Claire Darwin KC

Practice Areas

Claire Darwin KC is a leading silk specialising in employment and discrimination law, with related expertise in education law, judicial review and multi-party/group litigation. She is ranked in the latest editions of the legal directories as a leading silk in Employment, Education, Pensions, Administrative Law and Human Rights, and is described as a “highly impressive advocate and a class act”. According to Chambers & Partners 2024 “she is excellent with clients, very popular and manages a large caseload”. Claire was a finalist for Employment Silk of the Year at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2024, and for Public Services and Charities Silk of the Year in 2023.

Claire’s recent work includes Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia v Alhayali [2024] IRLR 381 (now before the Court of Appeal); acting for UCL in Hamon and others v University College London [2024] EWHC 1744 (KB), a claim by thousands of university students seeking compensation for the impact of the pandemic and industrial action on their studies; and advising the EHRC on its enforcement powers under the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023.

Career

Called to the Bar 2005. King’s Counsel 2023. Appointed a Recorder (part-time Circuit Judge) in 2023. Appointed to the Attorney General’s A Panel 2017, reappointed 2021. Member of B and C Panels before that. Also appointed to the Attorney General’s Panel of Special Advocates and the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Panel of Preferred Counsel 2024-2028 (and previous panels).