Introduction
Connor joined St Philip’s Chambers in 2024 following a specialist pupillage in employment, personal injury, and costs, under the supervision of Sofia Ashraf, Paul Wilson, and Sophie Garner. Connor’s principal areas of practice include:
- Employment and discrimination
- Personal injury
- Clinical negligence
- Torts not involving personal injury
Before commencing pupillage, Connor taught employment and commercial law at Durham University, where he also completed his master’s degree. He gained further experience as a County Court advocate, acquiring substantial practical insight into procedural and costs-related matters.
Connor particularly enjoys working with clients from an early stage to ensure the best possible outcome.
Some of Connor’s latest work includes:
- Securing a favourable outcome for the paying party in a fixed costs dispute following the acceptance of a Part 36 offer.
- Successfully representing a solicitor in a dispute about its own-client costs.
- Acting as sole counsel on a multitrack clinical negligence matter.
- Appearing in the High Court in a civil restraint application against a serial litigant, led by Elizabeth Hodgetts.
- Representing the Respondent, a local authority, in a 6-day Employment Tribunal hearing concerning an alleged failure to make reasonable adjustments during a job application process.
- Acting successfully for the Respondent in a 2-day Employment Tribunal hearing relating to the alleged unfair dismissal of a member of care home staff.
- Securing a positive outcome for the Respondent in a 3-day Employment Tribunal hearing concerning a whistleblowing dismissal,
- Successfully representing the Respondent at an open preliminary hearing in the Employment Tribunal concerning time limits.
- Acting successfully for the Defendant in a county court disability discrimination and breach of contract claim, concerning the provision of services at a holiday park.
Outside of practice, Connor enjoys bouldering, cooking and expanding his vinyl record collection.
Employment Law
Connor has successfully advised and represented a broad range of claimants and respondents in the Employment Tribunal. Additionally, Connor has successfully represented clients in relation to allegations of non-employment discrimination and breaches of contract in the civil courts. Connor has acted for and advised clients in industries such as nursing, pharmacies, social care, education and higher-education, banking, and logistics, among others. Connor represents clients with respect to roles of all seniorities, including recently acting for a Chief Operating Officer.
He has experience in issues spanning:
- Unfair and wrongful dismissal;
- Discrimination, and disputes arising from disabilities;
- Harassment;
- Victimisation;
- Whistleblowing;
- Unlawful deductions from wages;
- Issues surrounding time limits;
- Open- and closed- preliminary hearings, including successfully applying for strike out;
- Pre-issue advice and negotiation and Judicial Mediation;
- Minimum wage and holiday pay disputes;
- Contractual disputes, including but not limited to disputes surrounding shares; and
- Personal injury.
Connor recently successfully represented respondents in a three-day whistleblowing dispute, an unfair dismissal claim, and continues to be involved in disputes surrounding allegations of failure to make reasonable adjustments, among others.
Connor has also recently appeared as sole junior in the High Court in an employment-related matter on behalf of multiple public-sector claimants.
Personal Injury, Clinical Negligence and Torts
Connor regularly advises and represents claimants and defendants in the County Court. He has a range of experience, including psychiatric injury arising from data breaches, workplace stress, occupiers’ liability, RTA and Credit Hire matters, and disputes that fall (or would have fallen) within the EL/PL and RTA protocols. He is at-home in personal injury disputes concerning fraud and Fundamental Dishonesty.
Connor has a growing clinical negligence practice, and is happy to consider conditional fee arrangements in appropriate cases. During pupillage, Connor gained experience of drafting and advocacy arising out of clinical negligence disputes, and is particularly familiar with the nuances of clinical negligence litigation involving private practitioners. Connor has recently advised on, and appeared unled for the Claimant in a dental negligence dispute concerning the avoidable loss of all of the Claimant’s natural teeth.
In addition to personal injury work, Connor also undertakes cases arising from torts that do not involve physical injury. His experience in this area includes claims involving misuse of private information, nuisance, negligence, package travel claims and false imprisonment.
Costs and commercial
Connor is keen to accept instructions across the full range of specialist costs disputes. During his pupillage, Connor gained specialist experience in costs disputes in the County Court and the Employment Tribunal. He was involved in detailed assessment proceedings, costs applications, and other disputes arising from points of law.
Connor’s experience includes:
- Detailed assessment proceedings and solicitor-client costs assessments;
- Disputes surrounding the application (and dis-application) of the fixed costs regimes, past and present;
- Qualified One Way Costs Shifting;
- Issues arising out of allocation to the Fast Track and Intermediate Track;
- Budgeting and Costs and Case Management Conferences, allocation, and interim hearings;
- Wasted costs orders; and
- Claims concerning the recovery of solicitors’ fees.
Connor has a busy courtroom practice and routinely advises and appears for clients in primary proceedings and related costs applications, in addition to costs-only disputes. For example, Connor recently provided advice leading to a favourable outcome for the paying party in a complex costs-only dispute concerning the interplay between CPR Part 36, fixed costs, and disposal hearings. He has also recently advised on points of law and procedure in relation to detailed assessment proceedings. Previously, during his time as a paralegal, Connor assisted with an appeal to the Court of Appeal concerning the rights of beneficiaries of a will to challenge solicitors’ fees.
More broadly, Connor advises and represents clients in commercial matters arising out of contracts, data protection, nuisance and negligence.
Education
BPC, University of Law: Outstanding
Master of Jurisprudence (by research), University of Durham: Pass Without Corrections
LLB (Hons), Law, University of Durham: 2:1
Selected Awards & Prizes
Gray’s Inn Lord Justice Holt Scholarship (BPTC)
University of Law, Birmingham: BPC Best Overall Student
