About
Who am I and what do I do?
This page is written by Oliver Lewis.
I’m a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers. My practice covers the Court of Protection, healthcare law and human rights. I'’m regularly instructed by the full range of parties (NHS Trusts, local authorities, families and ‘P’, including the Official Solicitor) in medical treatment cases, property and affairs applications, and health and welfare disputes. And I act in inherent jurisdiction cases concerning vulnerable adults, and Family Division cases about medical treatment or deprivation of liberty of children.
I’m often instructed in cases where P has been labelled as ‘complex’, where there is some element of risk (often intersecting with the criminal law), and where relationships between families and professionals have broken down, sometimes to such an extent that there are committal proceedings against family members. For more details, see my Chambers webpage.
My book “Coercive Control and Vulnerable Adults: Law and Practice in the Court of Protection and under the Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court” was published by Bloomsbury in 2026. For more info, and to buy the book for 10% off, click here.
My human rights journey
I started my career in Budapest, working across Eastern Europe on human rights abuses carried out by the state: in psychiatric hospitals, orphanages and other institutions. I was involved in the negotiations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and continue to write about it, and provide consultancy services on its implementation.
When I came back to the UK in 2017 and began working in the Court of Protection, I found something that surprised me. The abuses I saw weren’t (just) in institutions. They were happening behind closed doors, in ordinary homes, often unrecognised, even by the person experiencing it.
Of course, most families and most carers provide excellent support. But what surprised me is that coercive control rarely looks like control. It often looks like love, care or concern, and it can build slowly through isolation, money, surveillance, fear and the quiet loss of choice. It can happen between partners, between adult children and ageing parents, between siblings, and within caring relationships.
Legal advice
The information on this website isn’t legal advice. No barrister-client relationship is created by you reading this website or contacting me. I am permitted by my regulator to give legal advice either through a solicitor, or on a direct access basis once my client and I have signed a client engagement letter.
This website can’t replace advice from a lawyer who knows your situation. In the first instance, please contact a solicitor. I can’t give recommendations, but you can use the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor site to find solicitors who specialise in the area of law of you need.
There are many organisations that may be able to provide advice too, and I’ve listed some on the Helplines page. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 999.
If you are a solicitor who wishes to instruct me to provide advice or representation in a specific matter, please contact my clerks.