Fatima commenced pupillage in October 2019 under the supervision of Stephen Simblet and Lucie Wibberley. She intends to build a practice in public law, actions against the police and criminal defence work, particularly financial crime and terrorism.
Background
Before joining the Bar, Fatima was a medical statistician at University College London where she received recognition for her teaching, winning a UCL Arena Award. Her research changed clinical practice across Europe and has been cited more than 900 times.
Fatima helped set up Sufra Food Bank in NW London in 2013 and was an active trustee until 2019. Her community engagement inspired her to retrain as a barrister focusing on social justice issues. The food bank won the Special Recognition Award at Brent Council’s Pride of Britain Awards 2017.
During her legal studies, Fatima worked with the then Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Max Hill QC, to review the operation of the Terrorism Acts as well as their impact on community and individual rights. She then worked as a consultant for Forward Thinking, an organisation that connects policymakers with marginalised communities, scrutinising the impact of counter terrorism police raids.
She was recently awarded the Ubuntu Scholarship by City Law School in recognition of her commitment to pro bono work, allowing her to spend the summer at the University of Western Cape, South Africa, where she created a podcast on contemporary legal issues including land rights, legal pluralism and the environment.
Fatima is a trustee of the Kalisher Trust, which works to support talented individuals from diverse backgrounds to enter the Criminal Bar. She is the legal affairs editor of an online comment site, The Platform, which advances marginalised narratives.
Publications
Fatima contributed to the Young Legal Aid Lawyers' 2018 report on Social Mobility in a Time of Austerity.
Training and Seminars
Fatima was invited by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law to chair a seminar on Returning ISIS Women and Fighters: What are the Options? Panellists included Amanda Weston QC (of Garden Court Chambers) and Lord Anderson. (March 2019)
Fatima also organised a Kalisher Trust event on obtaining a crime pupillage. (January 2019)
Awards
International Scholarship, The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple (2019)
Ubuntu Scholarship, City Law School (2019)
BPTC Scholarship, City Law School (2017)
BPTC Major Exhibition Award, The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple (2017)
Education
Bar Professional Training Course, City Law School
Graduate Diploma in Law, BPP Law School
MSc Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
BSc Mathematics, Queen Mary, University of London
Professional Membership
Criminal Bar Association
Liberty
Languages
Arabic