“Gareth Brahams is a titan of the employment law world” with “a tactical nous that is unmatched anywhere in the City.” Legal 500 2024
Gareth Brahams is a recognised leader in the field of employment law.
He has nearly 30 years of experience in employment law advising senior executives and other employees with high value/high stakes situations, large and small employers, partners and members of LLPs.
Whilst he has brokered thousands of favourable settlements, he is particularly renowned for his victories in the Courts and Tribunals, taking on and beating some of the largest employers and LLPs in the world both in the financial services sector and other fields on behalf of individual employees.
His specialisms include: discrimination and whistleblowing claims (where he has fought and won a number of leading cases); restrictive covenants; team moves; disputes about TUPE; stress at work and misrepresentation.
He has acted in numerous cases involving sexual harassment both on behalf of victims but also defending employees falsely accused of sexual harassment, all of which have settled on confidential terms.
He also advises on high level severances and retirements, and on the terms of new contracts or membership/partnership agreements for senior executives and partners.
He is a renowned expert and creative lawyer. He can be a fearsome fighter when required but is also engaging with opponents when it is in the client’s interests.
Career Highlights include:
- Acting for Tony Danker in his dispute with the CBI. The former director-general brought legal action against the CBI over its handling of his dismissal following complaints about workplace misconduct. The case was reported extensively on numerous media channels, including being lead story on the BBC.
- Acting for Alex Osipov in his ground-breaking £2 million win, which established in the Court of Appeal the entitlement of whistle blowers to claim against individual directors. This victory, which broke new legal ground, was reported in The Times Newspaper and all the leading law reports and journals.
- Acting for Jonathan Millet in his whistle-blowing claim against Queensgate Investments and Jason Kow. Again, the case broke new law, establishing the entitlement to have an interim relief hearing heard in public. It was reported by Bloomberg and the legal press.
- Acting for Achim Beck in his claim against CIBC in four successfully contested hearings in the 42-year old’s high-profile age discrimination claim. The case was reported on the front page of the Financial Times.
- He was called on to give evidence before the House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Select Committee on the role of confidential settlements in sexual harassment claims. That evidence was cited in the Committee’s report and relied upon by the Court of Appeal in its judgment concerning the disclosure of allegations of sexual harassment against Phillip Green. Gareth also appeared on Channel 4 News as an expert on the issue.
View the recent Legal 500 Hall of Fame interview with Gareth
The 2023 edition of Chambers says of him, “Gareth is a phenomenal lawyer” and “is excellent at handling sensitive employment matters.”
Previous editions note that: “He is very strategic and he understands the human dynamic behind cases. He does not give up and he will strive to get the result for his client. He is a terrific litigator, he’s seen it all and done it all, and he’s tactically very sound.”
Gareth has been recognised year on year by Best Lawyers for Employment Law since 2009. He is also recommended as a top adviser in the Spear’s Magazine Employment Lawyers Index 2024.
He is a former (elected) Chair of the 6,000-member Employment Lawyers Association and sat on its Management Committee for twelve years.
Gareth lives in Muswell Hill with his family. When he is not working, he plays tennis, watches Arsenal, cycles, swims, hikes, reads and socialises.
Gareth was admitted as a solicitor in November 1995.
