Catherine Hegarty
Associate Solicitor and Team Leader
About Catherine Hegarty
Catherine joined Wilsons in June 2025 and is an associate solicitor in the firm’s Public Law & Human Rights team. She has extensive experience representing people seeking asylum, survivors of modern slavery and people subject to immigration detention.
Catherine specialises in bringing urgent judicial review proceedings including challenging detention under immigration powers, negative trafficking decisions, failure to provide trafficking support, refusals to grant temporary leave to stay for survivors of trafficking, and immigration bail conditions. Catherine has acted in policy challenges against the Home Office’s reconsideration policy for modern slavery decisions and its policy for offering financial support to potential survivors of trafficking. She also has experience representing clients in their civil damages claims against state and local authorities for breaches under the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act. The remainder of Catherine’s caseload is made up of community care work such as asylum support challenges, age disputes and challenges under the Children Act and the Care Act.
Catherine is passionate about providing a trauma-informed and holistic approach when working with all her clients, as well as finding creative solutions to the barriers they face.
Prior to joining Wilsons, Catherine worked in the public law and human rights team at another legal aid law firm. She has a law degree from Cambridge University and completed her training and qualified, in 2019, at a leading international law firm, practising in their corporate litigation, white collar crime and fraud team.