Yogi Amin

Who? Yogi Amin, 36-year-old partner at national firm Irwin Mitchell, who specialises in judicial review.

Why is he in the news? Represented Colin Ross, the cancer patient who won a High Court battle to overturn the decision by his local primary care trust (PCT) to refuse to pay for him to receive life-prolonging drugs. Ross has the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma and had been told that without the drug Revlimid he would have only two months to live. If he lived in neighbouring East Sussex he would have received the drug.

Mr Justice Simon Grenfell overturned the PCT’s decision that the drug would not be cost effective, and said Ross’s case should be treated as exceptional. A spokesman for West Sussex PCT said the judge had raised complex issues, which the trust would review to consider their full impact.

Route to the case: ‘The client was aware of my reputation in this area.’

Thoughts on the case: ‘We looked not only at challenging the decision, but also the “exceptionality” policy that the PCT used to ration its resources. Although it was a big hurdle to overcome, we established that the policy of only giving the drug to certain unique individuals, and the decision in this case, was irrational and unlawful. We had one dying cancer patient fighting against the might of a PCT. It is quite satisfying to see that a publicly funded client can match the resources thrown at him by a large public body.’

Dealing with the media: ‘There’s been a lot of interest. Some of the media have not understood the wider implications of the judicial review to other patients. This case could affect all others that go to the PCT’s exceptionality panel.’

Career highlight: ‘All the cases I’ve done in the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords have been interesting and intellectually challenging. You have an impact on social policy.’

Low point: ‘The first time I went to the magistrates’ court to face a fearsome stipe who asked me to stand up straight, addressed my client by his surname and refused bail for a 13-year-old who’d been involved in a scuffle in the high street.’