Our Steering Group

PULSA is a space for public law solicitors to meet, discuss issues of concern, and network.

Our members come from claimant and defendant firms, in-house in public bodies (including local and central government), NDPBs, professional regulatory bodies, academia and the third sector.

Melanie Carter

Head of Public & Regulatory at Stone King LLP

Melanie Carter is a founding member of PULSA. She is Partner and Head of Public & Regulatory for Stone King LLP. She is a longstanding specialist in public and administrative law and is top ranked as a leading individual in the legal directories. She is a trustee of the Public Law Project and is a fellow of the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research. Melanie is formerly a Government Lawyer, Head of Legal in-house at a regulator, was a Tribunal Judge for many years and also an international adjudicator. She started her working life at law centres and advice centres.

Sarah Court-Brown

Senior Specialist Legal Editor for Practical Law Public Sector (Thomson Reuters)

Sarah Court-Brown has been practicing public law for over a decade at various firms, including Baker McKenzie, DAC Beachcroft, Bates Wells and Bevan Brittan. She is currently a Senior Specialist Legal Editor at Practical Law Public Sector. She also has an academic interest in public and constitutional law, regularly publishing academic articles and other thought pieces.

Sara Lomri

Senior Lawyer (Principal Officer) at Ofsted

Sara is an in-house senior lawyer at Ofsted. She leads on education advisory projects, Equalities and AI for the organisation. Before joining Ofsted, Sara worked as Deputy Legal Director at Public Law Project, where she worked with NGOs and individuals, leading legal advice and strategy on public interest litigation. Sara has a private practice and legal aid background.

Nusrat Zar

Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP

Nusrat Zar is head of the public law and regulatory practice at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP. A solicitor advocate, Nusrat has extensive experience helping clients with a range of public and administrative law matters including judicial review, statutory appeals, regulatory disputes, investigations, public and other inquiries, professional regulation, human rights and freedom of information issues, as well as procurement matters. She is top ranked for these areas in the legal directories. Nusrat works with commercial organisations and public sector bodies including regulators, with her experience covering numerous sectors and fields including, amongst others, media, telecoms and broadcasting, consumer, energy, all modes of transport, utilities, pensions, financial services, planning, competition, and taxation.

Therese Prince

Head of Legal, Governance and Risk at Universities UK

Therese, a dual-qualified lawyer, is Head of Legal, Governance and Risk at Universities UK, where she advises on areas including judicial review, civil litigation, regulatory compliance and human rights, including free speech and academic freedom. A former government lawyer and senior legal adviser to the Law Society of England and Wales, her extensive experience also includes public inquiries, inquests and third-party interventions.

Quentin Baker

Director of Law and Governance for Hertfordshire County Council

Currently Director of Law and Governance for Hertfordshire County Council for the last 7 years and have over 20 years of experience as a Monitoring Officer and have undertaken numerous governance reviews for the LGA and MHCLG.

Joanna Ludlam

Partner at Jenner & Block London LLP

Joanna is a founding member of PULSA. She is Chair of the London Public Law and Crisis Management Practice, Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Hearing Preparation and Global Crisis Management and Strategic Risk practices, and Co-Chair of the firm’s Investigations Department. She advises major corporations, regulators, and public bodies on complex issues spanning administrative and public law, contentious regulatory investigations, and corporate crime—often involving bribery, fraud, tax evasion, and anti-money laundering. 

Emma Dowden-Teale

Partner, Head of Public Law at DLA Piper

Emma Dowden-Teale is DLA Piper UK's Head of Public Law and co-Chairs DLA Piper's Global Public, Constitutional and Administrative law network of DLA Piper’s public lawyers across the UK, Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific.

Emma advises clients across the public, private and third sectors on all aspects of public law, both contentious and advisory, including in respect of procurement, human rights, equality, regulation and inquiries.

Thelma P Stober

Head of Legal and Company Secretary at the Local Government Association

Thelma P Stober, DL is is founding member of PULSA. Thelma is a distinguished solicitor, mediator and Company Secretary with extensive senior-level experience across the private and public sectors. She currently leads the Legal and Governance Team at the Local Government Association (LGA), overseeing complex legal frameworks, corporate governance strategy, major collective litigation, and public inquiries on behalf of local government in England and Wales.

Thelma holds a BA (Hons) in Law and an LLM, combining strong academic credentials with decades of practical leadership. As a solicitor, Deputy Lieutenant and committed advocate for victims of terrorism, she champions their voices while promoting professional excellence, robust governance, fairness and equality.

Virginia Cooper

Partner, Head of Public Law at Bevan Brittan

Virginia Cooper is a Partner, Board Member and Head of Public Law and Litigation, Advisory & Regulatory at Bevan Brittan LLP. She has more than 25 years of experience advising public sector and regulated clients on complex public law, regulatory, governance and dispute resolution matters. Her client portfolio includes local authorities, universities, regulators, ombudsman bodies and financial services organisations, and she is widely recognised for her expertise in judicial review, regulatory investigations and public sector litigation.

Virginia is also a founding member of PULSA and a member of the British and Irish Ombudsman Association's legal interest group.

Paul Craig

Professor of English Law

Paul Craig is Emeritus Professor of English Law, St John's College, Oxford. His research and writing cover Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, EU Law and Comparative Administrative Law. His recent publications include English Administrative from 1550: Continuity and Change (OUP, 2024), Administrative Law (Sweet & Maxwell, 10 the edn, 2025), EU Administrative Law (OUP, 4th edn, 2026) and The UK Regulatory Framework Post-Brexit: 'Law Unbound' (OUP, 2026), jointly edited with Vilija Velyvyte. 

Martin Smith

Partner at Fieldfisher LLP

Martin is a partner at Fieldfisher LLP and advises public officials, regulators and private sector organisations on public law, with particular expertise in judicial review and the exercise of public powers. Martin has extensive experience both bringing and defending judicial review proceedings and advising clients across the communications, energy and transport sectors. He is widely recognised for his work on major public inquiries, inquests and investigations, having led solicitor teams on matters including the 7/7 London bombings inquests, the Litvinenko Inquiry, the Baha Mousa Inquiry, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, The Sturgess Inquiry and the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel. He currently acts as Solicitor to the Covid-19 Inquiry, and regularly advise witnesses and organisations involved in inquiries, inquests and other investigations.