Tim has experience of acting on and managing cases in the Employment Tribunal, EAT, High Court and Court of Appeal, where he has represented employers, employees and trade unions.
Tim has considerable expertise in all aspects of employment litigation, having practiced for seven years as a solicitor in top-ranked City practices before moving to the Bar. This experience means that Tim is frequently instructed on cases that are more complex than would be expected for someone of his year of call, and he regularly appears in Tribunal against barristers significantly more senior than him. Tim’s developed practice is reflected in his Legal 500 rankings, where he is placed in Tier 3 – the most junior practitioner in that band by many years.
Tim’s experience of employment litigation includes:
- Unfair dismissal claims.
- Whistleblowing cases.
- Direct and indirect discrimination issues.
- Disability-related claims, including reasonable adjustments disputes.
- Equal pay claims.
- TUPE issues, including advice in respect of transfers and disputes arising from the same.
- Redundancy claims, including particular experience of collective consultation procedures.
- Union recognition and works council disputes.
- Wages, equal pay and unlawful deductions proceedings.
- Education claims, including the specific rules relating to teachers employed in the public sector. Professional disciplinary and regulatory matters. Costs cases in the Employment Tribunal.
Tim’s recent cases include:
- Representing an international, household name charity at a multi-day discrimination and unfair dismissal hearing.
- Appearing, unled, for an employee at a whistleblowing hearing against one of the UK’s largest political parties, listed for 15 days.
- Representing an employee in a difficult disability discrimination claim against a major international investment bank.
- Advising a multi-national fashion brand in a successful judicial mediation arising from a whistleblowing dispute.
- Acting for a respondent employer in successful strike-out and high-value costs applications in the Tribunal. Appearing for an individual in a professional regulatory dispute that engaged novel points of law.
- Tim also has experience of employment appeals, including:
- Representing an employer at the EAT in an appeal concerning time limits and the effect of the rejection of a claim by the Tribunal.
- Appearing for a former employee at the EAT in a long-running, high-value sex discrimination and victimisation dispute.
- Advising an individual on the potential scope for appealing their claim to the Supreme Court.
- Acting for a claimant in a leading whistleblowing appeal at the Court of Appeal stage.
- Advising an employer as to grounds of appeal in the EAT regarding matters of quantum.
In addition, Tim has specialist knowledge and experience of advising on worker status and gig economy issues, and his commentary on the subject has been quoted by the Guardian, the Independent, the Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair and the BBC. Tim has also provided media commentary on a range of other topics, such as the Unison Tribunal fees case, employment law pledges in election manifestos and settlement payments for senior government officials.
Tim’s experience as a solicitor enables him to work well with those instructing him, especially where there is a need for him to take on a greater degree of the responsibility in order to reduce costs. Having worked in such environments, Tim is acutely aware of the need to provide client-friendly, commercial and prompt advice and support.
Tim also undertakes employment work on a public / direct access basis, and his skills and experience as a solicitor enable him to provide an invaluable additional perspective when doing so.
Tim is a contributing editor to Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law.