Region Area

Barristers

Helen Gower

Helen Gower

Work Department

Employment.

Position

Helen’s main area of practice is discrimination law and equal pay. She advises and represents claimants and respondents in the Employment Tribunal and on appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Her practice is approximately divided between acting for employees (mainly supported by their trade unions) and for a range of public sector and private sector employers. She is involved in a number of significant equal pay claims, most notably a multi-claimant claim against the Audit Commission as detailed below. During the last 12 months she has presented a number of talks on topics relating to her practice. For example, she was a speaker at a LexisNexis webinar on discrimination law. Significant work/case highlights over the past 12 months include: Harrison v Opportunity Housing Association; Haq and others v Audit Commission in the Court of Appeal; a trade union blackmailing case and defending a local authority in a 12 day race discrimination claim.

Career

Qualified 1992, Middle Temple; accredited mediator.

Memberships

Employment Law Bar Association; Employment Law Association; Industrial Law Society.

Education

Durham Johnson Comprehensive; Wadham College, Oxford (1990 BA); University College London (1991 LLM).

Leisure

Trekking and countryside walking, theatre, music.