Who We Are
We are outcome-focused lawyers. We do not allow time and money to be wasted taking academic or hopeless points. The education professionals we work with are intelligent, dedicated people capable of reflecting upon their own situation; our expertise is in helping them through their difficulties.
Our joint expertise is recognised by the teaching unions in England, two of whom – ASCL and NAHT – frequently instruct us to represent their members in complex and sometimes high-profile regulatory cases. We also work directly with many teachers who require a bespoke legal service.
Andrew Faux – Barrister (qualified 1995)
Andrew understands the landscape of teacher regulation inside out. Following a career as a criminal barrister, Andrew worked as an in-house prosecutor for the General Teaching Council for England from 2005-10. He knows the personalities and philosophies that continue to shape the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) and the Department of Education’s approach to teacher misconduct.
Since 2010 Andrew has used his skills to help regulated professionals, building an unrivaled reputation in this field as a pragmatic defender of teachers and headteachers facing allegations of misconduct or other difficulties at work.
Colin Henderson – Solicitor (qualified 1997)
Colin is a tenacious litigator who has honed his case preparation skills over two decades of managing cases at every level from Tribunals to the Supreme Court. He has supported thousands of clients whilst working in the non-profit sector and in private practice across the fields of education, employment, property and public law.
He brings a sympathetic but rigorous approach to his cases. He has many years of advocacy experience before courts and tribunals and has represented teachers before the TRA since 2016.
Faisal Sameja – Solicitor (qualified 2009)
Faisal has considerable experience in Teacher Regulation and Employment Law in which he holds a Masters degree. He is known for his empathetic yet robust approach in achieving the best outcomes for his clients.
Between 2015 and 2024, Faisal worked at the Association of School and College Leaders – ASCL – the trade union for school, college and trust leaders with over 25,000 members. From 2022 he led ASCL’s in-house legal team as Senior Solicitor, regularly speaking at conferences and delivering training. Faisal has also spent some time at Browne Jacobson LLP as a Senior Associate.
Faisal has advised school leaders in relation to a wide range of matters including; employment disputes, regulatory referrals, inquests, public inquiries, safeguarding, unfair dismissals, whistleblowing and discrimination.
The Reflective Practice – established 2015
We are all committed to providing personal support in professional crises whilst achieving the best possible results. All professionals, including lawyers and teachers, should reflect on their practice continuously and their regulators expect this. We named our regulatory defence law firm The Reflective Practice based on this principle in 2015 and have been helping teachers and other professionals ever since.
Our notable cases include the High Court appeal which clarified there is a public interest in retaining good teachers in the profession despite their misconduct. The Reflective Practice site gives more information on our approach to legal practice.
We combine the expertise of solicitors conducting litigation and barristers concentrating on advocacy. More information on our firm’s regulation by the Bar Standards Board is available from them here.