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Grace Houghton

Grace Houghton

Associate

Profile

Grace is an Associate in the Private Department and a member of the Public Law & Politics team. She advises high-net-worth individuals, family businesses and companies on complex disputes, including multi-jurisdictional civil fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and director and shareholder disputes. Her work frequently involves obtaining or defending injunctions and managing high-profile, reputation-sensitive matters.

Grace also advises on political disputes, election law, public law and regulatory investigations.  Her experience includes political party and candidate selection disputes, judicial review, lobbying and transparency law, and regulatory action by the Electoral Commission and other political regulators. She recently advised several clients on their obligations under the new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which came into force in July 2025. Grace advises clients on investigations by Parliamentary Standards Commissioners and the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, helping them navigate the process and protect their reputations. Grace is experienced in judicial review matters, having recently acted for 51 institutional investors seeking to challenge the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

A valued client recently said of Grace: "I rate Grace above probably any very young person in any service industry. She would be Premier League", she is "just exceptional."

Grace trained at the firm and also has experience of education and employment matters, as well as reputation protection and media matters. She is an Affiliate Member of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) and is studying for an advanced Certificate in Advising the Family Business.

More Details

Key Experience

Commercial litigation

  • Advising a shareholder of a successful family business in relation to a multi-party shareholder dispute.
  • Acting for a number of companies and their UBO in relation to a multi-jurisdictional civil fraud dispute, which involved defending a worldwide freezing order, proprietary injunction, Chabra order and several interim applications.
  • Obtaining a worldwide freezing order and passport delivery up order in the Commercial Court.  
  • Obtaining a Norwich Pharmacal Order and superinjunction in the High Court for a company which was the victim of a fraud.
  • Acting for clients in a family business dispute involving proprietary estoppel claims and claims under the Partnership Act.

Public law and judicial review

  • Acting for 51 institutional investors seeking to challenge the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 by way of judicial review.
  • Obtaining a posthumous conditional pardon for the last woman hanged in Britain.
  • Acting for a high-profile elected official in respect of his pre-trial detention in a foreign state in a matter raising issues under the ECHR.

Political disputes and consultancy work

  • Acting on various inter-party disputes, including challenging candidate selection processes.
  • Advising on a campaign seeking to introduce a legal requirement to house defibrillators in new vehicles. We drafted the requisite legislative amendments and advised the client on the procedure for amending primary and secondary legislation.

Regulatory work

  • Advising a client in respect of various complaints to regulators and the police in respect of alleged unlawful activities of a charity.
  • Advising a company in relation to media scrutiny following the UK-general election in July 2024, in a matter that raised issues of election law and lobbying.
  • Advising a high-profile think-tank on reputation issues and the laws governing campaign finance and political donations and a historic investigation by the Electoral Commission.
  • Advising clients in respect of their obligations under the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 and in respect of investigations by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.
  • Advising a peer subject to an investigation by the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards.
  • Advising a client on their obligations under EU law in respect of the EU Transparency Register.

Career History

Associate, Mishcon de Reya LLP
Trainee Solicitor, Mishcon de Reya LLP
King's College, London, Politics, Philosophy and Law (LLB), First Class Honours
The University of Law, Legal Practice Course, with Masters in Law

Articles and Publications

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