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
- Discrimination
- Data protection
- Personal injury
- Clinical negligence
- Torts not involving personal injury
- Costs
Before joining the Bar, Connor taught Employment and Commercial Law at Durham University, where he also completed his master’s thesis. He later gained further experience as a County Court advocate, acquiring substantial practical experience in interim hearings, personal injury, and fixed costs disputes.
Connor particularly enjoys working with clients from an early stage to ensure the best possible outcome.
Some of Connor’s latest cases include:
- A solicitor / own-client costs dispute concerning a firm’s wider billing practices and the compliance of its bills, and allegations of professional negligence.
- Securing a favourable outcome for the paying party in a fixed costs dispute following the acceptance of a Part 36 offer.
- Appearing for a solicitor in a dispute about its own-client costs, resulting in a complete recovery.
- Acting as sole counsel on a multitrack clinical negligence matter.
- Appearing in the High Court in a successful civil restraint application against a serial litigant, led by Elizabeth Hodgetts.
- Successfully representing the local authority Respondent 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 his practice, Connor enjoys bouldering, cooking and expanding his vinyl record collection.
Employment Law
Connor prides himself on working closely with clients to ensure that the best outcome is achieved for their needs. He aims to provide bespoke solutions and detail-oriented advice and advocacy.
Connor has successfully advised and represented a broad range of claimants and respondents in the Employment Tribunal. Connor’s concurrent experience in the County Court and High Court makes him well-placed to assist in relation to a wide range of disputes. He regularly represents clients in the Employment Tribunal and civil courts concerning issues surrounding personal injury, data protection, and contractual disputes. Connor has also successfully represented clients in relation to allegations of non-employment discrimination and breaches of contract in the civil courts.
Connor’s recent Employment Tribunal cases include:
- Successfully representing the respondent in a 3-day whistleblowing dispute
- Successfully representing the respondent, a social care provider, in an unfair dismissal claim;
- Successfully representing the respondent, a local authority, in a 6-day dispute concerning failure to make reasonable adjustments;
- Successfully seeking dismissal of a claim for failure to comply with time limits, at a preliminary hearing.
Connor has also recently appeared as the sole junior in the High Court in an employment-related matter on behalf of six public-sector claimants.
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, most recently, 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;
- ADR hearings;
- Minimum wage and holiday pay disputes;
- Contractual disputes, including but not limited to disputes surrounding shares; and
- Personal injury.
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. During pupillage, Connor gained experience in 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:
- Claims concerning the recovery of solicitors’ fees.
- 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.
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’s recent cases have included:
- A claim against a client for recovery of solicitor’s costs, in which the client counterclaimed in professional negligence;
- Successfully representing a paying party in a complex costs-only dispute concerning the interplay between CPR Part 36, fixed costs, and disposal hearings;
- Solicitor-client detailed assessment proceedings on behalf of the receiving party.
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
