Paul Michell > Cloisters > London, England > Barrister Profile

Paul Michell

020 7827 4000 pm@cloisters.com

Position

Paul is an employment law specialist. He regularly acts in equal pay, whistleblowing, discrimination, TULRA and TUPE cases, as well as high-profile claims for wrongful/unfair dismissal. He often receives instructions in claims where breach of fiduciary duty/commercial wrongdoing is alleged, and injunctive relief is sought. In addition to his employment work, Paul receives instructions in commercial disputes, many relating to sports and the media. In particular, he deals with claims involving confidentiality, intellectual property and database rights, and director/partnership disputes. Paul also acts in regulatory matters, such as sports/NHS disciplinary tribunals. He has acted as a Designated Independent Person under s1 2001/3384 investigating allegations of impropriety by senior local authority personnel. He has adjudicated over several internal grievances and disciplinary hearings. Recent clients include: the BBC, BMW, the British Red Cross, BUPA, the EHRC, the Elders Foundation, the Football Association, the Football Association Premier League, Trevor Horn CBE, the LSE, the RNIB, the Royal Ballet School, Toshiba, the TUC, UCL, the University of Durham, and several major financial institutions and unions. Recent cases include: Abraham v Football Association Premier League (2015 ET) – whistleblowing claim concerning Richard Scudamore’s alleged ‘sexist emails’; Hainsworth v MoD (Court of Appeal) [2014] IRLR 728 – duty to make adjustments for carers; X v Mid Sussex CAB (Supreme Court) [2013] IRLR 146 – ambit of Directive 2000/78 EC in the context of volunteers; Kulikauskas v MacDuff Shellfish (Scotland) Ltd (2012 CJEU) – ambit of Directive 2006/54 in context of pregnancy; EBR Attridge Law v Coleman (No2) [2010] IRLR 10 (EAT) – ambit of protection afforded under DDA 1995; GMB v Northumberland County Council (ET) – multimillion-pound claim involving allegations of breach of Reg 13 of TUPE; Masih v Awaz FM (EAT/ECJ) – protection under the Religion and Belief Regs; Danielle Lloyd v Carphone Warehouse (Ch) – alleged breach of confidentiality; Arthur J Gallagher v RFIB (Ch) – multimillion-pound claim involving team moves and alleged breaches of fiduciary duty; Coleman v Attridge Law (ECJ/EAT) [2008] IRLR 722 – ambit of Directive 2000/78 EC in the context of associative discrimination. Paul is recommended as a leading employment junior in ‘Chambers Directory’, where he is described as ‘feisty, tough and creative’, ‘praised for the commercial and practical manner he adopts’, ‘exceptionally knowledgeable on discrimination issues’ and ‘one of the barristers out there that clients return to most’.

Career

Called 1991, Middle Temple (Lloyd Jacob Memorial Exhibition and Astbury scholarship); Paul appears under the Employment Lawyers Association Advisory Scheme and represents litigants under the Bar Pro Bono Scheme; he regularly lectures on employment and related issues. He drafted the ‘Employment Tribunal’ and ‘Proceedings in the High Court and County Court’ entries for Bullen & Leake & Jacob’s ‘Precedents of Pleadings’. Guest lecturer at the Equinet (European Network of Equality Bodies) Discrimination Law Conference in Brussels, June 2009, with Prof Lisa Waddington and Peter Reading of the EHRC; named Lawyer of Week in The Times, 19 November 2009; invited to speak at the Academy of European Law’s seminar on recent developments in EC anti-discrimination law at Trier in November 2009 and March 2012; appointed Visitor to Loughborough University and part-time Employment Judge in 2013.

Memberships

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

Education

Highgate School; Cambridge University (BA and MA English Literature); City University (Dip Law).