Dr Ellie Brown

Ellie began pupillage in October 2021 and is currently under the supervision of James Weston.

Ellie is a qualified solicitor, having trained with a large global law firm between 2013 – 2015. She gained experience of corporate law, employment disputes, commercial litigation and regulatory law. During her legal training, she undertook a placement at the Coroner’s Office in Manchester.

Ellie later spent time working in-house where she negotiated and advised on commercial contracts, real estate issues, intellectual property, data protection, health and safety and other regulatory matters.

In the years preceding pupillage, Ellie volunteered as a domestic violence advocate for Refuge. She completed a masters in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Oxford, where she was awarded the Oxford Routledge Prize for best dissertation for her research on radicalisation in prisons.

Ellie has, more recently, completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge in Law and Criminology, where she researched the use of segregation in English prisons and the role of law in these environments.

During her PhD, Ellie was seconded to the Sentencing Council for three months where she researched and advised on the development of new sentencing guidelines. She also worked closely with the Ministry of Justice in revising and updating prison laws and policies.

Ellie previously taught a range of legal courses in various prisons including tort, contract and advocacy skills. She was also the Executive Director of the Cambridge Pro Bono Project where she worked on a range of issues including modern slavery complaints, the digitalisation of the English court system, and the legalities and reporting obligations arising from the use of air missiles in Syria, by the British military. Throughout her time at Cambridge, Ellie was also a disability mentor and was (and continues to be) passionate about supporting those with mental health conditions.

Education and qualifications

• University of Cambridge: PhD in Law and Criminology titled ‘Prison Segregation – the Limits of Law and Legal Reform’
• University of Oxford: MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• University of Law: Legal Practice Course
• University of Law: Graduate Diploma in Law
• King’s College London: Business Management

Scholarships and Awards

• Winner of the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research Award
• Finalist for the Vice Chancellor’s Research Impact and Engagement Award
• Economic and Social Research Council full scholarship for the PhD
• Oxford Criminology thesis shortlisted for the Howard League John Sunley Prize
• Oxford Criminology thesis awarded the Oxford Routledge Prize for Best Dissertation
• Semi- finalist in the National Moot Court Competition hosted by Dublin City University

Publications

• Brown, E. A Systematic Review of Prison Segregation. Journal of Aggression and Violent Behaviour, March 2020
• Abati, E., Brown, E., Campion, E. et al. Exploring the impact of Council of Europe institutions through a cross-jurisdictional collaboration. Howard League for Penal Reform ECAN bulletin. 2018
• Contributed to the country profile for England and Wales, for Prison Insider, published: https://www.prison-insider.com/en/countryprofile/royaume-uni-angleterre-pays-de-galles Aug, 2019
• Brown, E. Online Dispute Resolution: an international snapshot for Law, Technology and Access to Justice, https://law-tech-a2j.org/odr/online-dispute-resolution-an-international-snapshot/ May, 2019