Anita Rao
Principal Associate, Barrister
Experience
Anita is a specialist in healthcare advisory law, advising on a wide range of matters including contentious and non contentious public law matters, commissioning responsibilities and disputes, NHS service reconfiguration, matters involving the Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act, and inquests. Her experience includes:
- Judicial review – advising and acting for healthcare and regulatory bodies at the pre-action stage and post issue, across a wide range of substantive issues including commissioning disputes.
- Mental capacity & competence – acting for acute and mental health trusts and commissioners in applications to the Court of Protection, and advising on deprivation of liberty and best interests, capacity, advance decision making, LPAs, DNARs, DNACPRs and on urgent applications for serious medical treatment. Anita also regularly advises on decision making by and for children and young persons, on Gillick competence and parental responsibility.
- General healthcare law – advising on a wide range of other healthcare matters including on NHS service reconfiguration, the HRA 1998 and EqA 2010, and on surrogacy and assisted conception matters.
- Inquests - advising on and representing clients at complex inquests including those under Article 2 ECHR and/or with a jury.
Anita is also an experienced advocate at first instance and at appellate level. At the independent Bar, she appeared before the Supreme Court as junior counsel in D (A Child) [2019] UKSC 42. She undertook a traineeship with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2018.
Publications
Co-author of Surrogacy – Current Law, Practice and Policy in England and Wales (2018, Jordans Publishing).
Legal awards
- 2018 Pegasus Scholar to the European Court of Human Rights, Pegasus Trust (Inner Temple)
- 2014 Judicial Assistant to Lady Justice (now Lady) Arden
- 2013 Hubert Greenland Scholar (Lincoln’s Inn)
- 2010 Marchant Scholar (Lincoln’s Inn)
- 2009 Lord Haldane Scholar (Lincoln’s Inn)
- 2009 Hardwicke Award recipient (Lincoln’s Inn)
Admitted as a Barrister
2011
Qualifications
- BA (Oxon) PPE, 2009
- PgDL 2010 (Commendation)
- BPTC 2011 (Very Competent)
