The Legal 500

Work Department

Employment, personal injury, clinical negligence and mediation.

Position

Employment: Jane has a broad-based employment and discrimination law practice. She is regularly involved in high-value and multi-party litigation, acting for both employers and employees (generally trade union backed). Jane has advised in a number of multi-million pound sex and disability discrimination claims in the past year. Over the past 12 months, Jane has appeared in the Court of Appeal as Leading Counsel for the claimants in two leading equal pay cases (Joss v Cumbria County Council and Gutridge v Sodexo) and in test cases concerning the right of flight and cabin crew in civil aviation to paid annual leave (BA v Williams), which is listed for appeal in the Supreme Court in February 2010. Jane also represented the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in the well-publicised case, concerning the application of the doctrine of ultra vires to agreed termination payments, brought against the Trust by its former Chief Executive, Rose Gibb, which is listed in the Court of Appeal in March 2010. Jane represented the successful claimant in the test case in the employment tribunal concerning the Fair Share Scheme, whereby employees in a unionised workforce who are not trade union members are required to pay a fee for union services and has recently represented a Primary Care Trust in a case where sex was alleged to be a genuine occupation qualification for a post in the field of community sexual healthcare. Significant work/case highlights over the past 12 months include: Gibb v Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust; British Airways plc v Williams and others; Gutridge v Sodexo and others; Joss v Cumbria County Council; Argent v NHS Luton. Personal injury: Jane’s cases over the past 12 months have all been complex, high-value cases. Most have involved serious head injury, often leading to severe impairment of mobility as well as cognitive problems. Jane has also been involved in three very serious multiple injury cases: one involving amputation and total blindness; one involving stroke and total dependence on others for all care needs; and one involving not only a severe head injury but also the removal of 80% of the intestine. Jane has represented the respondent/claimant in a potential appeal to the Court of Appeal involving periodical payments – frequency of payment and their date of commencement – which was eventually withdrawn by the appellant/defendant. Jane has dealt with three cases where there were significant challenges to severity of injury: in two cases settling the case for substantial six figure sums and in the third case achieving a settlement of near to £2,000,000. Most of Jane’s personal injury cases (which generally involve severe spinal injury and/or head injury) have a value significantly in excess of £1,000,000. Significant work/case highlights over the past 12 months include: Maxwell Muteliso v. Claver Muduma; Catrin Cullen v Daniel Williams; Kevin Williams v Guy Tomasetto; Barbara Gully v Steven Peters; Dora Pinamang v Carl Smith.

Career

Qualified 1982, Lincoln’s Inn; QC 2002; recorder 2005; fee-paid employment judge 2000; accredited mediator (member of ADR chambers); bencher of Lincoln’s Inn 2008.

Languages

Italian and French.

Member

Employment Law Bar Association; Personal Injuries Bar Association; Employment Lawyers Association; Industrial Law Society.

Education

Oxford University (1979 BA Hons); City University (1981 Diploma in Law).

Leisure

Bridge; theatre; cooking; parent of two teenage children. Member of Standards Board Islington Council; member of Advisory Board City Law School.

Practice Areas

Clinical negligence - claimant; Employment; Personal injury - either side