Joseph specialises in actions against the police, inquests, judicial reviews and public inquiries
Joseph has a diverse human rights practice with a particular focus in the following areas:
Actions against the police
Joseph has represented victims of police wrongdoing in civil claims against police forces and complaints against individual officers for over a decade. He represents a broad range of clients in a diverse range of circumstances, including journalists, protestors and activists, victims of trafficking, victims of racist and/or discriminatory policing, and anyone otherwise subjected to unlawful police powers.
He is experienced at challenging police misuse of a broad range of powers, including arrest, stop and search, powers of entry, strip searches, excessive force including uses of tasers and police dogs, covert investigatory powers, processing of personal data including through facial recognition technology. He is also experienced at bringing cases against the police for failures to investigate serious wrongdoing, such as human trafficking, abuse or exploitation.
In recent years, Joseph has developed an expertise in cases challenging police use of facial recognition technology, and is representing several clients who have been subjected to police powers as a result of being misidentified by live facial recognition cameras or through retrospective use of facial recognition technology.
Joseph is also experienced at bringing claims and complaints in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal relating to the misuse of covert powers.
Inquests
Joseph represents bereaved families at inquests of their loved ones have died as a result of state failures. He has acted on inquests of individuals who have died whilst detained under the Mental Health Act, in police custody, in prison or in receipt of residential or domiciliary care.
In addition to representing families at inquests, he also represents families in respect of investigations by regulatory bodies following a death, such as Serious Incident investigations by NHS Trusts or private healthcare bodies, Safeguarding Adult Reviews by local authority Safeguarding Adults Boards, HSE or CQC investigations, and investigations by the Independent Office of Police Conduct.
Judicial review
Joseph is experienced at bringing and advising in respect of judicial reviews against police forces, regulatory bodies, and Coroners. He is currently acting on a judicial review of the Metropolitan Police’s use of live facial recognition cameras. He is previously worked on judicial review challenges of stops of journalists under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, challenges of IOPC decisions, police misuse of ‘Covid powers’, and a high profile and successful judicial review of the Metropolitan Police’ attempt to use public order powers ‘ban’ extinction rebellion protests in 2019.
Public inquiries
Joseph has represented Core Participants at several high-profile public inquiries. He acted on behalf of residents of Grenfell Tower and bereaved families at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. He also represented a diverse group of victims of undercover policing at the Undercover Policing Inquiry. He is now representing a bereaved family at the Lampard Inquiry into patient deaths in mental health units in Essex.
Notable cases
Joseph’s notable cases include:
- Judicial review of police ‘ban’ on Extinction Rebellion protest
Baroness Jenny Jones , David Drew MP, Eleanor Chowns MEP, Adam Alnutt, Caroline Lucas MP, Clive Lewis MP and George Monbiot v The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis
Represented XR supporters in two successful judicial review cases against the Metropolitan Police Commissioner for imposing ‘bans’ on protests in London. The successful challenges rendered unlawful many hundreds of the arrests of the protesters
- Dr Konstancja Duff
Represented academic Dr Konstancja Duff in her civil claim against the police arising from her unlawful strip search by officers at Stoke Newington Police Station and successfully obtained damages on her behalf.
- Jason Matthews
Represented former professional boxer and community worker Jason Matthews in his claim against the police arising from his unlawful stop and search at Hackney Carnival and successfully obtained damages on his behalf.
- Failure to investigate
In 2022, Joseph represented two victims of trafficking and modern slavery in the UK, successfully securing compensation of more than £10,000 for each victim, following the police’s failures to investigate their case. Read more about the case and Joseph’s success here.
- Melissa Mathieson inquest
- Laura Davis inquest
- Edwige Nsilu inquest
Recent directory and client quotes
Legal 500 2025
- Joseph is recommended in the editorial commentary for Civil Liberties and Human Rights.
What clients say
Joe was helping me complain against the issuance of a Prevention of Harassment Letter (PHL) ….. Joe succeeded in having the PHL withdrawn. Throughout I felt huge confidence in Joe’s calm, resolute manner. He took time to understand the issues and quickly came up with a clear plan. He progressed this steadily, working behind the scenes for me, updating me when something significant happened. I always felt that Joe was on my side, although he sometimes had to counsel me to stay calm and not rush, which I appreciated and respected. I always felt he was working as hard as possible for me and was keeping a proactive eye/ ear on my case. I now know he has lots of other clients, but it always felt like I was the only one. I felt quite early on that he believed he would win and that was wonderfully reassuring for me.
Client 2024
I truly felt confident in Joseph’s ability to conduct my case due to his genuine hard work and passion to achieve the best outcome from the situations we faced during the 3 years of the case. I would like to thank Joseph Morgan.
Client 2024
Thanks for all your work and support over the years, it would be a really tough world to live in generally without people doing what you do, and especially high stakes standing up to the state and police. I count myself quite lucky to have had access to the legal support i do and to have had you representing me.
Client 2024
Publications and press releases
Joseph has written articles for the Solicitor’s Journal and for LexisNexis PSL on the developing laws around mass state surveillance
Professional memberships
- Police Action Lawyers Group (PALG)
- Inquest Lawyers Group (ILG)
- Westminster and Holborn Law Society
Awards
- In 2019 Joseph won the Westminster and Holborn Law Society’s Newly Qualified Rising Star Award
- In 2016 Joseph and his Bindmans’ Hillsborough Team colleagues, jointly with other Hillsborough Family legal teams, won an Outstanding Achievement Award at the LALY Awards
Education and career
- Joseph studied Czech, European and International Law at the Charles University in Prague in 2012
- He graduated from University of Nottingham with a degree in Law with European Law (LLB) in 2013
- Prior to joining Bindmans, Joseph was a paralegal at another large firm from 2013-2014
- Joseph qualified as a solicitor at Bindmans in March 2019, after joining the firm as a paralegal in June 2015
