The Legal 500

Work Department

Employment.

Position

Shah is a partner and head of the Employment department at Bindmans LLP. He previously worked at Christian Khan and Hodge Jones & Allen (both firms recommended by ‘The Legal 500’), before becoming the head of employment at Webster Dixon LLP in June 2004. He is recommended as a leader in his field in ‘The Legal 500’ 2008 and ‘Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession’ 2009.Shah’s practice covers all areas of employment law and discrimination law. He has particular expertise in representing executives and professionals in both contentious and non-contentious work. He has also developed a reputation for pursuing successful discrimination and whistle-blowing cases against large corporations and public bodies.Shah has a portfolio of key respondent clients ranging from national charities to local authorities and companies.Shah has acted in a number of landmark cases and has experience of pursuing appeals at the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal and House of Lords. He has been involved in a number of high-profile and/or reported cases, including McKenzie v The Home Office (Employment Tribunal; race and sex discrimination); Murray v Newham CAB (EAT; disability discrimination); Aziz v Embassy of the Republic of Yemen (Court of Appeal; state immunity and employment); Vaseghi & Ors v Brunel University & Ors (Court of Appeal; race discrimination) and R (on the application of X) v Y School (High Court; freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs).He is currently acting for Tim Nicholson, an environmentalist and former executive of Grainger plc, in a case arguing that philosophical views on the environment can be protected under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.He acted for Uma Bhardwaj, a senior Crown prosecutor, in the successful settlement of her claims against her employer.Shah is an active board member of the Discrimination Law Association and has been involved in a number of its activities, including its submissions on the government’s equality bill and the proposed reforms to statutory dispute resolution procedures. He is also a member of the Muslim Council of Britain’s legal affairs committee and the Employment Lawyers’ Association.Shah is an advisor to the London Voluntary Services Council and a number of members of Parliament. He has spoken at many conferences held by the Law Society, the Employment Lawyers’ Association, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Discrimination Law Association. He was previously a visiting lecturer in employment law at London Metropolitan University.Shah is the author of the equal opportunities chapter of ‘Tolley’s Employment and Personnel Procedures’. He has also written legal articles for a number of publications, including the ‘Employment Law Journal’, ‘DLA Briefing’ and ‘Sitra Bulletin’. He is a contributor to The College of Law’s pregnancy at work training programme.Many of the cases Shah has worked on have received press coverage. He has been interviewed and quoted in publications such as ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Independent’, ‘The Scotsman’ and ‘The Evening Standard’. He has appeared on BBC Newsnight, BBC News 24, Channel 4 and Radio Five Live to provide legal commentary.

Career

Joined Bindmans LLP as partner 2008; head of employment 2009. Partner and head of employment at Webster Dixon LLP 2004-08.

Member

Discrimination Law Association; Muslim Council of Britain; Employment Lawyers’ Association

Practice Areas

Employment