Sophie Lloyd
Sophie specialises in government and administrative law, including judicial and merits review, commissions of inquiry and statutory interpretation.
She acts for government bodies in litigation before various courts and tribunals, including as solicitor advocate. She commonly works on matters involving complex legislative regimes, highly sensitive material and far-reaching policy implications and is responsible for the carriage and management of high volume litigation.
Sophie is admitted to practice in both NSW and England and Wales, having worked in London for a government department and the Public & Regulatory team of a private law firm.
Sophie is a former Associate to Justice Perram of the Federal Court of Australia. She also holds a Master of Laws from the University of Cambridge.
Experience
Sophie’s experience includes advising:
- the Minister for Immigration in relation to the extensive immigration caseload, including numerous judicial review proceedings in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, Federal Court and High Court (including a Ministerial appeal to the High Court in Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v CED16 (2020) 380 ALR 216) and merits review proceedings in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal;
- the NSW Commissioner of Police in a range of matters, including administrative reviews of licensing matters (firearms and security) in NCAT; civil proceedings, including proceeds of crime and forensic procedures; and coronial inquests;
- the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, including instructing Counsel Assisting the Commission during the case study concerning YMCA NSW and assisting with the preparation of various other public hearings;
- numerous major UK charities in relation to regulatory enforcement action, particularly high-profile statutory inquiries opened by the Charity Commission for England and Wales in relation to child protection and safeguarding, and advising on the scope of the Commission’s powers and its procedural fairness obligations; and
- a government agency on the lawfulness of its proposed systems for automated decision making.