Nicholas Smith

Employment and discrimination; disciplinaries and appeals; professional discipline; sports law.

Nick is a specialist Employment & Discrimination Barrister and has been band 1 ranked in both Chambers and Partners and the legal 500 directories since the late 1990’s. In 2018 he stood down as Employment & Discrimination team leader having overseen considerable success and growth of his team at Guildhall Chambers (following a team move in 2012).

He has a genuine passion for employment law since undertaking his first ET in the spring of 1991. Though his practice is predominantly respondent focussed, Nick enjoys acting for the individual particularly where there is a significant imbalance of power and resource. Given his vast experience he is genuinely a ‘go-to’ advocate for complex or high value cases. Nick can also undertake Direct Access work across the spectrum of cases from a high level and critical review of proposed settlement agreements to conducting complex cases. In most cases Nick will be able to sign off legal adviser certificates within the traditional fee boundaries provided by the employer for such work.

During these very difficult times Nick is happy to advise DA clients on the phone and via a number of virtual platforms such as Zoom and MS Teams.

Nick acts for a wide range of clients across the complete spectrum of employment. This is reflected in the body of his work spanning 3 decades referenced below.

Nick has unrivalled experience in the spectrum of matters that are heard in the Employment Tribunal. Commonly these will include:

Unfair and wrongful dismissal especially constructive dismissal. Whistleblowing. Discrimination in all its forms. Redundancy and reorganization, TUPE and insolvency (in particular collective actions resulting from failures to inform and consult/ claims for protective awards). Trade union law. Contractual disputes, Covenants, breach of confidence, breach of implied duties (including fiduciary duty), database abuse, Collective bargaining and consultation, Industrial disputes. Territorial jurisdiction.

He also undertakes High Court litigation in respect of breach of employee’s express and implied obligations and appellate work in both the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the higher courts.

Nick has just been awarded a place in the Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom (2021). Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession. This is a recognition that he is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals. This list is compiled by conducting exhaustive peer review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers.