News & Events
News & Events
In Agoreyo v London Borough of Lambeth [2017] EWHC 2019 Mr Justice Foskett noted that the Appellant, Ms Agoreyo, ‘had the good fortune of representation at the hearing of the appeal by Counsel instructed by the Bar Pro Bono Unit. Mr Stephen Butler […] produced a first-class Skeleton Argument with appropriate references to the evidence, the judgment and the relevant authorities […] which were properly focused on the true issues in the appeal. […] the Appellant could not have been better represented.’ Ms Agoreyo, an experienced primary school teacher with less than two years’ qualifying service, was suspended from employment during the investigation into the accusation of having used excessive physical force in handling difficult children in less than three weeks.…
News 16 Aug, 2017
Landmark judgment handed down in IBM v Dalgeish – Court of Appeal allows IBM’s appeal against breach of duty of good faith ruling. Andrew Spink QC and Nicolas Stallworthy QC both act for respondents in the Court of Appeal. The litigation involved two occupational pension schemes established in the UK for IBM’s employees. The Court of Appeal has now allowed IBM’s appeal against Warren J’s “breach judgment” dated 4 April 2014, and dismissed the Representative Beneficiaries cross-appeal against one aspect of that judgment in which Warren J had found in favour of IBM. The judgment is available to read here.
News 4 Aug, 2017
In Various Claimants v Barclays Bank PLC, the High Court has ruled that a bank was vicariously liable for sexual assaults committed by a doctor during medical examinations it required as part of a job application process between 1967 and 1984. This case involved 126 claims by former job applicants and existing employees, and the Court applied the two-stage test: (i) Whether the relationship was one of employment or “akin to employment”, and (ii) whether the assaults had a sufficiently close connection to the employment or quasi-employment. This case appears to extend the scope of vicarious liability further than ever before – any employer hiring someone to carry out medical examinations may, on the basis of this decision, risk being…
News 2 Aug, 2017
Closing statements were delivered in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s case study into the Child Migration Programmes yesterday, in which Paul Livingston is Junior Counsel to the Inquiry. The Child Migration Programmes, which continued until the 1970s, involved children being migrated from care or voluntary institutions in England & Wales, and being placed in institutions abroad, mostly in Australia and Canada. The Case Study was set up to investigate the extent of institutional failings of Government departments, public authorities, and voluntary institutions, relating to the sexual abuse suffered by some child migrants. The case study is part of the Inquiry’s investigation into ‘Children Outside the UK’ and heard from a large number of former child migrants, former Prime Minister…
News 27 Jul, 2017
In Williams v The Trustees of Swansea University Pension & Assurance Scheme and Swansea University, the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous judgment, has held that an employee was not unfavourably treated because of something arising in consequence of his disability. This is a significant decision because it is the first time that the Court of Appeal has considered what it means to be treated “unfavourably” under s.15 of the Equality Act 2010. Keith Bryant QC and Saul Margo of Outer Temple Chambers appeared on behalf of the Respondents to the appeal who were successful in resisting the appeal and in their cross-appeal. Please see Williams v Swansea – news item for further comment. Read the full judgment for Williams v…
News 14 Jul, 2017
David Russell QC and Gabor Bognar have co-authored an article published in Trusts & Trustees, a leading international journal on trust law and practice. The article addresses the way in which English law is applied in the two financial free zones of the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (‘ADGM’) and the Dubai International Financial Centre (‘DIFC’). Each jurisdiction has enacted legislation covering this issue. However, different means of achieving the objective have been chosen. The ADGM has adopted the common law of England on an ambulatory basis, but English statute law only to a limited extent and at a fixed date. In contrast, the DIFC has adopted the law of England as a general backstop. In this…
News 13 Jul, 2017
Chambers UK and Legal 500 ranked Outer Temple barrister, Oliver Assersohn, writes in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial law. Oliver’s article discusses a series of powerful statutory provisions that enable contracts to be struck down for non-compliance with the Financial Services and Markets Act (2000) – and only enforced in the court’s discretion by reference to what is just and equitable. The arguments could deal a ‘knock-out blow’ in a dispute and so are essential reading for commercial litigators. For non-contentious lawyers, the issues raised are also worth considering since they underline the importance of FSMA. Oliver touches on suggested ways to pre-empt possible challenges. Read more here.
News 13 Jul, 2017
The High Court has recently handed down judgement in R (on the application of JF acting through his mother and litigation friend KF) v The London Borough of Merton [2017] EWHC 1519 (Admin). The case concerned a judicial review claim against the content of needs assessment under the Care Act 2014. It was conducted by a local authority for a young adult with very severe and complex care needs. It also concerned a challenge against the local authority’s decision to transfer the young adult to an alternative care home. The judicial review claim succeeded on both grounds. The Claimant was represented by Alex Line of Outer Temple Chambers. This case is a recent and important example of a successful challenge…
News 5 Jul, 2017
Andrew takes over the role from Laurie Rabinowitz QC and will serve for two years, having previously served as COMBAR’s Vice Chair as well as Chair of its International Committee, which is responsible for coordinating the Association’s activities in all non-UK jurisdictions. Before that, Andrew was Chair of COMBAR’s North American Committee and organised the annual North American Meetings for 2012 and 2013. Ranked by Chambers UK as a Leading Silk (Pensions) and by The Legal 500 as a Leading Individual, Andrew Spink QC is a highly respected advocate with 31 years’ experience at the Bar, of which 14 years have been as a successful QC. A registered advocate at the Dubai International Financial Centre, Andrew is also called to…
News 4 Jul, 2017
Today the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry publishes its long-awaited report into child abuse on the island. Outer Temple were instructed as Counsel to this three-year inquiry which has investigated the care of children on the island of Jersey since 1945. Patrick Sadd, Harriet Jerram, Paul Livingston and Stephen Doherty worked alongside a team from Eversheds-Sutherland, instructed as Solicitors to the Inquiry. In 2008, Jersey attracted world-wide press attention following allegations of child sex abuse in Haut de La Garenne, a large children’s home on the island that had closed in the 1980s. There followed an extensive police investigation, ‘Operation Rectangle’. In 2010, the States of Jersey called for a public inquiry into children in care in children’s homes and fostered.…
News 3 Jul, 2017
Outer Temple congratulates Andrew Allen on his recent appointment to the hotly-contested Attorney General’s A Panel. The appointment runs from 1 September 2017 for five years. Government relies on the Panels for advice and representation – competition is fierce and Andrew, a Chambers UK and Legal 500 ranked barrister, will be undertaking work for the Crown across his core practice areas of Employment and Discrimination law. With this new appointment, Chambers now has a total of 10 members on the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel.
News 3 Jul, 2017
Daniel Barnett acts for Lidl in its dispute with the GMB union over whether a group of 1.2% of its workers constituted an appropriate bargaining unit for compulsory trade union recognition. The law states that, when deciding applications for compulsory union recognition, the Central Arbitration Committee must take into account “the need for the unit to be compatible with effective management”, and specifically requires the CAC to take into account “the desirability of avoiding small fragmented bargaining units within an undertaking”. In the Court of Appeal last month, Lord Justice Underhill explained that “small fragmented bargaining units” in this context does not mean “a small island of union recognition in a sea of non-recognition”, but instead “fragmentation between bargaining units…
News 14 Jun, 2017
