Andrew Williams - Capital Law

Andrew is a Principal Associate in our Public Law team.

Andrew trained in Australia and has been working in the UK for over 20 years. He is skilled in Public and Administrative Law, Government Advisory, Regulatory Law, Litigation and Legal Research.

Andrew joined us in early 2023 from the Government Legal Department where he provided public law advice to Ministers in various Departments on a number of high priority, high profile and/or complex matters with significant impact across the country and internationally.

Andrew was Deputy Director (SCS1) in the Roads Group within the Department of Transport Legal Advisers (DfTLA), where he led a team covering Road Safety & Insurance, the Accident Investigation Branches, Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, Future Transport Systems & Environment, and the Driver Agencies (DVSA/DVLA). Previously, throughout the COVID pandemic, he was a Senior Lawyer leading on advising Ministers and senior officials regarding international COVID travel measures (international travel restrictions (including the “traffic light” system), vaccine certification).

Andrew also has extensive public litigation experience, in particular (i) acting for the Ministry of Defence in civil claims brought by foreign claimants alleging mistreatment by British troops in Iraq, and (ii) defending numerous government Departments (including the Home Office and Security Services) in private law claims brought by former detainees at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Al Rawi v The Security Service & Others).

Expertise

Public/administrative and constitutional law
Judicial review/litigation
Regulatory law
Equality and human rights
Public inquiries and investigations
Commercial disputes

Recent work

Andrew joins us from the Government Legal Department where he provided advice to Ministers in various Departments on a number issues including:

COVID travel measures
Senior Lawyer within Department for Transport Legal Advisors, leading on advising Ministers and senior officials regarding international COVID travel measures (international travel restrictions (including the “traffic light” system), vaccine certification).

Volkswagen emissions scandal
Advising the Secretary of State for Transport with respect to the Government response to the Volkswagen emissions scandal, including defending potential legal claims by Volkswagen.

Op Yellowhammer
Advising the Department for Transport on Op Yellowhammer (contingency planning for a “no deal” Brexit”) – including supporting various strands of the Kent Traffic Management plan, facilitating the deployment of Operation Brock, and legal support for the freight prioritisation programme to ensure the supply of category 1 goods into the UK.

Detaining asylum seekers
Defending the Home Secretary in multiple challenges brought against the policy of detaining asylum seekers whose claim is capable of a quick decision (the “Detained Fast Track).

London Metropolitan University
Acting for the Home Secretary in a challenge brought by London Metropolitan University (LMU) against the revocation of its Tier 4 sponsor licence on the basis that it had failed to meet its screening obligations and was a risk to immigration control. LMU was the first university to face revocation.

Ministry of Defence
Conducting litigation for the Ministry of Defence (particularly the “Camp Breadbasket” litigation) defending civil claim brought by foreign claimants alleging mistreatment by British troops in Iraq – including a successful mediation outside the UK.

Guantanamo Bay
Defending numerous government Departments (including the Home Office and Security Services) in private law claims brought by former detainees at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Al Rawi v The Security Service & Others).

Testimonials

Applying for a Home Office Sponsor’s Licence to bring a K Pop specialist from abroad into our team was a daunting task. But Capital Law’s team of experts made the process less daunting and were clear, fast, great to work with, always responsive and continually checking in as we proceeded through each step. Without them we could not have navigated the application through to a successful outcome.

Dawn Airey | Founder | Moon and Back TV
Working with you and Capital Law is to feel absolute confidence, which reduces stress and enables decisions to be made in the knowledge that the advice received is of the highest calibre.

Fix Training Ltd
I would be more than happy to provide my whole hearted recommendation to any of your future clients. Working with you and Capital Law, is to unite with a team of exceptional calibre and feel that as a team, we were working together towards a common goal.

Fix Training Ltd
We recently instructed Capital to pursue a substantial claim against the Government for non-payment of our invoices. Our contract with the Government was the main focus of our business, and being starved of cash made it impossible for us to fight a costly battle through the Courts. Luckily for us, Capital had faith in our claim and secured funding quickly and on competitive terms. Within 5 months of entering into the funding agreement, we achieved a fantastic settlement at mediation – a result that we are delighted with.

Fix Training Ltd
For anyone attempting the NEBOSH Diploma I thoroughly recommend they visit Capital Law first. The course is very demanding, but the team went the extra mile to help me through the process to achieve a successful outcome. Explaining some of the finer detail and requirements for the exam board is a skill which Mark and his team have mastered. I’m certain I am not the easiest student, but a few one-to one sessions set me on the right path. My heartfelt thanks to Chloe & Mark for their support throughout as I could not have achieved this without them.

Brian Evans | H&S Manager
Amey Infrastructure Wales
Thank you for all your support over the past few months, a real star talent.

Private Client