Dere Street Barristers

Sam’s practice divides into three broad specialisms: employment, personal injury and chancery/commercial. He has been on the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel since 2007 and has been recommended for employment work by the Legal 500 every year since 2009. Employment: Sam practices in all aspects of employment law but has particular interest in the following – discrimination and victimisation; TUPE; employment litigation in the civil courts, including redundancy, wrongful dismissal and restrictive covenants. Cases before the Tribunal (in both England and Scotland) range from a few hours to several weeks. Recent cases have covered: A (rare) stand alone complaint under s80H ERA 1996 (flexible working request); race discrimination relating to a differential pay structure for foreign workers; redundancy arising out of the closure of the Government Office Network; whether NHS staff were entitled to overtime arising out of the Royal Wedding bank holiday. Sam is involved with ongoing appeals before the EAT covering: the victimisation provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (this is likely to be the first appellate authority considering victimisation under the new Act); in the TUPE context, whether a ‘transferor’ is entitled to offset against compensation it is ordered to pay the claimant an amount the claimant has received from ‘transferee’ under a COT3. Personal injury: Sam has practiced in personal injury all his professional life, for both claimants and defendants. Whilst his practice now includes claims involving catastrophic injury, he continues to be regulary instructed in cases relating to: employer and public liability claims; industrial disease; product liability. Recent cases of interest have included: a claim arising out of a ‘friendly fire’ incident in Afghanistan, invoving experts in prosthetics, employment, nursing and accommodation. A Part 20 claim against a parent for negligent supervision. In addition, Sam is now regularly instructed to act for interested parties in inquests, including deaths in custody. Chancery/commercial: over ten years of practice, Sam has gained wide experience in litigation over a range of areas. Particular areas of interest to him include: real property, including proprietary estoppel, sale of land, adverse possession, boundary/easement disputes, nuisance, restrictive covenants and Land Registry practice. Landlord and tenant, including residential (possession, disrepair, anti-social behaviour) and commercial disputes (forfeiture, dilapidations, breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment). Wills and probate, including administration disputes, contentious probate and Inheritance Act claims. Professsional negligence, particularly against solicitors. Sam also sits as a Deputy District Judge.

Called 1999; Lincolns Inn.

Employment Law Bar Association; Personal Injury Bar Association; Chancery Bar Association; Bar Pro Bono Unit.

Trinity College, University of Cambridge (MA (Hons) Cantab Law (with European option); Universite De Poitiers, France.