News & Events
News & Events

14 members of Outer Temple’s Employment Law team attended the Industrial Law Society (ILS) Annual Conference on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th September 2025 at Keble College in Oxford. The Industrial Law Society was founded in 1964 as an organisation where both sides of industry and all those involved in employment law can meet regularly, and informally, to exchange views. It is the leading forum for debate and understanding of employment law and its applications. The two-day conference brought together solicitors, barristers, judges and academics from across the United Kingdom. Our team of silks, juniors and clerks took the opportunity to meet up with peers and colleagues whilst attending talks and workshops on some of the hottest topics in employment…
News 18 Sep, 2025

Join us at our inaugural London event, part of the Pensions Law Conference Series, on Thursday 10th July 2025 at Glaziers Hall. After successful stops at Bristol and Manchester, you are invited to join the Outer Temple Chambers Pensions Team at the last stop of this year’s conference series in London on Thursday, 10th July at Glaziers Hall over breakfast. The event will consist of a series of presentations and panel discussions, followed by networking. Topics of discussion include: In conversation: The practical significance of Verity Trustees Causation and loss in pensions professional negligence cases Mansion House and all that: the Pension Schemes Bill and the changing legal landscape for pension scheme investment The Regulator & moral hazard – Case…

Event Date: 10 Oct, 2024
You are invited to join Outer Temple Chambers for the launch of our Group Litigation Series on Thursday 10th October 2024 in London. Outer Temple Chambers is renowned for its expertise in a wide range of areas including Product Liability, Personal Injury, Industrial Disease, Medical Claims, Employment, Financial Services and Pensions amongst others. A growing number of these matters involve group actions and, if you have been instructed in such matters, you will recognise the need for a very different approach. The practice teams at Outer Temple Chambers have now joined forces to offer a series of advisory sessions on the unique aspects of group claims, with each session offering insights into the differences, similarities, and sharing of knowledge from…

Join Outer Temple Chambers at the Edwardian Radisson Hotel, Manchester for an afternoon of pensions law talks at the next stop of this conference series around the country. You are invited to join Outer Temple Chambers in Manchester for the next stop of our Pensions Law Conference 2023 series. Topics will include: an actuary’s role in Section 67 certification, age discrimination and the EU Withdrawal Act 2018, the presumption of regularity, and notable non-pensions cases for pensions lawyers. The event will be rounded off with a panel discussion comprised of Outer Temple’s silks. Agenda 1.30pm – Registration (tea and coffee on arrival)2pm – Consultation with the scheme actuary and Section 67 Certification. Where has Mitchells & Butler left Us?2.30pm –…
Events 18 May, 2023

Join Outer Temple Chambers at the Marriott Delta Hotel, Bristol for an afternoon of pensions law talks at the first stop of this conference series around the country. You are invited to join Outer Temple Chambers in Bristol for the first stop of our Pensions Law Conference 2023 series. Topics will include: an actuary’s role in Section 67 certification, age discrimination and the EU Withdrawal Act 2018, the presumption of regularity, and notable non-pensions cases for pensions lawyers. The event will be rounded off with a panel discussion comprised of Outer Temple’s silks. Agenda 1.30pm – Registration (tea and coffee on arrival)2pm – Consultation with the scheme actuary and Section 67 Certification. Wherehas Mitchells & Butler left Us?Lydia Seymour &…
Events 4 Apr, 2023

The United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT) has dismissed as “misplaced” the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary-General’s July 2021 applications for interpretation of the landmark 2019 UNAT judgments on the IMO’s international justice system in which Alex Haines, assisted by Stephen Butler, was instructed by the successful claimants. On Friday 19th November 2021, the UNAT in New York – sitting as a full bench (i.e., all seven judges) – released its 29th October 2021 Judgment No. 2021-UNAT-1148 in the case of Fogarty, Sheffer, Spinardi, Dispert and Hoe (Respondents) v Secretary-General of the IMO (Applicant) (the “2021 Judgment”). Mr Haines represented Mr Sheffer, Ms Dispert and Ms Hoe. The 2021 Judgment on interpretation is relevant to the international justice systems of several…
News 25 Nov, 2021

The High Court gives important judgment in Punter Southall Governance Services Ltd v Hazlett [2021] EWHC 1652 (Ch) in favour of beneficiaries of the Axminster pension scheme represented by Andrew Short QC and Stephen Butler (instructed by Osborne Clarke LLP). This is a key judgment on limitation and interest in trust and pension claims. Morgan J held: that there is no applicable limitation period in a claim by a beneficiary against trustees for an account of arrears where the trustee is still in possession of trust property; and that the court has the power to award interest on payments of equitable compensation for breach of trust where a breach of trust claim is brought following underpayment of pension. The court also gave important guidance on the…
News 18 Jun, 2021

The Court of Justice of the European Union gives important judgment in favour of several thousand female and male workers represented by Keith Bryant QC, Naomi Cunningham, Stephen Butler and Chloë Bell (instructed by Harcus Sinclair UK Limited, part of Harcus Parker) bringing equal pay claims against Tesco. This is a seminal judgment on the scope of equal pay protections to which workers in England and Wales must now be entitled in domestic courts and tribunals; Article 157 TFEU has direct effect in equal pay claims based on work of equal value. The claimants, represented by the team from Outer Temple Chambers, are all store-based employees or former employees of Tesco Stores Ltd. They claim that they are paid significantly less than the approximately 11,000 employees…
News 3 Jun, 2021

In this vlog, Stephen Butler and Teresa Rosen Peacocke discuss the implications of a recent Court of Appeal judgment covering the jurisdiction of the English Courts to make orders in support of foreign arbitration proceedings. Teresa Rosen Peacocke successfully represented the appellant. Welcome back to ‘Ask a Silk’. These videos are short and digestible vlogs, normally in the form of a Q&A between a silk or senior barrister and a junior in chambers about a recent case, piece of legislation or other topical areas of commercial law. Teresa Rosen Peacocke is an eminent barrister with 40 years experience and successfully represented the appellant in the case of A and B v C, D and E. A and B v C, D…
Webinars & Recordings 11 Mar, 2021

Are cryptoassets ‘property’, how should the courts decide and why does it matter? OTC’s commercial team provide a commentary on David Ian Ruscoe and Malcolm Russell Moore v Cryptopia Limited. The judgment of the High Court of New Zealand in David Ian Ruscoe and Malcolm Russell Moore v Cryptopia Limited (in liquidation) [2020] NZHC 728 is the first fully reasoned judgment in the common law world on how cryptoassets should be characterised. That in itself is significant. However, the court’s judgment is also significant for its discussion and recognition of the profound policy and social implications of cryptoassets and their legal characterisation. A commentary on the case In this article Richard Hitchcock QC, Stephen Butler and Chloë Bell consider the importance of…
Legal Blogs 12 Jun, 2020

OTC International Team successful in three UNAT judgments In early 2019, Alex Haines, assisted by Stephen Butler, was instructed in three cases before the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT) in New York. The UNAT is the UN’s highest court for institutional matters. All three appeals were allowed in the UNAT’s last session of 2019. The cases involved the reclassification of posts within the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a UN specialised agency responsible for regulating shipping based in London. In the cases of Sheffer v Secretary-General of the IMO, Judgment No. 2019-UNAT-949 and Dispert & Hoe v Secretary-General of the IMO, Judgment No. 2019-UNAT-958, the UNAT held that there were fundamental problems with the manner in which the IMO had dealt…
News 21 Jan, 2020

On 18 November 2019 the Chancellor of the High Court, Sir Geoffrey Vos, launched the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce’s Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts which he described as a ‘watershed for English law’. Outer Temple Chambers’ Andrew Spink QC, Stephen Butler and Chloë Bell comment on the statement and offer some preliminary thoughts on its impact and scope, which can be read here.
News 25 Nov, 2019