Lachlan Wilson > Chambers of David Berkley KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Lachlan Wilson

Work Department

Education; Employment and Discrimination; Mediation; Public and Regulatory.

Position

Lachlan is experienced in all areas of education, employment, and professional disciplinary law. He advises and represents individuals, employers, local authorities, schools, charities, and regulatory bodies.

Lachlan has particular experience in cases of discrimination (race, religion, sex, and disability), school admissions and exclusions, special educational needs, educational negligence, whistle-blowing, and fitness to practice hearings before professional regulators and University disciplinary and conduct panels.

The common theme to all Lachlan’s practice areas is human behaviour and conduct which requires understanding and scrutiny, whether it is exhibited by a child requiring specialist SEN provision; an individual before disciplinary proceedings, or an employer or professional carrying out their duties towards organisations and individuals.

Lachlan is also a trained mediator.

Education 

Lachlan’s public and administrative law practice is centred on the field of education and he appears in Chambers and Partners for this field. He taught for a number of years before qualifying as a lawyer and now conducts cases involving a wide range of education law issues at all levels from the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal to the Court of Appeal.

Lachlan advises and represents children, parents, school proprietors and governing bodies, local education authorities, voluntary organisations and charitable trusts, further and higher education institutions, students, and universities, on the full range of education disputes, including:

• School admissions – policies and appeals (including nursery and infant class admissions)
• School exclusions – policies and appeals, and other pupil disciplinary matters
• School attendance and registration of pupils
• Discrimination (including allegations of disability discrimination before the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, and Independent Appeal Panel in cases of permanent exclusion)
• Special Educational Needs (including hearings before, and appeals from, the SENDIST)
• Local Government Ombudsman (complaints to, and challenges against decisions of)
• Negligence in the field of Education
• Employment in Education, and other education contracts
• Charitable Trusts
• Further and Higher Education – admissions, attendance, disciplinary issues
• Universities – admissions, academic and disciplinary disputes, including fitness to practice panels.

Significant cases  

• R v Wakefield MDC ex p G ( LTL 30/1/98 : Times, February 10, 1998)
• R v Wakefield LEA ex p K (LTL 24/6/99)
• R v Oxfordshire CC Exclusions Appeal Panel, ex p P [2001] ELR 631
• R v S Gloucestershire Education Appeals Committee, ex p B [2001] ELR 53
• R (ota) Wakefield MDC v E and SENT (2002) ELR 2003
• Olchfa Comprehensive School Governors v (1) IE & EE (2) Helen Rimington (Chair Of Special Educational Needs & Disability Tribunal) [2006] EWHC 1468 (Admin)
•  Centrepoint Soho Ltd v Ms S Omaboe [2017] UKEAT/0129/17/BA
• East Sussex County Council v JC [2018] UKUT 81 (AAC)
• The Harpur Trust v Brazel [2019] EWCA Civ 1402

Lachlan regularly advises both informally, and in formal presentations, on latest developments in Education Law.

Employment and Discrimination 

disputes before employment tribunals throughout the country, and before the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

He was recently counsel for music teacher Mrs Lesley Brazel in her claims before the Court of Appeal and UK Supreme Court in the leading holiday pay case of  The Harpur Trust v Brazel [2019] EWCA Civ 1402/The Harpur Trust v Brazel [2022] UKSC 21, regarding the statutory paid holiday entitlement of “part-year” workers on permanent contracts.

He specialises in areas of discrimination and public interest disclosure, but his extensive experience in employment litigation includes:

• Unfair Dismissal claims (substantive and procedural, constructive, automatic)
• Wrongful dismissal claims
• Discrimination claims (disability, sex, sexual orientation, race, religious beliefs, gender reassignment)
• Maternity rights
• Equal Pay claims
• Holiday pay and rights for part-year or part-time workers
• Public Interest Disclosure claims (whistle-blowing)
• Redundancy payment claims (statutory and contractual)
• National Minimum Wage and Working Time disputes
• Transfer-of-Undertakings (TUPE) disputes
• Unlawful wage deduction claims
• Employment Tribunal jurisdiction and procedural disputes
• High Court and County Court litigation, including:
  – contractual bonus and share issues
  – restrictive covenants
  – employers’ references
  – vicarious liability for professional negligence
  – fiduciary obligations of senior employees and directors.

In addition, Lachlan has advised extensively on the effective drafting of:

• Contracts of employment, including restrictive covenant clauses
• Confidentiality clauses
• Disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Compromise agreements.

As a trained mediator, Lachlan is also frequently called upon to act as counsel in mediations concerning employment disputes.

Recent cases 

• Perkin v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust [2005] EWCA Civ 1174
• Akhavan-Moossavi v Association of London Government (2005) UKEAT/0501/04
• Vasquez-Guirado v Wigmore (2005) UKEAT/0033/05
• Olchfa Comprehensive School Governors v (1) IE & EE (2) Helen Rimington (Chair Of Special Educational Needs & Disability Tribunal) [2006] EWHC 1468 (Admin)
• Centrepoint Soho Ltd v Ms S Omaboe [2017] UKEAT/0129/17/BA
• East Sussex County Council v JC [2018] UKUT 81 (AAC)
• The Harpur Trust v Brazel [2019] EWCA Civ 1402/The Harpur Trust v Brazel [2022] UKSC 21

Lachlan is pleased to advise professional clients both informally, and in formal presentations, on latest developments in employment law. Further details can be obtained from the specialist clerk to the Employment Group.

Mediation 

Lachlan is an Accredited Mediator.

Public and Regulatory 

Lachlan Wilson’s public and administrative law practice is focused in the field of education law disputes. He taught for a number of years before qualifying as a lawyer and now conducts cases involving a wide range of education law issues at all levels from the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal to the Court of Appeal. This includes dealing with teachers’ disciplinary and regulatory cases.

Career

Year of call 1996.

Memberships

• Accredited Mediation Advocate
• Legal Assessor to the Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Trained Mediator

Education

• BA (Oxon) Literae Humaniores (1992)
• Dip Law, Westminster University (1995)