JUNIOR PROFILE

Rachel Barrett

UK Bar 2026

Cloisters Chambers

Ranked in 2 practice areas

Employment

London (Bar)

8 years ranked

Inquests & Public Inquiries

London (Bar)

1 year ranked

About

Provided by Cloisters Chambers

UK Bar

Practice Areas

Rachel has a varied employment, discrimination and human rights law practice including inquests and public inquiry work. She specialises in cases with crossover equality and human rights law issues, and is in demand as sole or junior counsel in legally complex and novel litigation.

Career

Called to the Bar in 2012. Judicial assistant to Lord Wilson and Lord Hodge in the Supreme Court in 2014-2015. Appointed to the EHRC B-Panel from 2019. Fee-paid Employment Judge from 2020. Junior Counsel to the Infected Blood Inquiry (2019-2024) and the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry (2023-date).

Reported cases include: Tesco Stores Ltd v Element [2024] IRLR 736; NUPFC v Certification Officer [2021] ICR 1397; Gray v Mulberry Co (Design) Ltd [2020] ICR 715; Bou-Simon v BGC [2019] 1 All ER (Comm) 955; Kilraine v Wandsworth [2018] ICR 1850; Gilham v Ministry of Justice [2018] IRLR 315; Simpkin v Berkeley Group [2017] 4 WLR 11; McCann v State Hospital Board for Scotland [2017] 1 WLR 1455; Blackwood v Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust [2016] ICR 903.

Professional Memberships

ELBA, ELA, DLA, ALBA, BHRC, HRLA, Justice, INQUEST, Advocate.

Publications

Co-author of OUP’s Employment Law and Human Rights. Contributing author to Supperstone’s Judicial Review, Bullen & Leake’s Precedents of Pleadings, Lewis & Buchan’s Clinical Negligence and Sweet and Maxwell’s Human Rights Practice. Researcher on Baroness Hale's Mental Health Law.

Personal

Rachel studied at SOAS (BA History and MA Chinese Studies) and worked in mental health before becoming a barrister.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

UK Bar

Employment - London (Bar)

Band 3

Individual Editorial

Rachel Barrett is an impressive employment law barrister who has made appearances before the highest UK courts. She acts on behalf of both claimant and respondent clients and handles a wide range of matters including breach of contract, whistle-blowing and disability discrimination.

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Inquests & Public Inquiries - London (Bar)

Band 5

Individual Editorial

Rachel Barrett has an established employment, discrimination and human rights practice. She takes a junior counsel role in notable inquiries and frequently acts for bereaved families in inquests concerning mental health, including cases with media attention.

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Strengths

Provided by Chambers

Rachel Barrett is fantastic to work with, technically brilliant, and also emotionally intelligent.
EmploymentUK Bar
Rachel cuts through in a way that not many barristers do and is great on her feet. She has got a razor-sharp intellect.
EmploymentUK Bar
Rachel Barrett has a very good court manner. She's calm and collected and then pounces on you, coming out of nowhere. It's very impressive to watch.
EmploymentUK Bar
She is intelligent and forensic in her approach and makes clients feel heard. On her feet, Rachel is very good and persuasive. She never shies away from difficult points.
Inquests & Public InquiriesUK Bar
Rachel Barrett is extremely intelligent, very hard-working and has a great sense of judgement.
Inquests & Public InquiriesUK Bar
Rachel goes above and beyond, and she genuinely cares about clients. She's incredibly skilful and very fearless in her advocacy, running circles around the defendants.
Inquests & Public InquiriesUK Bar