News & Events
News & Events
Employment Tribunal rules in favour of agoraphobic claimant on basis of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination in Dudding v Gravesham Borough Council. Chevan Ilangaratne acted for the Claimant, Marina Dudding, who had been working for the Respondent, Gravesham Borough Council, since 2001. The Background Ms Dudding’s most recent post was as ‘Allocations Officer’ within the Housing Options Service. From 2021 onwards, Ms Dudding had worked from home following recommendations made in a stress-risk assessment. Ms Dudding was later reviewed by Occupational Health in May 2023, which concluded that she had displayed symptoms of Agoraphobia, as well as having Depression and Anxiety. From October 2023, the Respondent removed her hybrid working arrangements, and insisted on her coming into the office full-time.…
News 1 Jun, 2026
We are delighted to announce that Joshua Hitchens has been appointed to be a Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission of St Helena. Joshua received his warrant of appointment from His Excellency the Governor to be a Member of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights for a period of three years with effect from 18 May 2026 following the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission. This appointment follows Joshua’s involvement in a number of human rights and equality cases on the South Atlantic British Overseas Territory in recent years. Joshua has a keen interest in the law of the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, having been instructed both in the Channel Islands and British Overseas Territories on a number of matters. Find…
News 29 May, 2026
Victoria Brown, instructed by Roxanne Cullinan of DAC Beachcroft LLP, acted successfully for the appellant employer in the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision of DHL Services Limited v Ignatowicz [2026] EAT 74. The appeal concerned an employee who was summarily dismissed following a number of social media posts. Initially, the claimant posted the contents of a grievance on Facebook, accompanied by commentary describing the “capitalist dictatorship” as “evil” and calling for its destruction. The employer also took issue with further posts during the claimant’s employment, and comments during the litigation, including comparisons between the conduct of the employer’s managers and the Nazis. Following a finding of unfair dismissal, the Employment Tribunal reduced the compensatory award by 10% for contributory conduct. That…
News 29 May, 2026
In what is believed to be one of the first cases of its kind, CYK worked alongside Outer Temple Chambers, blockchain tracing experts and law enforcement to secure a full recovery under s.303Z51 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) for their client, who was the subject of a sophisticated and carefully orchestrated theft of a significant sum of cryptoassets. Of the cryptoassets stolen, a sum of ETH was traceable to a wallet held by an overseas exchange and belonging to one of the alleged perpetrators of the theft. Due to swift collaboration with law enforcement, the wallet in question was swiftly frozen by a Crypto Wallet Freezing Order (CWFO) that was obtained by law enforcement just days after…
News 15 May, 2026
The Court of Appeal has largely upheld the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s decision in Tesco Stores Ltd v Ms K Element & Ors [2026] EWCA Civ 580, dismissing Tesco’s two appeals on all but one ground and endorsing the ET’s reliance on detailed training documentation as the primary evidential basis for determining the “work” of claimants and comparators in mass equal pay proceedings. Keith Bryant KC and Stephen Butler acted for the Harcus claimants (instructed by Harcus Parker Employment) in this landmark appeal, heard over three days in March 2026 before Nugee LJ, Elisabeth Laing LJ and Sir Nicholas Underhill. The claimants are store-based employees of Tesco Stores Ltd, mostly women, who compare their work with that of predominantly male employees…
News 14 May, 2026
After a hotly contested trial, Harry Lambert has won damages for his client, Ms Dakin, after South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was found in breach of duty which lead to her suffering a stroke. Harry Lambert acted for the claimant in Dakin v South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in a complex hearing 3-day hearing in April heard by HHJ Robinson, BEM. Ms Dakin suffered a stroke on 21 July 2016, caused by atrial fibrillation (“AF”). Earlier that year, she had been seen by Dr Quinn at Friarage Hospital with symptoms including palpitations and episodes described as panic attacks. The Trust admitted that Dr Quinn should have arranged a 24-hour ECG monitor, and that failing to do so was…
News 12 May, 2026
Twelve of Outer Temple’s barristers have been ranked in the 2026 Lexology Index: UK Bar, across three categories. The Lexology Index: UK Bar rankings features the leading barristers and solicitors at the UK Bar who stand out for their exceptional advocacy work across an array of practice areas. Therefore, we are delighted to share that twelve of our barristers have been ranked across the Aviation & Travel, Labour Employment & Immigration, and Sports categories, in 2026. Aviation & Travel The following barristers have been ranked in the Aviation & Travel category: Eliot Woolf KC Ben Bradley KC Sarah Crowther KC Gerard McDermott KC Aliyah Akram Daniel Clark Labour Employment & Immigration The following barristers have been ranked in the Labour…
News 1 May, 2026
Success for the claimants on the central questions of diagnosis and quantification of Military Noise Induced Hearing Loss claims Harry Steinberg KC, Aliyah Akram, and Elliott Courcha of Outer Temple Chambers acted in the landmark military deafness litigation, instructed by Simon Ellis of Hugh James, against the MoD. The High Court has today handed down judgment in the Hugh James Military Deafness Litigation. The decision of Garnham J is a decisive victory for the claimant group. The Court rejected the long-standing CLB and LCB methods and preferred the claimants’ case that military NIHL should be diagnosed and quantified by the rM-NIHL developed by Professor Moore and others. The Court’s findings on these and the other generic issues are binding on…
News 24 Apr, 2026
We are delighted to share that thirteen of Outer Temple’s barristers have been included in the 2026 Pro Bono Recognition list for volunteering their time (25 hours or more) to provide free legal assistance to individuals, charities and community groups. Now in its third year, the List, published annually, recognises solicitors, barristers, chartered legal executives, trade mark attorneys, patent attorneys and registered foreign/European lawyers who provided 25 hours or more pro bono legal assistance over the last year. The initiative is supported by the Law Society, the Bar Council, CILEX and all the major pro bono organisations under the aegis of the Attorney General’s Pro Bono Committee. Pro Bono Recognition List 2026 The following members have been recognised in the…
News 21 Apr, 2026
On 7th April 2026, Carin Hunt, led by Alex Haines of 4 Pump Court, appeared before all seven judges of the World Bank Group (WBG) Administrative Tribunal (WBAT) on behalf of the Applicant client. The case, filed in 2022, was brought on the basis that the effect of an internal WBG Staff Rule is indirectly discriminatory on grounds of sex and adversely affects women international civil servants of a certain category grade. The principle of indirect sex discrimination, which is established in several jurisdictions, has not yet been developed in International Administrative Law which is the applicable law to International Organisations including the WBG. Alex led Carin against the Respondent, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which was represented by the…
News 20 Apr, 2026
Helen Pugh has been published in the April 2026 edition of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law on “Not your key, not your coin”: the private key and ownership. Ownership, possession and control of an asset have long been intertwined in the public’s consciousness. Albeit implicitly recognising that a possessory title can be displaced by a superior legal title, the old adage “possession is nine-tenths of the law” remains a popular refrain carrying more than a grain of truth. Following a series of high-profile collapses of crypto custodians in “the crypto winter”, a digital equivalent has emerged: “not your key, not your coin”. In this article, Helen considers the private key and its role in legal analysis of…
External Publications, News 20 Apr, 2026
Professional Associate at Outer Temple Chambers, Oliver Agha has been published in IFN’s April 2026 edition (Volume 23, Issue 15). His article is titled ‘The crisis Islamic finance was built to solve – and cannot’. Islamic Finance News (IFN) is a subscription-based publication journal, published weekly, which provides exclusive and comprehensive coverage of the global Islamic financial markets through in-house analysis and expert external contributions. Oliver Agha is a frequent contributor to the publication. The modern financial order is a monument to excess. Global debt now approaches US$350 trillion, built not on production or genuine value creation but on the compounding of obligation – debt layered on debt, governments borrowing to fund consumption, the costs deferred to those least able to bear…
External Publications, News 16 Apr, 2026
