David Ruebain's profile

David took up the post of Chief Executive of the Equality Challenge Unit in June 2010.

Prior to this, as a practicing solicitor for 21 years, David was Director of Legal Policy at the Equality and Human Rights Commission of Great Britain and, before that, a Partner at and founder of the department of Education and Disability Law at Levenes Solicitors. David is also an ADR Group Accredited Mediator, a founding member of The Times Newspaper Law Panel and a past equality law adviser to the FA Premier League.

David has published widely and taught nationally and internationally on education, disability and equality law and has been involved in numerous voluntary organisations, drafting Private Members Bills and in making oral representations to Committees of Parliament.  He is the past Chair of the Law Society of England and Wales Mental Health and Disability committee, a Member of the Editorial Board of Disability and Society Journal, a Fellow of the British American Project, a past Board Member of Equinet – the European Network of Equality Bodies, and a member of the advisory editorial board of the Equal Rights Review.

David’s publications include:

• Consulting editor to Disability discrimination: the law and practice by Declan O’Dempsey and Andrew Short
• Co-author of The DDA Toolkit (previously Notes on the Disability Discrimination Act)
• Co-author of Taking action, a guide for parents of children with special educational needs (now in its third edition)
• Co-author of Education law and practice (now in its second edition)
• Co-author of the Atkin's Court Forms volume on Education law
• Contributor to Disability rights law and policy, edited by Mary Lou Breslin and Silvia Yee
• Contributor to Encyclopaedia of disability, edited by Prof. Gary Albrecht
• Contributor to Disability rights in Europe: from theory to practice, edited by Anna Lawson and Caroline Gooding
• Contributor to the Self-help packs for disability discrimination complaints in education published by the Disability Rights Commission,
  
• Drafting the Education law and sex discrimination leaflet for the Equal Opportunities Commission
• Co-author of the second edition of Disabled children and the law
• Contributor to the latest edition of The good schools guide on special educational needs
  
• Consultant to the Disability Rights Commission on their Codes of Practice for general qualification bodies and amended Post-16 guidance 
• Contributor to Including teaching assistants: developing understanding and practice in inclusive education edited by Dr Felicity Armstrong and Dr Gill Richards
• Contributer to guidance for colleges for Equality Challenge Unit 
  
• Contributor to guidance from the FA Premier League
• Co-editor of the forthcoming Education, disability and social policy
• Co-editor of Blackstone's Guide to the Equality Act 2010

David is the winner of RADAR's People of the Year award for Achievement in the furtherance of human rights of disabled people in the UK, 2002. He was also shortlisted for the Law Society's Gazette Centenary award for lifetime achievement - human rights in November 2003.  In August 2006, David was listed as one of the 25 Most influential disabled people in the UK by Disability Now Magazine.