Douglas Leach > Chambers of Anna Vigars KC > Bristol, England > Barrister Profile
Guildhall Chambers Offices
Guildhall Chambers
23 BROAD STREET
BRISTOL
BS1 2HG
England
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Douglas Leach
Work Department
Employment and discrimination; professional discipline; sports law.
Position
Douglas is a specialist employment and discrimination barrister. He has a well-rounded practice which encompasses all areas of employment, discrimination and collective labour law, including County/High Court matters and injunctive relief and sports-related disputes. He further deals with discrimination issues arising outside the employment context (eg in the provision of services, in education and in partnership settings). Douglas has extensive experience in conducting appellate work in the EAT and Court of Appeal, as well as complex multi-week trials.
Career
Douglas is an experienced employment and discrimination specialist, dealing predominantly with substantial and higher value matters in both the Employment Tribunal and the High Court/County Court across the full range of employment, discrimination and commercial employment issues, including collective labour law. He has been recommended consistently in both Chambers UK Bar and the Legal 500 over many years, and most recently in Who’s Who Legal UK Bar 2021.
Highly regarded for his technical expertise, attention to detail and measured advocacy, Douglas v is particularly sought after in complex TUPE, whistleblowing and discrimination matters, as well as employee competition cases involving breach of confidence, restrictive covenants and injunctive relief. He regularly conducts long-running trials and appeals to the EAT, and has appeared in several significant cases in the Court of Appeal in recent years, usually unled (including against silks).
He acts for both claimants and respondents/defendants, and firmly believes in maintaining this balance. He is regularly instructed on behalf of individuals and/or unions, as well as NHS Trusts and Welsh Local Health Boards, schools and universities, Local Authorities, PLCs and a range of SMEs. He also acted for government departments during five years on the Attorney-General’s Regional Panel of counsel. He enjoys working as part of a wider legal team and finding creative and pragmatic solutions to problems.
Douglas welcomes electronic instructions, having adopted paperless working practices, and is fully conversant with the full range of secure platforms commonly used for video hearings and conferences. He is well placed to handle matters arising out of the effects of the current pandemic, and has spoken at well-received webinars examining many of the legal issues arising out of it.
Languages
French (DALF qualified).
Memberships
- Employment Lawyers’ Association
- Discrimination Law Association
- Industrial Law Society
- Employment Law Bar Association
Education
- BVC (Very competent), Inns of Court School of Law, London
- LLM (Labour Law), University College London
- LLB (European Legal Studies), University of Southampton & Université de Nantes
Lawyer Rankings
Regional Bar > Western Circuit > Employment
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Douglas Leach – Guildhall Chambers ‘Douglas excels in his analysis of cases and in teasing out the legal issues and finding a solution. His written submissions are detailed and add real weight to a client’s case. He has an excellent ability to think on his feet and has achieved some excellent results.’
Guildhall Chambers‘ employment team offers ‘real strength in depth, both in terms of call and expertise‘. Julian Allsop, who heads the team, is ‘forensic in his approach to litigation‘ and regularly instructed in high-value cases in the High Court, often involving director-level remuneration claims, restrictive covenants, and confidentiality agreements. He recently acted for the claimant in Macanovic v Portsmouth NHS Trust, a significant case raising the issue of whistleblowing detriment and involving the cross-examination of several medical consultants. Fergus Currie, ‘a highly competent and consistent advocate‘, has recently focused on claimant instructions, including wrongful and unfair dismissal actions, discrimination cases, and collective and individual redundancies. Debbie Grennan specialises in high-value whistleblowing and discrimination claims for public sector clients, including local authorities and health care bodies, while Douglas Leach ‘has an excellent ability to think on his feet’ and is well-regarded for his expertise in TUPE, whistleblowing, and discrimination matters as well as in employee competition cases involving breach of confidence, restrictive covenants, and injunctive relief.