Chevan Ilangaratne is a specialist Employment, Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence law practitioner, having completed his pupillage solely in these areas of law.
Before coming to the Bar, Chevan worked alongside leading barristers in a number of legal charities providing advocacy and advisory services in areas including whistleblowing law, disability rights, and children’s rights.
As a Legal Adviser at the whistleblowing charity Protect, Chevan advised workers in the public, private and third sector on the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, and prepared training materials for various employers on implementing appropriate ‘speak up’ arrangements. He conducted research for Protect’s third-party intervention in the Court of Appeal case of Gilham v MoJ [2017] EWCA Civ 2220, and subsequently its successful intervention in the Supreme Court (Gilham v MoJ [2019] UKSC 44).
In other legal charity work, Chevan helped represent children in school exclusion hearings; advised members of the public on the Human Rights Act 1998 and Covid-19 regulations; and helped draft appeals before the European Court of Human Rights using his knowledge of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Having spent six months working for a boutique law firm in Toronto, Canada as part of Middle Temple’s Harold G Fox Scholarship, Chevan not only gained exposure to another jurisdiction, but also worked on public law appeals concerning cutting edge human rights issues before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Chevan also holds an LLM from the University of Cambridge, having specialised in medical law, data protection law, and human rights.
Away from work, Chevan maintains a strong interest in cricket owing to his Sri Lankan and Yorkshire roots.
Chevan has developed considerable experience in employment law, having represented both claimants and respondents in a number of preliminary and final hearings in the ET, as well as in judicial mediation hearings and Dispute Resolution Appointments. He also brings with him an in-depth knowledge of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 having worked for a whistleblowing charity as a Legal Adviser.
In addition to the above, Chevan has advised countless employees and employers in writing on various employment matters, including discrimination law, whistleblowing law, unfair dismissal, personal injury in the workplace, TUPE, holiday and sick pay, and breach of contract.
Mr M Tolley v Birmingham City Council
Representing a local authority in a 12-day case in the Employment Tribunal concerning a number of allegations, including automatic unfair dismissal on the grounds of whistleblowing (s.103A ERA).
Representing three (out of over a thousand) Claimants at a preliminary hearing in a class action against an international transportation company. This matter concerned compensation sought in light of the said Claimants having secured ‘worker’ status (the case has now been listed for a final hearing). Chevan represented these Claimants in a hearing alongside a leading employment KC, and several senior junior Employment Barristers.
Rodgers v Leeds Laser Cutting Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1659.
Assisted a senior Barrister with drafting a skeleton argument for the successful Respondent in a landmark s.100 ERA case concerning Covid-19 in the Court of Appeal.
Represented a large supermarket in a case concerning alleged race and age discrimination against a customer (the Claimant) by staff in one of the supermarket’s stores. Chevan secured a strike out of all the claims brought under the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998 during a strike out hearing in County Court, and secured full costs sought by the Respondent.
Chevan also maintains a busy Personal Injury practice having specialised in this area during Pupillage. Chevan has represented clients in a number of small claims and fast track trials relating to personal injury. He has also acted in Stage 3 Hearings for both Claimants and Defendants and Infant Approval Settlement Hearings.
In addition, he has also drafted pleadings and advice on liability and quantum in various Personal Injury matters, including complex cases concerning loss of earnings, drawing on his employment law knowledge to assist him.
He has also represented both Claimants and Defendants in a number of Credit Hire cases (both small claim and fast track trials) and is well-versed in the law relating to this area, including recent developments in case-law.
Chevan has advised on a range of clinical negligence matters, securing a settlement in a case concerning a lack of informed consent in relation to treatment given to a psychiatric patient, and another case where an individual had suffered injury to her left ear during a (negligent) t-tube removal procedure. In both these instances, Chevan provided coherent and pragmatic advice with a view to enabling a reasonable settlement was secured in the best interests of the respective clients.
Chevan Ilangaratne is regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and holds a current practising certificate. If you are not satisfied with the service provided, please click here.
To find out more, contact Nick Levett on +44 (0)20 7427 4908 or Mark Gardner on +44 (0)20 7427 4909 for a confidential discussion.
● Lincoln’s Inn
● Employment Lawyers Association UK (ELA)
● Pamel Walsh Peaker Scholarship, University of Leeds (2014)
● Access to Justice Scholarship, University of Leeds (2015)
● Lincoln’s Inn Lord Denning Scholarship (2019)
● Lincoln’s Inn Accommodation Scholarship (2019)
● Middle Temple Harold G Fox Scholarship (2021)
