Andrew Burns KC KC > Chambers of Andrew Burns KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
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Andrew Burns KC KC
Position
Andrew Burns KC specialises in complex commercial, employment and industrial disputes, particularly injunctions, and has featured in some of the leading appellate cases in employment law and trade disputes in recent years including Malone & Ors v British Airways Plc, ASLEF v London Midland, RMT v Serco, and Prophet plc v Huggett. Two of Andrew’s cases were included in Personnel Today’s ‘Six employment law decisions that will shape 2019’: Kostal v Dunkley (changing employment contracts outside of collective bargaining) and Ali v Capita (discrimination between payments for shared parental leave and maternity leave).
Andrew acted for Royal Mail in its injunction to prevent the national postal strike (Royal Mail Group v CWU), in a number of recent airline and airport disputes and appeared for Birmingham City Council in the recent bin workers’ strike (Birmingham City Council v Unite the Union). He has acted in industrial action disputes for British Airways, London bus companies, BT, Post Office, Fujitsu, South West Trains and Citylink. He has recently appeared in both of the first two European Works Council appeals and has numerous appearances in business cases in the DIFC Courts and Court of Appeal in Dubai.
He is a leading silk in insurance and reinsurance disputes appearing in the Supreme Court in Durham v BAI (Run Off) Ltd (the Employers’ Liability Policy Trigger Litigation in asbestos insurance cases such as Redman v Zurich) and acted in litigation relating to 9/11 reinsurance disputes (Simmonds v Gammell and Allianz v Tonicstar).
For more information on Andrew’s practice and latest case highlights, please consult his full Devereux profile.
Career
Called 1993 Middle Temple; Bencher 2018; Silk 2015; Crown Court Recorder 2009.
Publications: Andrew is a co-author of the Law of Reinsurance with Colin Edelman QC (3rd Ed. 2021) and Bean on Injunctions (13th Ed. 2018). He is co-general editor of Discrimination Law (Bloomsbury Professional).
Memberships
COMBAR, BILA, ELA, LCLCBA, ELBA, ILS, PNBA, ELS
Education
Dover Grammar School for Boys; Downing College, Cambridge (MA); Astbury Scholar, Middle Temple.
Leisure
Scouting, outdoor activities, theatre.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Insurance and reinsurance
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Andrew Burns KC –Devereux ‘Andrew is a decisive and knowledgeable lawyer in the specialist area of top-ups. He is particularly good in conference, using his significant experience to give clients’ confidence. He is a confident advocate, often instructed on difficult matters.’
London Bar > Employment
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Andrew Burns KC –Devereux ‘He is a very user-friendly silk, with a great manner with clients, and is also very commercial and meticulous.’
Devereux houses a team with ‘strong and well-respected employment expertise‘. Employment litigation remains a key area of instruction for the group, which also continues to advise on high-profile industrial relations matters. Bruce Carr KC is ‘a vastly experienced employment barrister‘, ‘always a reassuring presence for clients‘, and Andrew Burns KC is highly regarded for his ‘particular strength in industrial relations issues‘. The ‘shrewd and capable‘ Alice Mayhew KC is well versed in handling complex cases involving allegations of discrimination and whistleblowing, as well as equal pay claims. Turning to the juniors, Peter Edwards has an established track record in representing claimants and respondents in a wide spectrum of employment law matters, often acting for large banks and financial institutions in claims. Anna Greenley recently appeared before the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Nicol v World Travel and Tourism Council, a case concerning the degree of knowledge a decision maker must have of a whistleblower’s protected disclosure, in order for a claim of dismissal and detriment to be successful. The senior end of the team was bolstered by Christopher Stone KC taking silk in March 2024.