Justify began with one family's experience of a system that would not listen.
Our founder, Nick Whiteley, set up the charity in 2020 after a long legal dispute with his son's school. His son has ADHD. The school responded to his needs with punishment that made his distress worse and, when that failed, permanently excluded him.
The dispute was costly, financially and personally. The harm to his son could not be undone, but the procedural failings Nick uncovered along the way convinced him to see the case through. He obtained an independent, barrister-led review of the school's conduct, which led to real changes in how the school operated.
It also showed him how few families can do the same. Most cannot afford a lawyer, do not know where the rules are written down, and give up — not because they are wrong, but because they are exhausted.
So Nick trained in law — first as a paralegal, then through a postgraduate diploma and a first class law degree — and set up Justify to give other families the help and support his family did not have.
Since then he has acted as a McKenzie Friend and lay advocate in family courts and tribunals, supported people across five areas of law, and investigated public bodies where cases demanded it.
Fiat justitia ruat caelum
The motto on our seal means "let justice be done, though the heavens fall". It is a reminder that the law must apply to public bodies as much as to anyone else — no matter how inconvenient it is for the body or indeed the judicial system.