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Employment

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9 St John Street
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Kings Chambers
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St John's Buildings

Leading Silks

Paul Gilroy QC - 9 St John Street ‘ Paul’s strengths are most definitely the way he builds relationships with both solicitor and client. It felt very much as though we were a team. He was brilliant with my client, for whom this was extremely stressful and arduous. He has a relaxed advocacy style but can be pugilistic when the situation calls for it. I was very happy with his work and will instruct him again. ’
Simon Gorton QC – Exchange Chambers ‘Simon’s strengths include his calm and professional manner and ability to explain the most complex issues to clients in conference whilst also being one of the best advocates I have used.’
Nicholas Siddall QC - Littleton Chambers

Leading Juniors

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James Boyd - Kings Chambers
Martin Budworth - Kings Chambers ‘ Martin is an exceptional advocate, careful and incisive cross-examination is a particular strength. ’
Steven Flynn - Kings Chambers
Catherine Knowles - Exchange Chambers ‘ An exceptional barrister who's attention to detail is second to none. Very logical stance and would not hesitate to recommend to anyone needing an employment barrister in the Northern circuit. ’
Edward Morgan - 9 St John Street
Anisa Niaz-Dickinson - Kings Chambers ‘ Anisa has a keen eye for detail and is clinical in cross-examination. Anisa is calm and thorough with an ability to think on her feet and handles complex factual matters with clarity and ease. ’
Daniel Northall - Littleton Chambers ‘ Dan is a fantastic all-rounder. He is a brilliant advocate with an amazing ability to remain calm under pressure. He has excellent interpersonal skills, alongside the ability to think on his feet and express his arguments and ideas clearly. Clients/witnesses often comment that they find him extremely approachable and at ease in his company. His written advice is equally impressive and logical. I would also applaud Dan for his attention to detail and ability to see the complete picture. He is a 100% reliable, always responsive and a pleasure to work with. ’
Assunta Del Priore - 9 St John Street ‘ Assunta is excellent in her appropriation of briefs involving complex facts and has a great ability to pull key points fact in to optimal point of legal strategy. Attention to detail is a very great strength. ’
Louise Quigley - 9 St John Street ‘ Very astute, gets to the heart of the legal issues very quickly. Also has a great grasp of the additional sensitivities in particular claims and gives practical and commercial recommendations to clients (rather than just focussing on the legal issues). ’
Jason Searle - St John's Buildings ‘ Always well-prepared, excellent with clients and tactically very savvy. ’
Amy Smith - 9 St John Street ‘ Amy provides a great service. Amy is efficient, knowledgeable and friendly and gives sensible advice. I would highly recommend Amy. ’
Helen Trotter - Kings Chambers
Rachel Wedderspoon - 9 St John Street
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Lena Amartey - 9 St John Street ‘ Tenacious in hearings, well-prepared, practical and easy to work with, agile thinker. ’
Carlo Breen - 9 St John Street ‘ Carlo displays meticulous preparation and analysis. ’
David Campion - 9 St John Street ‘ David is a very technical barrister, and I worked with him on some complicated employment status issues. He had a very good grasp of the law and the technical requirements in this area and was able to explain them in easy to understand language to the client - which is not always an easy task. ’
Paul Draycott –Doughty Street Chambers 'Absolutely excellent written work on submissions and superb acuity on complicated points of law. Paul is an appellate advocate in the highest class in this regard.'
Paras Gorasia –Doughty Street Chambers 'Paras is an exceptional barrister and an expert in all aspects of employment law. He is an extremely effective advocate.'
Laura Gould - Kings Chambers
Nigel Grundy - 9 St John Street ‘ Nigel is great with clients, makes them feel relaxed and inspires confidence. He is always well prepared and is a great advocate. He has a gentle manner but this belies the thoroughness of his cross examination. He is an extremely safe pair of hands and I trust him to do high quality work. I have no hesitation in recommending him to my clients and other colleagues who are looking for a high quality advocate. ’
James Hurd - 9 St John Street ‘ James is able to put clients at ease with his friendly but professional approach, a skilled advocate and extremely efficient in drafting complex pleadings. ’
Sarah Johnson - Kenworthy's Chambers
Ben Williams - Kings Chambers ‘ He is down to earth and really approachable. Really helpful and assists whenever he can. ’
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David Flood - St John's Buildings
Annette Gumbs –St John’s Buildings
Bruce Henry - Kenworthy's Chambers ‘ Bruce has an excellent manner and rapport with clients and explains case weaknesses and difficulties tactfully and empathically. ’
Jamie Jenkins - St John's Buildings
Ghazan Mahmood - St John's Buildings
Martin Mensah - Atlantic Chambers ‘ Martin is a brilliant barrister who grasps the issues quickly and helps clients feel confident in the case and the tribunal process. ’
David Tinkler - Atlantic Chambers ‘ David is clearly very bright, he is very easy to work with and always willing to help out even at an early stage. His record of accomplishments speaks for him. Being able to present technical legal arguments in a client friendly way, whilst balancing the need to be robust, but maintaining respect for all concerned, makes him an asset and a rare find. ’

Rising Stars

Rosie Kight - Kings Chambers ‘ Rosie is extremely good and delving through the detail and getting to the crux of the issue very quickly. She gives bold, strategic advice and doesn't sit on the fence. She is very user friendly and great in front of clients (helped by her years as a solicitor). She is great to work with, gets great results and a very safe pair of hands. ’
Thomas Wood - St John's Buildings ‘ Thomas has a very calm and measured approach to case conferences and working with clients to put them at ease but also ensuring he gets the facts and fundamentals of any case clearly set out and understood to provide the clearest advice. ’

Employment in Regional Bar

9 St John Street

9 St John Street has a 'strong and varied employment set' that advises across the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious employment law. Paul Gilroy QC has a strong background in sports and employment law. Gilroy advised the claimant in Taplin v Freeths LLP, a case that involved a £5m disability discrimination claim by an equity partner against their former firm. The set is also home to Edward Morgan QC who has a broad employment practice and has handled a wide variety of NHS cases.

Testimonials

Set

‘The set is excellent – offers a broad range of expertise.’

‘In my view, 9 St John’s Street is the leading set for Employment work in the North West.’

‘Specialist employment law set providing strength in depth.’

‘Great availability of Barristers at all levels and of all skill sets.’

‘9 St John Street, Manchester is, and has been for many years, my go to chambers for employment law counsel, and will remain so given the number of high class employment lawyers based there.’

‘Chambers is always able provide a selection of Counsel for any employment claim that we need to instruct them on. Their experience is deep with an even selection of very experienced and more junior barristers. Chambers has also regularly engaged with us in relation to providing in-house training on various aspects of employment law from their unique point of view.’

‘Strength in depth is very much present with a number of strong and very credible established employment counsel as well as some up and coming counsel.’

‘Very good set for employment law, always my go to in Manchester and the North West.’

‘9 St John Street are the go to set for Employment advice in Manchester.’

‘Genuinely the best chambers for employment law practitioners outside London (and better than many in London). Much better value than London for comparative expertise.’

‘Nine St John Street Chambers have a strong and varied employment set in which clients are spoilt for choice and have a wide and varied knowledge of employment law.’

Clerking

‘Julia Lanza works closely with us to ensure that we have good access to Counsel, that we have fee arrangements that work for our clients and that our team get the opportunity to build relationships with junior barristers as well as more regularly used Counsel. She is easy to engage with and we have build a strong working relationship of openness and flexibility. ‘

‘Very helpful and keen to assist in whatever way they can. Julia Lanza runs a very friendly and helpful team. She has also proactively arranged very helpful seminar sessions for instructing solicitors. She goes the extra mile to ensure instructing solicitors are well looked after.’

‘Both Tony Morrissey and Julia Lanza are exceptional in their roles. They will bend over backwards for clients who insist on specific Counsel, have an excellent memory for client preferences and above all are approachable and candid about availability and fees.’

‘Excellent. The clerks are personable, helpful and forge good relationships with the users of chambers. Tony Morrissey and Julia Lanza have consistently provided a wonderful service.’

‘The clerks’ room is very efficient and responds to requests for instructions without delay. Julia Lanza in particular is very reliable within Chambers and is our preferred point of contact when I consider instructing counsel.’

Kings Chambers

Kings Chambers is a 'very strong set' with an employment team that delivers 'excellent service'. The team a large variety of employers including NHS Trusts and well-known businesses. Members display substantial experience handling tribunal cases involving discrimination, whistleblowing, TUPE claims and cases involving equal pay and working time regulations. James Boyd heads the employment team. Boyd represented the defendant in Hogan v Liverpool John Moores University, a case that involved a part time worker, age and sex discrimination claim brought by a part-time lecturer.

Testimonials

Set

‘Following the last minute re-listing of a Preliminary Hearing by the Employment Tribunal, Kings Chambers responded quickly to appoint a suitable replacement when our original Counsel was not available for the re-listed hearing.’

‘The go to Chambers for Manchester employment lawyers.’

Clerking

‘We deal predominantly with Paul Clarke and enjoy a relaxed, open and frank relationship. Paul is flexible, responsive and pragmatic meaning that we are able to resolve any issues easily and that he will work with us wherever possible to meet our requests for particular favoured counsel.’

‘First-class.’

St John's Buildings

St John's Buildings is 'an excellent set' with a 'very broad coverage' of employment law, including expertise in TUPE, disability discrimination, and whistle-blowing claims. Jason Searle heads the employment team and has developed a niche practice dealing with cases involving Covid-19 and the impact the pandemic has had on those with disabilities in the workplace. Jamie Jenkins is representing the claimant in Ijomah v Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where a consultant psychiatrist was diagnosed with PTSD and was dismissed for being in breach of contract. Ghazan Mahmood is also noted and successfully represented Dodd and Co in David Allen v Craig Pollock and Dodd & Co, in relation to a claim brought by the claimant for alleged breaches of restrictive covenants.

Testimonials

Set

‘An excellent set – very broad coverage of expertise and seniority in employment and related areas of practice. ‘

‘An excellent set of well-rounded, commercial barristers. Their pupils are always impressive.’

‘I highly rate St John’s Buildings. They are my go-to Chambers and a number of my most regularly instructed Barristers are from this set.’

‘I have attended many seminars that St John’s Buildings have hosted and more recently, webinars, all of which I have found very informative.’

Clerking

‘Excellent service. Rob Lang in particular is knowledgeable of the case in question, communicates well in relation to deadlines and fees and is very pleasant to deal with.’

‘The clerks are efficient, clear and prompt. Chris Brown has always been friendly, amenable and helpful when liaising with cases and costs.’

‘Chris Shaw is worth a mention – always proactive and willing to assist, and never lets me down with even last minute cover or placing of instructions. Completely reliable, and the clerks room is very efficient.’

‘Rob Lang is superb. His friendly and helpful nature make him a pleasure to deal with. Nothing is ever too much trouble. ‘

‘The clerks are extremely helpful. I am in most regular contact with Rob Lang and Chris Brown who both make every effort to secure me my preferred Counsel, but will always recommend someone well suited if they are not available.’