News & Events
News & Events
Employment Law barristers Monique Bouffé and Chevan Ilangaratne will be speaking at ELA’s annual refresher course ‘What’s New in Employment Law’ on Wednesday 29th January 2025. The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) is a apolitical organisation representing the views and interests of just over 6,000 specialist, qualified employment lawyers in the UK. Since its inception in 1992, ELA has become the voice of authority in employment law. It promotes the best practice of employment law. ELA’s refresher course ‘What’s New in Employment Law’ is aimed at those who have been out of practice for a period over the past year, or who are looking for a round-up of developments in 2024. The course flags up cases and other developments which will…
News 21 Jan, 2025
Jessica Franklin successfully represented the Claimant, a dog handler, in a claim against the SoS for Justice for indirect discrimination and victimisation. The Claimant is a drug-detection dog handler at HMP Pentonville. The Claimant was granted partial retirement to care for her elderly father. The Tribunal found that the decision to grant the Claimant partial retirement was met with “disappointment and irritation” by the Claimant’s managers and that they tried to make “the practical application of [her partial retirement] as difficult as possible for the Claimant”. Following her partial retirement, the Claimant applied to work a shift pattern with fewer weekends so that she could meet her caring responsibilities. This was repeatedly refused by her managers. The Tribunal upheld all the…
News 6 Jan, 2025
Sapan Maini-Thompson successfully represented a Claimant secondary school teacher against an Academy Trust in a claim for unfair dismissal and discrimination arising from disability under section 15 Equality Act. The Claimant, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was dismissed for an alleged safeguarding failure ending her unblemished 34-year teaching career. The Tribunal decided the Trust had no reasonable belief that the Claimant was individually responsible for the averred failure. The Tribunal found the Claimant had been unfairly blamed for a “system failure”. In addition, by failing to investigate the implications of the Claimant’s forgetfulness (arising from her disability) in relation to a separate safeguarding incident for which the Claimant was also blamed, the Trust’s decision to dismiss was discriminatory. The case…
News 22 Nov, 2024
In long running group litigation, the Ministry of Justice and Lord Chancellor, represented by Andrew Allen KC and Alex Line, who were instructed by the Government Legal Department, have successfully defended claims brought by judges under the Part-time Worker (Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 in relation to their pay and pension conditions. Background The case concerns Circuit Judges who are authorised under s.9(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 to sit in the High Court. When doing so, the Claimants (who form part of a wider cohort of judge claimants) contended that they were part-time workers, and treated less favourably compared to salaried judges of the High Court in respect of pay and pension. Another Claimant was a salaried District…
News 13 Nov, 2024
9 members of Outer Temple’s International Team will be attending Dubai Arbitration Week (DAW 2024) between 11th – 15th November 2024, including The Bar Council Development event. Outer Temple’s David Russell KC, Andrew Spink KC, Philip Punwar, Justina Stewart, Sean Yates, Peter Linstead, Stephen Doherty, Lucian ILIE, and Lexie Johnson will be joining delegates at this year’s Dubai Arbitration Week. They will be available to meet up with colleagues during their time in the region. The team will be speaking at a number of seminars and events throughout DAW 2024, as well as the parallel UK-UAE Bar Council Business Development Event between 10-14th November 2024. UK-UAE Bar Council Business Development Event The Bar Council will be making its first business development visit to the UAE. Peter Smith…
We are delighted to welcome Jessica Franklin and Sapandeep Singh Maini-Thompson to Outer Temple Chambers as new junior tenants. Jessica Franklin and Sapandeep Singh Maini-Thompson joined the Outer Temple team in October, further bolstering our junior cohort of specialists to fulfill ever-growing demand. Jessica Franklin joined the Bar in 2021 after a successful career in advertising and marketing. She now specialises in personal injury law and employment law. Jessica’s employment practice is particularly focused on discrimination, unfair dismissal and whistleblowing claims. She has a particular interest in personal injury claims brought in the Employment Tribunal and she has been instructed in claims involving not only psychiatric injuries but also physical injuries arising out of discrimination. Her personal injury practice extends to…
News 22 Oct, 2024
Naomi Ling and Courtney Step-Marsden were instructed by the Charity Commission to intervene before the Employment Appeal Tribunal in the case of MacLennan v British Psychological Society, the judgment in which was handed down today. The EAT considered whether Dr MacLennan, as a Trustee of the British Psychological Society, had ‘worker status’ within s230 of the Employment Rights Act. It found that the ET had not erred in concluding that there was no contract between the parties, as the relationship was governed by the charity’s governing documentation. However, it remitted to the ET the question of whether excluding Dr MacLennan from such statutory protection was in breach of his Article 10 right (to freedom of expression) when read together with…
News 21 Oct, 2024
Chambers and Partners UK Bar 2025 have today launched their 2025 Guide and we are delighted to share the highlights from this year’s rankings, including two Band 1 awards for our Pensions Law team and Travel Law team. We are delighted to share the news that Outer Temple Chambers has yet again been awarded 9 set rankings in the 2025 Chambers & Partners UK Bar Guide and over 110 individual rankings. In what is our best set of rankings ever, our individual rankings see 12 new entries and 16 elevations, whilst we are delighted with two new Band 1 set rankings. A huge congratulations to all of our barristers and clerks for another year of excellent results. A particular thank…
News 17 Oct, 2024
The Legal 500 2025 rankings have just been announced and Outer Temple Chambers is delighted with another year of excellent results including a Tier 1 Pensions ranking We are proud to announce that we have been recognised as a Top Tier Set in Crypto & Blockchain Assets again, as well as achieving a Top Tier Set ranking in Pensions. These Tier 1 rankings mean we are now ranked for excellence in nine practice area rankings with 73 individual members ranked across 27 practice areas. A huge congratulations to all of our barristers and clerks within these teams for another year of excellent results. A particular thank you to all our clients and colleagues for taking the time to provide references.…
News 2 Oct, 2024
We are pleased to announce that Martina Murphy has been shortlisted for Employment ‘Junior Counsel of the Year’ at the International Employment Lawyer (IEL) Awards taking place on Wednesday 13th November at The Dorchester, London. The annual International Employment Lawyer Awards recognises the very best private practice and in-house teams from around the globe. Martina Murphy has been shortlisted for ‘Junior Counsel of the Year’ for 2024. This award recognises the advocacy, investigative, and advisory skills of leading independent junior advocates from around the globe. Nominees will have worked on high-profile, cutting-edge disputes, been instructed in sensitive workplace investigations, or acted on complex advisory matters in the past 12 months. To view a full list of nominees, click here. Find…
News 2 Oct, 2024
The Employment Tribunal has handed down judgment in Thandi and Others v Next PLC. Andrew Short KC and Gus Baker represented the successful claimants. Following a three-week hearing in May 2024, the Employment Tribunal rejected the Respondents’ argument that paying comparators who worked in majority male warehouses a better hourly rate and better allowances than individuals who worked in retail (who are overwhelmingly female) due to market forces was a proportionate means of meeting a legitimate aim. The judgment means that the equal terms clauses implied into retail workers contracts are effective. Accordingly, thousands of individuals will be entitled to recover arrears of pay from 2012 to date. The claim is the first of a number retail equal pay cases…
News 27 Aug, 2024
Outer Temple’s Martina Murphy was successful on behalf of the claimant in Ms Leeks v University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The EAT’s judgment provides important clarification on whether a refusal to enter judicial mediation or assessment can in principle amount to unreasonable conduct which could result in an award of costs. On behalf of the Claimant, it was argued that the clear ‘direction of travel’ in the Civil Courts and Tribunal is increasingly to encourage alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The Respondent’s arguments included, that a distinction can been made between a mere refusal to engage in judicial mediation and the reasonableness of the decision to do so. Having reviewed some of the key decisions in the Civil Courts…
News 22 Aug, 2024
