Paul is the regional managing partner for the North East region and the firm’s national head for Thompsons Solicitors’ professional misconduct and crime team.
Consistency of high-quality, expert advice and representation to those for whom the firm acts is a key focus for Paul in his oversight as regional managing partner of the North East branch’s specialist personal injury, employment rights, professional misconduct and criminal teams, acting for clients across the North East and Cumbria.
Driven, organised and insightful, Paul oversees a team of lawyers and provides advice to trade unions on all matters related to industrial relations and employment law.
With a legal career spanning nearly 20 years, Paul has gained significant experience and expertise in litigation related to equal pay, unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, breach of contract, TUPE and collective actions such as suits for protective awards.
Paul has a particular interest in cases that involve working time regulations, time off for trade union activities and duties and time off for health and safety training.
Additionally, Paul has conducted professional regulatory cases in front of the General Social Care Council, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council.
As well as writing articles on employment law for the Labour and European Law Review, Paul gives talks and runs training sessions on employment law at events organised by trade unions, as well as those organised by Thompsons in conjunction with trade unions.
Paul is extremely proud of Thompsons’ commitment to working exclusively for claimants and its commitment to the union movement.
In his spare time, Paul is a trustee for Newcastle’s Live Theatre.
Paul's case experience
- Successfully ran the first claim the Employment Appeal Tribunal heard under Section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA).
- Represented a client in an indirect disability discrimination case by failing to make adjustments in the work place to allow him to return to work.
- Represented a client in a case where the Employment Appeal Tribunal found that tribunals have to decide whether an employer has given an employee the necessary amount of time off to undergo whatever health and safety training is “reasonable in all the circumstances”.