Jason Searle > Chambers of Frances Heaton KC and Richard Norton > Manchester, England > Barrister Profile

Chambers of Frances Heaton KC and Richard Norton
St John's Buildings
24A-28 ST JOHN STREET
MANCHESTER
M3 4DJ
England

Work Department

Employment

Position

Jason Searle is a specialist employment and equality law barrister, representing employers and employees in employment and HR litigation. He generally acts for high net worth individuals, law firms (and other professional advisory firms) and a range of FTSE listed companies/SMEs. He is proud to be the head of the St Johns Building’s Employment Law Team and immensely enjoys the responsibility of this role.

  • ason acts for employers and employees, with an even split. Jason has a wealth of experience of discrimination cases. He has successfully resisted and presented claims brought by doctors and senior NHS executives. He has been responsible for presenting some of the most heinous campaigns of discriminatory treatment before the employment tribunals.Jason has become the ‘lawyer’s lawyer’ and is regularly instructed by solicitors privately and in house barristers. He has advised in cases for and against National firms of solicitors and is often against Leading Counsel. He has acted in cases involving National Security and has been responsible for training solicitors and others in discrimination law. He frequently appears in the Employment Tribunal; EAT; County Court and High Court.Jason is also an expert in Social Media in the Workplace and the legal ramifications for employers and employees. He has handled a number of cases where the use of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social networks has led to disciplinary action (including dismissal) by an employer, leading to Employment Tribunal cases. He is frequently called upon to advise when solicitor’s employee clients find themselves accused of IT misuse.

    Jason has also appeared in regulatory and disciplinary tribunals. He has advised teachers, doctors, nurses and those involved with FCA compliance.

Career

Called 1993; Middle Temple.

Memberships

  • Employment Law Bar Association
  • Employment Lawyers Association

Education

Parrswood High School; University of East London (1991 LLB Hons).

Lawyer Rankings

Regional Bar > Northern Circuit > Employment

(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1

Jason Searle – St John’s BuildingsJason is excellent as an advocate, always thoroughly prepared and clear in his submissions. His cross-examination is particularly good and clients are made to feel thoroughly supported and in safe hands.’

St John’s Buildings ‘has great breadth and depth of skill and experience in the employment team’. Its members appear before the Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal, as well as varied levels of the court system. Head of the employment group Jason Searle represented the respondent in a case where a shop worker was dismissed for gross misconduct after refusing to sanitise her hands and subsequently lying about it. Thomas Wood is strong in discrimination and whistleblowing cases, often representing executives and large organisations, and Ghazan Mahmood is skilled in representing health professionals in internal and external disciplinary proceedings. The set also houses Jamie Jenkins, who has expertise in discrimination cases and mandates in the education sector – he is instructed to represent the former CEO of Liverpool City Council, who has brought a constructive dismissal claim concerning his resignation in May 2017 after a disciplinary process by the council triggered by his arrest for misconduct in a public office.