Mike is an experienced specialist commercial lawyer practising in all forms of contract-related work generally. Deriving from his general practice within contract law, he has specialised in employment contract law since being called to the Bar in 1989. Mike has an outstanding academic track record (including a first in law awarded in an accelerated two academic year period rather than the usual three). He was first recommended by Chambers & Partners as early as the mid-1990s as one of the leading juniors practising in commercial law in the North West. His practice has developed substantially and consistently since that time.
His previous experience before being called to the Bar as an international management consultant acting on behalf of a range of international agencies including the World Bank (based in Washington DC) ITC UNCTAD GATT (United Nations based in Geneva) and in this context particularly the EC Commission (based in Brussels) has contributed to his expertise in this general area, and certainly to his experience within Human Rights and EC law.
Mike practises and accepts instructions across all areas within employment contract law. He has been instructed in particular in, and is specialist in, the following employment law areas:
• Unfair and wrongful dismissal
• Redundancy
• Equal pay and the Equal Pay Act 1970 (as subsequently amended)
• Discrimination (in all its forms)
• Transfer of undertakings
• Human rights and the Human Rights Act 1998.
• Construction and interpretation of employment law contracts
• Drafting of employment law contracts
• Commercial agency and the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 as amended
Mike has practised in the above areas of employment law primarily in the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. He has appeared equally (but less frequently) in actions in the High Court and the County Court.
Employment Cases
Typical employment cases in which Mike has been involved successfully in the context of the above subject areas are illustrated below:
More than 50 ET and EAT cases of all types and involving the specialist issues addressed in the above.
More than 40 claims on behalf of both commercial agents and employers involving the above Commercial Agency regulations in the course of which Mike undertook detailed analysis of the European law implications of the 1993 Regulations. He now has correspondingly particular expertise as to those legal implications.
Re-drafting on behalf of a large (£multi million turnover) North West trading organisation of the company’s sales teams’ terms and conditions of engagement. These terms and conditions have now been implemented by the company in the context of all salesmen engaged by it.
Instruction (along with a very experienced specialist QC) on behalf of a senior consultant surgeon employed by a large North West Hospital Trust seeking to challenge the Trust’s decision to dismiss him. The case involved issues of racial and other forms of discrimination, victimisation and human rights. (The settlement of the case was made subject to a confidentiality clause.)
The above are no more than examples of the range of cases in which Mike has been involved in his 20+ years practising in employment law generally.
