Chief Executive Officer - Elayne Hill Expand Elayne has led the law centre as its chief executive officer since 2022. She is responsible for setting the vision of the organisation; its strategic direction and development; and growing its impact. She is also the law centre's senior solicitor and oversees the senior leadership team, which includes the finance director and the impact & development director. Having qualified as a solicitor in 2003, Elayne joined the law centre in 2004 and prior to becoming its chief executive was the director of operations with responsibility for the daily management of the organisation, ensuring it complies with its legal and regulatory requirements as well as working closely with the heads of the legal teams to manage the delivery of its services. She previously represented clients in the Employment Tribunal and County Court covering all aspects of employment and discrimination law and in 2013 she was appointed as a fee-paid employment judge.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Claire Stern Expand Claire has worked for the law centre since 2015. She is the deputy chief executive officer. Claire has worked in paid and voluntary roles in the charity and not for profit sector for over 15 years including periods at the HIV/AIDS Alliance, Refugee Action, Bristol Refugee Rights, Refugee Women of Bristol and the University of the West of England in project management and organisational development roles. She has a particular interest in how the legal sector communicates and works with the public to improve legal capability in society.
Director of Positive Action on Poverty – Emma Bates Expand Emma is the Director of Positive Action on Poverty. Previously she was the Programme Manager for IGNITE, a partnership with Grapevine, Children's Services and Whitefriars Housing. Emma has worked in a variety of operational roles for the third sector including Voluntary Service Overseas Kazakhstan, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and a Stroke Survivors Project in Hackney. She also worked for Coventry as Young People’s Manager at the New Deal for Communities in Wood End and as Care Act Implementation Manager.
Head of Employment and Discrimination - Katherine King Expand As well as leading the Employment Team, Katherine coordinates volunteers across the Law Centre. In this role she works closely with university partners in supervising student advice clinics in Coventry and Birmingham. Katherine is a qualified solicitor since 2013, and she has several years’ experience working in the voluntary sector providing general advice on social welfare law and specialist advice and representation in welfare benefits, family and employment law matters. She has a particular interest in pregnancy and maternity discrimination. Katherine is also an experienced university lecturer teaching postgraduates and has a particular interest in social policy campaigning.
Head of Family – John Hickey Expand John is a qualified solicitor with 20 years’ experience as a Family Solicitor in private practice. John has extensive experience in a wide range of family matters and is a member of The Law Society Accredited Advanced Family Panel. He specialises in providing advice and assistance to victims of domestic violence and abuse and to parents involved in Care proceedings.
Head of Housing – Hugh Wilkinson Expand Hugh has worked on legal aid housing cases for most of his career. He joined the Law Centre in 2019 from private practice in London, and since April 2022 has supervised the Law Centre’s housing team. He is experienced in a wide range of housing cases, including possession proceedings, homelessness appeals, injunctions and committal proceedings, and appears regularly as duty solicitor in Coventry and Nuneaton County Courts as well as undertaking advocacy on most of his own cases.
Head of Immigration and Asylum – Helen Salmon & Kirsty Linkin Expand Helen is a solicitor who joined the law centre immigration team in 2019. She has been an immigration supervisor since 2021. Her casework covers all areas of immigration and asylum law, including deportation appeals, asylum claims and appeals, immigration support for victims of domestic abuse and representation in the First Tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and Court of Appeal. Kirsty qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland in 2013 and worked in Law Centre (NI) and private practice before joining Central England Law Centre in 2016. She is an accredited Supervising Senior Caseworker under the Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme. Kirsty has experience in a broad range of immigration matters at the stages of initial application, appeals to the First Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal and Judicial Review including: human trafficking, domestic violence, asylum, private and family life, deportation, EU law, and British citizenship.
Head of Legal Casework and Compliance - Lydia Nash Expand As head of legal casework and compliance, Lydia's role is to lead and manage our casework service to ensure that we continue to provide a high-quality legal advice service to our clients in line with our service delivery plans and that we comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. Lydia has been with the law centre since 2012 and qualified as a solicitor in 2013. Before becoming head of legal casework and compliance Lydia was the head of housing for the law centre and has extensive experience of representing clients facing housing issues including possession matters, homelessness, disrepair and anti-social behaviour.
Head of Public Law – Michael Bates Expand Michael is a solicitor and heads up our public law team. He worked for the old Birmingham Law Centre for 17 years before its closure in August 2013 and specialises in the area of law where immigration status affects entitlement to social and welfare support. He has experience of representation in the First-Tier and Upper Tribunal as well as Judicial Review and has taken several cases to the Court of Appeal.
Head of Welfare Benefits - David Beckett Expand David has been employed by the Law Centre since February 2012 as a welfare benefits specialist and as well as leading the team represents clients across the spectrum of benefits including first tier tribunal and upper tribunal. David has been involved in welfare rights since 1985 and came to the Law Centre from Birmingham Tribunal Unit where he worked as a tribunal representative.
Rights In The Community Development & Partnership Lead (Birmingham) - Simeon Bright Expand Simeon joined CELC in May 2023 as Rights in the Community Development & Partnership Lead for Birmingham to grow partnerships and continue to roll out the RIC strategy so that rights are embedded in communities across the city. Simeon has dedicated his career to making a positive impact in the West Midlands, where he has taken on diverse roles within the nonprofit and housing sectors. He has launched two social enterprises, provided essential support to numerous community organisations in their early stages, and earned accreditation as a Governance Practitioner. His unwavering passion is centred on combating injustice, and he takes great pride in being a devoted advocate for Birmingham.