Paul McFarlane

Employment: Employer: Industrial Relations (London (Firms)).

Paul McFarlane has substantial experience advising public sector clients on a range of employment matters, such as industrial relations issues, as well as complex discrimination and whistle-blowing claims. In addition to this, he was the chair of the Employment Lawyers Association (2022 - 2024) and a board member of the Black Solicitors Network (2016 -2024).

Employment Lawyers Association

Industrial Law Society

Paul regularly presents to clients and writes articles in the national (e.g. The Times, The Guardian), HR (e.g. HR Magazine, People Management) and legal (The Lawyer, Law Society Gazette) press on employment law issues and has appeared on BBC News, Sky News and various BBC radio channels commenting on employment law issues. Paul is regularly invited to speak clients and conferences on diversity & inclusion issues.

Successes include:

- regularly speaks at events on the legal and practical issues face addressing diversity and inclusion in the workplace;

- successfully defended a 15 day whistleblowing claim brought against a police force and obtained a five figure costs award against the Claimant;

- negotiating a six figure settlement for a Claimant in relation to an unfair dismissal and age discrimination claim they filed against their former employers;

- gave evidence to a Parliamentary Working Group on an Independent Complaints and Grievance Policy Nov 2017;

- conducting investigations into allegations of race discrimination for a number of clients;

- drafting a response to the Central Arbitration re allegations that a client failed to comply with its disclosure of information obligations to a trade union under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

- as Chair of ELA part of panel (including policy leads from the TUC & CIPD) who presented their concerns to a delegation from the House of Lords on the Retained EU Law Bill - February 2023.

Minority Lawyer of the Year

Chambers and Partners

2019