Nathan acts across employment, discrimination, public, human rights, sports and regulatory law, and other civil practice areas.
He has appeared as sole or junior counsel in the High Court, Employment Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
He is on both the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s panel of counsel and the Attorney General’s civil panel, and was appointed to each panel in his first year of eligibility.
Employment
Nathan is an established employment practitioner who is typically instructed, both in court and tribunal, in cases that require robust representation.
Clients value his legal expertise and his commercial acumen. He is skilled in handling sensitive cases and obtaining favourable settlements; he is regularly instructed to act in mediations.
Areas on which Nathan has advised or acted include: restrictive covenants; discrimination; employment status; contractual disputes; international law; military rights; equal pay; holiday pay; redundancy; unfair dismissal; complex pension loss; whistleblowing; TUPE transfers and costs.
Nathan’s cases include:
- Bamieh v Foreign & Commonwealth Office [2019] EWCA Civ 803 – Court of Appeal – junior counsel in the first appellate case on the territorial jurisdiction test for co-workers; a whistleblowing claim regarding alleged judicial corruption in the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo.
- Gan Menachem Hendon Ltd v De Groen [2019] IRLR 410 – Employment Appeal Tribunal – acted successfully for the claimant in her claim of sex discrimination after she was dismissed in relation to cohabiting with her partner. Nathan acted successfully as sole counsel in claims of sex and religious discrimination at first instance and was led by Robin Allen QC on appeal.
- Chadwick v Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd [2019] – Employment Appeal Tribunal – sole counsel for the employer in the claimant’s appeal following strike out of the claim during the final hearing.
- Bamieh v Eulex Kosovo & Ors [2018] – Employment Appeal Tribunal – junior counsel in the EAT, before President Simler, on numerous questions of international law, including the legal personality of international organisations.
- Michalak v GMC [2017] 1 WLR 4193 – Supreme Court – on the forum for claims against qualifications bodies (junior counsel for the successful intervenor).
- Hollinghurst v James Hall & Co [2017] – Employment Appeal Tribunal – sole counsel in the EAT on the burden of proof in Employment Rights Act detriment claims and Equality Act claims.
- Butler & Ors v Blinkbox Music Ltd [2016] – a group-litigation case regarding a TUPE transfer in the context of a share purchase. Nathan acted as sole counsel for 68 of the successful claimants and as co-counsel with Jason Galbraith-Marten QC. Claim valued at £10m.
- Representing a senior television producer in an age discrimination claim against a large broadcasting organisation.
- Successfully enforcing restraint of trade provisions.
- Acting for a broadcast journalist in an equal pay and race discrimination claim.
- Acting for c.40 claimants in a high-value group-litigation holiday pay claim.
Successfully resisting applications for interim relief.
See Nathan’s CV for fuller details of his employment and regulatory practice.
Public, Discrimination and Human Rights
Nathan has a broad public and human rights law practice. Prior to the Bar, he was one of Liberty’s five-strong legal team. In 2012-13, he was a stagiaire at the European Court of Human Rights, with responsibility for drafting Single Judge and Chamber judgments. He also contributed research to a number of Grand Chamber judgments, including: Vallianatos & Ors v Greece [2013] (same-sex unions); IB v Greece [2013] (workplace HIV discrimination); Del Rio Prada v Spain [2013] (retroactive punishment); Fernandez Martinez v Spain [2014] (religious discrimination and private life at work); and O’Keeffe v Ireland [2014] (positive obligations to prevent sexual abuse).
He also has particular expertise in discrimination claims, both in private and public law.
Highlight cases include:
- Education claims: Nathan has extensive experience of private law claims against schools and universities, including various Equality Act claims for and against schools and universities, claims by parents against schools for victimisation, and other private law actions, such as breach of contract. Nathan is also experienced in public law education issues, including successfully challenging a school’s policy on detentions that constituted indirect religious discrimination, and advising on issues of potential discrimination arising from new government apprenticeships.
- European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber advisory opinion: Nathan was instructed on the Grand Chamber’s first advisory opinion, issued under Protocol 16, concerning surrogacy and the rights engaged under French law. He represented the United Kingdom Government, led by Sarah Hannett.
- Hussain v Manningham Housing Association: successful Equality Act and public law challenge to a refusal to apply the Right to Acquire scheme to a disabled unit.
- Labour Party: advising on internal Labour Party disciplinary proceedings. He has been instructed on cases concerning allegations of antisemitism and sexual harassment.
- Daley v Bakiyev [2016] EWHC 197: junior counsel in a two-week High Court trial regarding an alleged attempted assassination in the Kyrgyz Republic.
- Duce v Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust [2018] P.I.Q.R. P18: junior counsel in the Court of Appeal about the scope of causation, and patients’ right to informed consent.
- Trans rights: advised a local authority on trans people’s right of access to same-sex leisure facilities.
- Benefits challenges: advising on the DWP’s alleged discriminatory handling of a PIP application made by a blind applicant.
- T v Health Trust X: acting for the Claimant’s family in a human rights claim regarding a health trust completing a “do not resuscitate” form without consent.
- Equality Act 2010 claims: Nathan regularly acts in goods and services, transport, housing, associations and education discrimination claims. Examples include acting for: a successful PhD candidate in her claim of disability discrimination against her university; a successful wheelchair user in her claim regarding access to a shop; and a trade union, advising it on whether an enhanced redundancy scheme amounted to direct or indirect discrimination.
See Nathan’s CV for fuller details of his public, discrimination and human rights law practice.
Qualifications
Nathan read Philosophy, Politics & Economics at the University of Oxford. He obtained a Distinction on the GDL at BPP Law School, coming top in the year in land and constitutional law. He obtained an Outstanding on the BPTC at Kaplan Law School, coming top in the year in civil litigation, criminal litigation and ethics.
Privacy Notice
Nathan needs to collect and hold your personal information in order to advise and represent you. He will take all steps that are appropriate, proportionate and practicable to protect your personal information. Nathan is determined to do nothing that would infringe your rights or undermine your trust. This Privacy Notice describes the information he collects about you, how it is used and shared, and your rights regarding it. To read his privacy notice in full, please see here.
Nathan is regulated by the Bar Standards Board and accepts instructions under Standard Contractual Terms. To find out more information on this and the way we work at Matrix, including our fee transparency statement, please see our see our service standards.