Updating on this zombie thread in case it's helpful to others who came across this thread while googling for advocates, as I did.
Another parent online recommended Sean Bowers as an advocate for our appeal: she recently used him to obtain an EOTAS package for her DC, and she was v pleased with SB. Described him as "running rings around the LA". Also said he charged her less than the capped fee on his website.
I found this thread when googling for more reviews of SB, and was uneasy that he was associated with the Baker Small scandal. However I booked a free consultation with him, because I wanted someone who had a sharp vibe as I thought that would help with our LA.
I was v impressed that during my free consultation he said v clearly that this was genuinely a no-strings free consultation; he was careful to get consent for GDPR purposes; and although I began by saying I was ultimately looking to pay an advocate to run our case, he told me halfway through the call that my priority should be spending our limited resources on evidence rather than paying him. He then explained exactly how he would approach our case if he was running it, and I came away from our 90 minute phonecall with a clear strategy to follow and a list of actions and priorities in running the case myself.
I came away wishing that I had enough funds for both evidence and SB, as on the strength of the phonecall I would have used him. He seemed sharp, thorough, strategic, and offered me genuinely free advice that was much more than a token or 'bait'.
I know everybody has different experiences of advocates, so I think it's helpful to hear as many views as you can find and then approach an advocate carefully. I'm also aware he will probably still be refurbishing his reputation after Baker Small, and that if the Twitter scandal hadn't happened he would likely still be working for LAs and wouldn't have switched sides. So if you want someone who has a lived-experience connection without the past life, then you probably need someone like Fiona Slomovic.
We used Fiona a few years ago, and when you actually managed to get her on the phone or the end of an email and actually looking at your case it was like being in the presence of a calm, steely but compassionate genius - her mind is simply brilliant. She really, really, knows her stuff. But it nearly drove us to a nervous breakdown that we simply could never get hold of her, she was managing far too many cases, and her working style seems to be to leave everything until the deadline, perhaps the dopamine hit of turning around a big piece of work in the very last hours before it's due is part of her brilliance, who knows - but the stress of it nearly broke us. Nowadays apparently she has an associate Vickie Kottler who is supposed to be much more available on phone and email and who apparently runs a case well.