Employment & Discrimination
We are extremely proud to announce that as of October 2012, Old Square Chambers won the 'Employment Set of the Year' at the Chambers Bar Awards 2012.
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Market sources praise the "personal touch" clients receive at this set and say that the quality is always assured regardless of the seniority of the individual barrister instructed. Well known for its trade union and claimant work, many members also frequently act for employers in the public and private sectors. It has a leading practice in representing parties in stress and harassment cases. Senior clerk William Meade is singled out for praise by sources for his commitment to client service and his astute people skills.
Chambers and Partners, 2013
With strength across a broad range of employment disputes, Old Square Chambers is 'particularly good for collective or trade union issues'. Old Square Chambers is a 'very strong employment set' with 'a responsive clerking team'.
Legal 500, 2012
Old Square Chambers is the "first port of call for employment barristers; it has excellent strength in depth from juniors to seniors" and a "well-trained team of clerks, who are always helpful and available".
Legal 500, 2011
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Overview
Old Square Chambers' Employment and Discrimination Group is widely regarded as one of the foremost in the UK. The Group comprises over three-quarters of our members (including 12 Queen's Counsel), many of whom are leaders in their field. Members of Old Square Chambers have appeared in many of the most significant reported employment and discrimination law cases over the last 25 years. Our barristers offer a unique breadth of expertise, drawing on our collective experience as expert advisors, mediators, arbitrators, judges, employment tribunal judges, authors, academics, solicitors, officials and as standing counsel to the public and private sector and trade unions. Chambers offers excellence at all levels of call.
Nature of work
Our employment practitioners have expertise in appellate and first instance work, and act for both employers and employees. Our clients range from individual employees and directors to major private and public sector organisations. All aspects of individual and collective employment law work are undertaken. This includes work relating to:
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All forms of discrimination
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Equal pay
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Industrial relations and trade union affairs
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Directors' disputes
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Injunctive relief
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Breach of contract
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TUPE transfers
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Unfair and wrongful dismissal
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Working time regulations
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Claims under the Employment Rights Act 1996
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Pensions
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Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993
Additional expertise
Drawing from Chambers' considerable strength in personal injury law, members of Chambers regularly advise on stress at work, harassment and bullying claims. Members of Chambers write, lecture and broadcast extensively on employment law. Many are contributors to the leading practitioner texts, including Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law and Blackstone's Employment Law Practice, and to prestigious periodicals such as the Industrial Law Journal.
We have a number of tenants and door tenants who are professors of employment law. Door tenancies are also held by leading Commonwealth practitioners. Members have wide experience of all relevant European law and the Group includes experts on international labour law.
Several members of Chambers sit on, and in some cases chair, many of the specialist panels, key associated bodies and societies in the employment law field. Many are active members or committee members of the Employment Law Bar Association, the Employment Lawyers Association, the Industrial Law Society and the Discrimination Law Association.
Additionally, some members are on the Treasury Panels, and retained as Standing Counsel by a number of trade unions.
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Review of Our Employment Group 2011
The year 2011 was a fantastic one for Old Square Chambers, especially for its employment team. Mark Sutton, Oliver Segal and Simon Gorton were all appointed Queen's Counsel; and our involvement in appellate and reported cases increased dramatically. In fact, 21 different members appeared in around one-fifth (19/96) of the UK employment law cases in Industrial Relations Law Reports in 2011 - more than any other chambers.
Two cases in particular stand out; both involve different members being instructed in separate actions that were subsequently conjoined at the appeal stage:
Edwards v. Chesterfield Royal Hospital/Botham v. MoD
This Supreme Court case involved appearances by four Old Square members: Mark Sutton QC and Marcus Pilgerstorfer for Chesterfield Royal Hospital, and Frederic Reynold QC and Philip Mead for Mr Botham. The court ruled in favour of the hospital, refusing to allow common law claims to be brought based on the manner of an employee’s dismissal, even where there had been breach of an express contractual term, as Parliament intended redress in this area to be achieved through the statutory unfair dismissal regime.
RMT v. Serco/Aslef v. London & Birmingham Railway
This Court of Appeal case involved appearances by three Old Square members, representing the RMT and ASLEF unions. Together, John Hendy QC, Oliver Segal QC and Rohan Pirani persuaded the court to abandon its approach dating back to the Thatcher era of construing strike laws strictly against trade unions. This means employers can no longer prevent strike action by relying on technical procedural failings in the balloting process. The most tangible proof of this is the court’s decision to allow the Boxing Day tube strike to proceed (in which Oliver Segal QC and Ben Cooper appeared for ASLEF)
Consistent quality and depth of resources
The two highlighted cases demonstrate Old Square Chambers' stature as the complete employment set. It has not lost its association with the trade union movement, or the commitment of some individuals to the representation of claimants. Instead, it has developed a strong respondent/defendant practice, in the private and public sector, and in the High Court as well as the employment tribunal, that stands comparison with its competitors. This includes:
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Our innovative use of human rights legislation, particularly by John Hendy QC, including Article 6 in disciplinary cases (eg Mattu, Puri) and Article 11 in industrial action cases (eg Malone)
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Our outstanding equal pay practice, exemplified in 2011 by Louise Chudleigh's continued involvement for Birmingham City Council in Abdulla and Ashby and Jennifer Eady QC's role as advisor to HM Government on equal pay across the public sector
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Our pre-eminent industrial action practice, led by John Hendy QC and Oliver Segal QC - not only acted in RMT v. Serco but also in the public sector 'Day of Action' on 30 November, the Boxing Day Tube strike (LUL v. ASLEF), and (for UNITE) in the BA cabin crew dispute
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Jane McNeill QC securing the largest-ever (c.£4.5 million) tribunal award (Michalak)
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Paul Gilroy QC advising a Premiership-quality list of football managers, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Martin O'Neill, Mark Hughes, Harry Redknapp, David Moyes, Steve McClaren, Roy Hodgson, and Neil Warnock
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John Hendy QC representing the NUJ at the Leveson Inquiry, being one of The Lawyer's 'Hot 100' and receiving a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' from Liberty for his contribution to human rights
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Our continued excellence in regulatory/disciplinary cases during 2011 (particularly Mark Sutton QC in Edwards and Lim, John Hendy QC in Mattu and Giles Powell in Hussain and Puri)
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Our ground-breaking discrimination practice, demonstrated in 2011 by cases such as Woodcock (Paul Gilroy QC and Deshpal Panesar), Wardle (Simon Cheetham), Mak (Melanie Tether) and Chweidan (Emma Smith)
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Our pioneering work in relation to holiday pay (Jane McNeill QC and Michael Ford in Williams, Andrew Midgley in Fraser, Jennifer Eady QC in Gee and Nadia Motraghi in Harwich International)
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Our innovative work in claims for employee reputational damage (Jonathan Davies in McKie and Betsan Criddle in McCracken)
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Our work in 2011 on employment status (Mark Whitcombe and Jennifer Eady QC in Tiffin and Williamson & Soden, Anya Palmer in Tilson)
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Seminars
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Natasha Kelly, Marketing Manager. |
