Bates Wells

Paul is a specialist employment and discrimination lawyer. He advises employers and senior executives on the full range of legal issues connected with employment, including the formation and termination of the employment relationship, litigation, large-scale redundancies, TUPE, share options, and bonus disputes. His corporate and institutional clients include media organisations, financial institutions, charities (including schools), technology companies, and professional firms (including other law firms and barristers chambers). His litigation experience includes pursuing and defending cases in the Employment Tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the High Court, and the Court of Appeal. Examples of recent work include: conducting a successful appeal in the case of Charm Offensive Productions v Lazarov and ors a test case concerning the employment status of actors; advising an organisation in respect of contractual changes, achieving savings in excess of £5m; successfully defending a household name business facing class action litigation worth in excess of £1.5m; advising a senior director at a global technology company on contractual terms, bonus provisions and share options; successfully defending an international airline facing claims of sex discrimination and unfair dismissal (before the Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal); successfully acting as advocate for an education institution facing claims of religion or belief discrimination in Shaikh v Tribal Education Ltd (ET/2201677/12); and defending a national charity against a serial litigant and acting as advocate in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Trained Rowley Ashworth; Rowley Ashworth 2005-2008; Eversheds 2008- 2011; Bates Wells Braithwaite 2011 to date. Current directorships: Trustee and Director of School 21.

ILS; ELA; committee member, ELA.

St Simon Stock RC, Maidstone, Kent; Bristol University; the University of Kent; and the College of Law (London).