Rate My Professor Joe Tomlinson

Joe Tomlinson is Professor of Administrative Law at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London. He earned his LLB and PhD from the University of Manchester, supported by a President's Scholarship, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Middle Temple, aided by a Queen Mother's Scholarship. His professional trajectory encompasses roles such as ESRC Parliamentary Academic Fellow in the House of Commons, Research Director of the Public Law Project, and Trainee in President Baudenbacher’s Chambers at the EFTA Court. In his current position, he directs the Administrative Fairness Lab, a multisite research group applying social science techniques to administrative law, and co-leads the Transforming Justice programme at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, where he serves as a Research Fellow. Tomlinson chairs the Academic Panel of the Administrative Justice Council within the Judicial Office, acts as a Trustee of the Public Law Project, and holds memberships on the Academic Panel at Blackstone Chambers and the Expert Panel for the Digital Freedom Fund. He has undertaken visiting positions at Yale Law School, Melbourne Law School, Osgoode Hall Law School, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Durham University.

Tomlinson's research integrates legal and social science methods to examine administrative justice, spanning sectors like social security, primary care, social care, immigration, asylum, and the application of new technologies in commercial and regulatory contexts. Notable publications include ‘The Social Side of Fair Process’ (2025, Current Legal Problems), Artificial Intelligence and Public Law (2025, Hart Publishing, with B. McGurk KC), ‘Does digital immigration status unlawfully penalise EU citizens in the UK rental market?’ (2025, Modern Law Review, with J. Meers, C. O’Brien, and A. Welsh), ‘Governmental Influence over Rights Consciousness’ (2024, Journal of Law & Society, with S. Halliday, A. Jones, and J. Meers), and ‘Judicial Review during the Pandemic’ (2023, Edinburgh Law Review, with T. Hickman KC). His scholarship has been cited across all levels of UK courts and tribunals, including the Supreme Court, influencing public administration and policymaking. Among his honors are the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Law (2023) and a £2.5 million Wellcome Discovery Award (2025) for investigating bureaucratic justice in mental health. He contributes editorially to Public Law and Legal Studies, and leads grants from the Nuffield Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, and National Institute for Health and Care Research.