Paras Gorasia
Practice Areas:
Practice Area CVs:
Year of Call: 2005
Practice Areas:
Restrictive Covenants and Confidential Information
Discrimination and Equal Opportunities Litigation
Employment Related Litigation
Collective Labour Disputes and Trade Union Litigation
Pensions, Employee Share Schemes and Incentives
Unfair and Wrongful Dismissal
TUPE
Mediation and ADR
Profile
Paras specialises in all aspects of Employment Law.
He spent three months from January 2007 as a Judicial Assistant at the Court of Appeal to the then Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke (now Lord Clarke). As a Judicial Assistant, Paras obtained extensive experience in a wide range of appellate proceedings encompassing Employment, Arbitration and Public law matters, amongst the most notable were R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2007] EWCA Civ 498, Sumukan Ltd v Commonwealth Secretariat [2007] EWCA Civ 243 and WPP Holdings Italy SRL and Others v Benatti [2007] EWCA Civ 263.
Paras was also the recipient of a Pegasus Scholarship in 2009 and was based in Hong Kong where he spent two weeks marshalling in the Hong Kong Court of First Instance with Mr Justice Reyes in a 10 day employment case involving Cathay Pacific (John Simpson Warham and Ors v Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd & Anor [2009] HKCU 1746), two weeks with Russell Coleman SC (Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association), a month at Mayer Brown JSM and two weeks marshalling with Mr Justice Hartmann JA in the Hong Kong Court of Appeal.
Paras has extensive experience of advising/representing both Claimants and Respondents in the Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal, County Court, High Court and the Court of Appeal. He regularly represents parties in both interim and final hearings and has particular experience in discrimination claims. Paras also has a strong academic background in this subject having obtained a distinction and the joint highest mark in the European Employment Law course for his BCL degree, through his appointment as the course convenor for the LLM Employment Law course at BPP Law School as well as his prior academic appointment as a part-time lecturer in Employment Law at the University of Reading. He has also spoken regularly to professional audiences on topical issues to a number of firms across the country as well as to in-house lawyers.
Paras is regularly instructed to advise upon the enforceability of restrictive covenants and disputes concerning the use of confidential information by ex-employees. He represents both Claimants and Defendants in the County and High Courts and has particular experience in respect of applications for and against injunctive relief. His work in this area ties in with his experience of dealing with disputes concerning the fiduciary duties of directors and senior employees.
Over the last year Paras has been involved in a multitude of lengthy and complex discrimination cases acting and advising both Claimants and Respondents. He has acted as a sole advocate in relation to a 14 day Tribunal case brought by a Claimant alleging Racial/Ethnic Origin Discrimination, Victimisation and Unfair Dismissal, a 10 day Tribunal case involving allegations of Whistleblowing and Constructive Unfair Dismissal on the grounds of sexual orientation, a 7 day Tribunal case involving allegations of Disability Discrimination, a 8 day Tribunal case involving allegations of Race Discrimination, Whistleblowing, Constructive Unfair Dismissal and Unlawful Deduction of Wages and a 10 day Tribunal case involving Racial/Ethnic Origin Discrimination, Unlawful Deduction of Wages, Constructive Unfair Dismissal, Victimisation and Harassment. He is presently instructed in a 15 day Tribunal case involving allegations of Sex Discrimination, Whistleblowing, Equal Pay, Victimisation, Constructive Unfair Dismissal and Unlawful Deduction of Wages.
He is frequently instructed in litigation which is related to his extensive employment practice in areas as diverse as bonus claims, breach of fiduciary duties, pensions related disputes, advisory matters arising out of the construction and application of incentives schemes (including employee share schemes), professional sport related disputes and general contractual litigation before County and High Courts across the country. Recent advisory work has encompassed high value claims against a leading international inter-dealer brokerage firm, a major international insurance company and a major high street bank.
Paras has particular experience in collective labour disputes and trade union litigation, a significant proportion of his practice involves representing union backed members in respect of their claims against Respondents of all sizes and in all sectors and has particular experience in matters relating to the application of TUPE. Paras is regularly instructed by a wide variety of trade union firms and has extensive experience in collective labour disputes such as protective award claims, collective contractual claims, collective bargaining disputes and union recognition claims. He maintains an extremely busy advisory practice advising trade unions and their members in relation to the complete spectrum of employment disputes.
Paras is increasingly involved in mediations on behalf of both Claimants and Respondents in respect of the full spectrum of employment disputes. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb) and retains a keen interest in alternative dispute resolution. Recent work in this sphere has included successfully representing a large well known transport company in a mediation against a Claimant alleging various acts of race discrimination, victimisation and unfair dismissal. Paras also has experience of proceedings under The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) England Regulations 2001 and has been instructed to advise a Chief Executive of a local authority against over 50 allegations of misconduct before a designated independent person.
Paras is instructed by a wide variety of individuals and organisations including banks and financial institutions, insurance companies, transport companies, FTSE 100 companies, local authorities, trade unions, chief executives, charities, NGO's and an extensive range of other public and private sector clients. He is able to accept instructions on a direct access and direct professional access basis.
Memberships:
Honourable Society of the Inner Temple
Employment Law Bar Association
Employment Lawyers Association
Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb)
Mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation
Barrister Member of the Bar Pro Bono Unit
Career & Education:
Education:
Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (First Class Honours) at University of Kent
Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Exeter College, Oxford
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Law at Exeter College, Oxford
Master of Laws (LLM) at King's College London
Bar Vocational Course (BVC) at ICSL
Scholarships:
Pegasus Scholarship to Hong Kong (Pegasus Scholarship Trust)
Major Scholarship (Inner Temple)
Leonard Woodley Scholarship (Inner Temple)
Bar European Group Phoenicia Scholarship
Faculty of Law Graduate Scholarship for MPhil (Oxford University)
Kent Law School Prize for Academic Performance
Kent Law School Mooting Prize
Appointments:
Course Convenor and Lecturer on the LLM Employment Law Module at BPP Law School
Judicial Assistant to the Master of the Rolls at the Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Research Associate at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)
Associate Lecturer at the Open University
Visiting Tutor in Employment Law at University of Reading
Examiner in Land Law at Queen Mary, University of London
Visiting Tutor in EC Law at Hertford College, Oxford University
Visiting Lecturer in Land Law at Birkbeck College, London
Visiting Tutor in Land Law at Queen Mary, University of London
Visiting Tutor in Land Law at the University of Leicester
Visiting Tutor in Contract and Company Law at the University of Buckingham
Career:
Year of Call: 2005 (Inner Temple)
Outer Temple Chambers, London (2005 - 2009)
Joined Kings Chambers, Manchester & Leeds 2009
