Quoted in Police in Crisis -The Big Issue North 4-10 June 2012

http://www.rjgallagher.co.uk/2012/06/police-in-crisis.htmlUK police in crisis

My Legal Life -The Law Gazette 1 November 2012

My interview in the Law Gazette -On the beat for Justice
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/features/my-legal-life-sophie-khan
 My Legal Life: Sophie Khan

Thursday 01 November 2012

Before I settled on law I wanted to be a conservationist. I had read Peter Matthiessen’s book The Snow Leopard, in which he diarised his journey through the Himalayas, and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
I’ve always been a worker and couldn’t wait to qualify. I can remember in my final year at university thinking I still had two years before I could put the law into practice.
My first case against the police was quite serious. It involved a guy who lived next door to the firm and had been targeted because of the colour of his skin.
When I was at Imran Khan & Partners I dealt with so many different cases in my first month. Every day people would call with enquiries – taser cases, judicial reviews, assaults, human rights cases, breaches of privacy, search warrants. At the moment I’m representing a blind man tasered because it was thought his stick was a samurai sword.
The respect that the police need to give communities has vanished. The police have to deal with that urgently or they won’t receive the respect they in turn need to do their job.
It’s changing, but a lot of lawyers are still scared of saying anything on Twitter. But a tweet is personal, and people see it that way. So long as you’re not breaking a client confidence, affecting a case or making, say, a racist comment, I can’t see the problem. I have 1,012 followers.
My first appearance in court I found quite natural. Provided you know the law and your client’s case, you’ll be fine. You just have to remember that you’re in front of a judge or recorder who was once in your position.
Solicitor-advocates are the future. When you look at what’s happening to legal aid it’s clear that both barristers and solicitors will not be able to survive on those rates. Solicitors are involved from day one, solicitors know what their client really needs and wants. That can be missed by barristers who are more narrowly focused on the law.
I launched the Police Action Centre in August this year as a non-legal forum and information centre for people who faced an issue with the police.
I’m a campaigning lawyer using the legal side of issues to further the campaign through the courts. The community and activist groups I’m part of, such as the Stop and Search Legal Project and Stop Criminalising Hackney Youth, means I have people’s confidence. A lot of my cases come from the campaigns I’m involved with.
Sophie Khan is solicitor-advocate at McMillan Williams Solicitors

Blind man Tasered by police threatens legal action -30 October 2012

Interviewed by Elaine Willcox, Granada Reports

http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2012-10-30/blind-man-tasered-by-police-threatens-legal-action/

The Lawyer - 23 October 2012 By Sam Chadderton

I'm in The Lawyer!

http://www.thelawyer.com/mcmillan-williams-represents-blind-stroke-victim-tasered-by-police/1015121.article

McMillan Williams represents blind stroke victim tasered by police

23 October 2012 | By Sam Chadderton

A lawyer specialising in actions against the police has been instructed for a blind stroke victim who was tasered by mistake.

Sophie Khan

Solicitor advocate Sophie Khan, head of claims against police at South East-based McMillan Williams Solicitors, is representing Colin Farmer, who was stunned by Lancashire Police after they mistook his white stick for a samurai sword.
Khan, whose expertise includes taser-related injuries, moved from London-based GT Stewart Solicitors in August to head the department at McMillan Williams.

A civil claim for damages is expected to be lodged with the courts next month. Farmer, who is partially sighted, registered blind and has suffered two strokes in the past, is seeking compensation from the force.
Officers mistook Farmer’s white walking stick for a weapon as they responded to reports of a man carrying a samurai sword in the street. The stun gun used on Farmer is capable of discharging 50,000 volts.
As a solicitor advocate Khan will hope to do most of the casework herself and if counsel are instructed it will be at a later date.
A statement from the firm said: “The Independent Police Complaints Commission has indicated that they are conducting an investigation and McMillan Williams will be writing to the IPCC to find out what steps it is taking regarding this serious incident.”

Sophie Khan, the solicitor leading the case, last night told Legal Cheek:
“The incident which involved my client is just one in a long line of disproportionate uses of the taser stun guns on vulnerable and disabled people. It raises serious questions about the quality of training that is provided to police officers and whether steps need to be taken to address the lack of training. In the absence of any action by the police service it is likely that such incidents will continue to happen.”


 http://www.legalcheek.com/2012/10/morning-round-up-wednesday-24-october/