Karen Ashton is Head of Public Law and Human Rights at Central England Law Centre.
Karen trained in a legal aid practice, qualifying as a solicitor in 1992. In 1996 she joined the Public Law Project as a Project Solicitor and became the first Director of the organisation in 1998. She returned to private practice, setting up a new specialist public law practice, Public Law Solicitors, in Birmingham in 2003 and then returned to the not for profit sector three years ago.
Karen specialises in public law in social welfare fields and has a particular specialism in health and social care. She continues to practice with a focus on casework with broader, public interest implications. She writes and trains regularly, contributing to Community Care and the Law and co-writing LAG’s regular Community Care Update, and provides consultancy support to a number of national charities.