My colleague and friend Kay Everett, who has died of cancer aged 43, was a gifted lawyer whose campaigning work in immigration and human rights issues made her a powerful voice for the voiceless. She was also instrumental in establishing the public law department at our firm, Wilson Solicitors, where she was made a partner in 2012.
Born in Swindon, daughter of Rosemary (nee Stevens), a medical secretary, and Brian Everett, who worked for Burmah Castrol (now BP), Kay went to Cirencester Deer Park school. Brian’s work meant the family lived abroad for periods, and Kay took an international baccalaureate at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore before reading law and Chinese at the University of Leeds.
Following graduation in 1995, Kay trained at the City firm Lovells, where she met her partner, Anand Doobay, then joined the magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, working in project finance, in 2000.
It was at a meeting at the Ministry of Defence that Kay realised the City was not for her. This was in 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq, and there was an anti-war demonstration outside. Kay turned to her colleague and whispered: “I think I’m the only one around this table who would rather be outside with the protesters.”
In 2004 Kay followed her conscience and enrolled for a master’s in human rights law at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Thereafter she volunteered at Hackney Law Centre and became active in supporting destitute asylum seekers and migrants, reshaping her career as an immigration and legal aid specialist.
Kay joined Wilson Solicitors in 2008, where I first worked with her. She had a wonderful sense of humour and her optimistic catchphrase “what can possibly go wrong?” punctuated the most tense legal dramas involving emergency removals and complex detention cases. She was a passionate fighter for the most vulnerable of clients, winning their trust, and giving them a place of safety.
She helped to establish the public law department at Wilsons, and we were proud to appoint her a partner. Her kindness and intellectual rigour underpinned outstanding legal work. Kay was a wise mentor, helping numerous trainee solicitors with their careers.
Over the years Kay campaigned on immigration and human rights issues. She gave moving evidence about the inordinate immigration detention in the UK to the all-party parliamentary group on migration. Kay was co-convenor of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association’s detention committee and a member of the Law Society’s human rights committee. In June last year, Kay addressed the European Law Academy conference in Strasbourg on human rights and the detention of asylum seekers.
Kay is survived by Anand, her father, Brian, and her brother, Stewart. Her mother predeceased her.