a hospital or care home.
Rachel also has experience overseas having worked as an adviser to Uganda Law Society (ULS), Uganda Ministry of Health and the Uganda branch of the World Health Organisation on the human rights aspect of the proposed revisions to mental health law. While in Uganda Rachel co-founded the Mikwano Children’s Trust, a small English registered charity supporting poor and orphaned Ugandan children.
Legal 500
Rachel is recognised in the 2023 Legal 500 as a ‘recommended lawyer’, with the following testimonial:
‘Rachel Turner advised me and she certainly knows mental capacity law inside out. I valued her expertise and her insight into this particularly tricky and sensitive situation. She always responded promptly and there were some important deadlines which she helped to manage effectively’.
Chambers UK
Rachel was ranked in Band 2 in the Chambers UK 2023 Guide. In the Chambers UK 2022 Guide, she was commended for her ‘very good attention to detail’ and going the extra mile for clients.
