Joe is Professor of Administrative Law at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London. He directs the Administrative Fairness Lab—a multisite research group focused on applying social science techniques to administrative law—and co-leads the Transforming Justice programme at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, where he is also a Research Fellow. He currently serves as Chair of the Academic Panel of the Administrative Justice Council (within the Judicial Office) and as a Trustee of the Public Law Project, a London-based legal charity. He has held visiting positions around the world, including at Yale Law School, Melbourne Law School, and Osgoode Hall Law School.

Joe is also a member of the Academic Panel at Blackstone Chambers, has led research on numerous significant cases and interventions, and his work has been cited at all levels of the courts and tribunals in England and Wales. His previous experience includes serving as an ESRC Parliamentary Academic Fellow in the House of Commons, as Research Director of the Public Law Project, and as a Trainee at the EFTA Court in President Baudenbacher’s Chambers. Joe is also a member of the Expert Panel for the Digital Freedom Fund. 

He holds an 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 Middle Temple, supported by a Queen Mother's Scholarship. In recognition of his contributions to administrative law, he was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Law in 2023.

Joe currently has capacity to take on PhD supervisions. 

Research grants 

Joe is currently working across a range of grants. This includes a four-year programme grant from the Nuffield Foundation to develop research on the economics of justice and several grants on the social dynamics of fair administrative process, including from the Leverhulme Trust, Nuffield Foundation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Research interests 

Joe's research uses legal and social science methods to advance the understanding of administrative law. He has worked across a diverse range of public sectors, including social security, primary care, social care, and immigration/asylum. He has also undertaken work in commercial/regulatory areas of administrative law, including sports governance, sanctions, and professional regulation. Across these sectors, he has taken a particular interest in the deployment of new technologies.

Membership of professional bodies

• Society of Legal Scholars
• Socio-Legal Studies Association
• Royal Economic Society
• Administrative Law Bar Association
• The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple

Teaching interests 

Joe teaches administrative law, and public law more broadly.

Selected publications 

Tomlinson, J. (2025) ‘The social side of fair process’, Current Legal Problems, cuaf005.

McGurk KC, B. and Tomlinson, J. (2025) Artificial Intelligence and Public Law. Oxford: Hart Publishing.

Meers, J., O’Brien, C., Tomlinson, J. and Welsh, A. (2025) ‘Does digital immigration status unlawfully penalise EU citizens in the UK rental market?’, Modern Law Review, 88(1), pp. 33–63

Halliday, S., Jones, A., Meers, J. and Tomlinson, J. (2024) ‘Governmental Influence over Rights Consciousness’, Journal of Law & Society, 51(s1), pp. S83-101

Hickman KC, T. and Tomlinson, J. (2023) ‘Judicial Review during the Pandemic’, Edinburgh Law Review, 27(3), pp. 252–283