Michael Ford KC
UK Bar Guide 2025
Star Individuals : Employment
Email address
[email protected]Contact number
(0)20 72690300Share profile
Star Individuals
About
Provided by Michael Ford KC
Practice Areas
Main areas of practice are employment law (including industrial action, working time, equal pay, trade union rights), public law, human rights. Over 70 reported cases. Many appearances in Supreme Court, House of Lords, Court of Justice of EU, European Court of Human Rights, CA. Recent cases include: : Mercer v Alternative Futures, SC (sanctions on strikers and Article 11 ECHR); Agnew v Chief Constable of NI, SC (wages claims); Harpur Trust v Brazel, SC (working time); Smith v Pimlico, CA (annual leave); British Airways v BALPA, CA (strike injunction); Dudley v Willetts, EAT (holiday pay); Unite v UK, ECtHR (collective bargaining, Article 11); R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor, SC (successful judicial review of tribunal fees). Formerly on Equality and Human Rights Commission ‘A’ Panel of Counsel; advisor to BEIS Parliamentary Inquiries into workers’ rights and the Taylor Review.
Career
University of Bristol, LLB (Hons) 1st Class; BSC (Hons) 1st class; Law Society Finals, 1st class; MA, 1st class Solicitor, Slaughter and May (1987-89). Called to Bar 1992. Fee-paid Employment Judge 2003. Employment Junior of Year 2012. QC 2013. Employment Silk of Year 2015. Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Bristol. Deputy High Court Judge 2017.
Professional Memberships
ILS, IER, ELA, ELBA.
Publications
Redgrave's Health and Safety; many others in Industrial Law Journal, Law Quarterly Review.
Personal
Serious cyclist (4th in age group Maratona delle Dolomiti 2022; 6th in Fausto Coppi 2024), former member of Great Britain road cycling squad (e.g. 1st Tour of Surrey. 1st Jock Wadley Memorial, 5th Ronde de L’Oise). Fluent French; Spanish.
Chambers Review
UK Bar
Michael Ford KC is a skilled practitioner handling highly complex Employment Tribunal matters, including discrimination claims, equal pay and holiday pay disputes, as well as cases concerning industrial action. He regularly appears in the upper tiers of the judicial system, including the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"Michael is the outstanding trade union silk of this generation."
"For my money, Michael is the leading silk on trade union law"
"Michael is simply the best."
"He is a pre-eminent employment silk. There is nothing he doesn't know. He has incredible attention to detail but what we really love is the fact that when he speaks, the judges listen."
"Michael is the outstanding trade union silk of this generation."
"For my money, Michael is the leading silk on trade union law"
"Michael is simply the best."
"He is a pre-eminent employment silk. There is nothing he doesn't know. He has incredible attention to detail but what we really love is the fact that when he speaks, the judges listen."
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