Laura Bell

Laura is a client friendly and accessible barrister, who provides robust and commercially astute advice and who leaves no stone unturned in her approach to both advocacy and advisory work. Her forensic approach to cross examination and persuasiveness make her an obvious choice for difficult and sensitive cases.

She has been named as a 'Leader in the field' for Employment in Chambers UK Bar Directory since 2014.

Has a wide-ranging employment practice and regularly advises on everything from whistle-blowing to breach of contract. She is known as a fearless litigator who is adept at thinking on her feet. She is also praised for putting clients at ease, with her client-friendly manner making her a trusted adviser.

"She is very bright, commercial, practical, client-friendly, and she is very capable on tricky and sensitive issues, especially disability discrimination." - Employment, Chambers UK 2022.

"Laura is an excellent barrister. She has sound commercial judgement and fantastic client-care skills. She is particularly adept at handling sensitive and complex disputes, and has achieved very positive outcomes in difficult cases." - Employment, Legal 500 2022. 

• Recommendations

  ‘Laura is second to none when it comes to her knowledge of the law and tribunal processes. She is engaging with clients and a very strong cross-examiner.’ - Employment, Legal 500 2023

  An experienced barrister with a wide-ranging employment practice, bolstered by her personal injury law knowledge. She is particularly respected for her advocacy in discrimination cases. She often acts for clients from the financial services sector. "She is very bright, commercial, practical, client-friendly, and she is very capable on tricky and sensitive issues, especially disability discrimination." "She is very empathetic and she handles sensitive cases effectively. She also has excellent client care skills and she puts people at ease." - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2022. 

  "Laura is an excellent barrister. She has sound commercial judgement and fantastic client-care skills. She is particularly adept at handling sensitive and complex disputes, and has achieved very positive outcomes in difficult cases." - Employment, Legal 500 2022.

  Experienced barrister with a wide-ranging employment practice, bolstered by her personal injury law knowledge. She is particularly respected for her advocacy in discrimination cases. She often acts for clients from the financial services sector. "She is superb at getting to grips with a case quickly and distilling the issues in a way that has an eye on the client's commercial and pragmatic priorities." "She is client-friendly, masters the detail and is a forceful cross-examiner." Represented the claimant in Dr Emma Lahert v Proteome Sciences and Others, a complex sex, pregnancy and maternity discrimination claim and TUPE claim - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2021

  "Hugely bright and great with clients. She is a master of detail and uses this to great effect when cross-examining. Laura also gets the big picture and the objectives of the client - her advice is therefore commercial and relevant" - Employment, Legal 500 2021

  "Really impressive and able to handle a wide range of work." "Calm under pressure, clear and commercial in her advice, very personable and highly intelligent." - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2020

  ‘Calm under pressure, clear commercial advice, very personable and approachable as well as impressive during hearings.’ - Employment, Legal 500 2020

  "Brilliant. She always gives committed advice and she inspires confidence." "In addition to her clear practical skills as an advocate, she is very personable and very approachable with clients." Represented the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis in litigation regarding alleged victimisation and discrimination by senior officers. - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2019

  ‘Her cross-examination is excellent.’ - Employment, Legal 500 2019

  “Fantastically commercial and personable advocate who is able to advise with the client's commercial aims in mind. She adapts her style ever so deftly. She can be charming and sensitive when needed, while immediately formidable and forceful when cross-examining.” Acted for PwC in a complex race and sex discrimination case in which the claimant made a large number of complaints against senior employees and partners at the employer. - Employment, Chambers UK 2018

  "She has excellent cross-examination skills and is a strong advocate overall." - Employment, Legal 500 2017

  "She is very measured and calm, very organised and on her feet she is very impressive - she judges the mood of the tribunal very well." "She is extremely easy to work with as she is very helpful and responsive and very thorough in her approach." - Employment, Chambers UK 2017

  "She is strong in her cross-examination and achieves the desired outcome for clients." Employment, Legal 500 2016

  Widely praised for her exceptional client service, her practice covers both employment and personal injury law. "Very good with clients, and tactically very astute." "She has a very calm and engaging style, and is exceptional at putting clients at ease. She delivers clear, well-reasoned arguments." Acted in the High Court for PricewaterhouseCoopers in a breach of contract claim, brought by a former employee of the company who was dismissed after returning from Russia. - Employment, Chambers UK 2016

  "An exceptionally skilled barrister, with excellent knowledge of the law and its application." - Employment, Legal 500 2015

  Has a wide-ranging employment practice and regularly advises on everything from whistle-blowing to breach of contract. She is known as a fearless litigator who is adept at thinking on her feet. She is also praised for putting clients at ease, with her client-friendly manner making her a trusted adviser. "I really think cross-examination is one of her strengths because she can be very tenacious." - Employment, Chambers UK 2015

  "An up-and-coming employment barrister, whose stable of clients includes several established financial sector multinationals. Recently, she has been instructed in an adversarial capacity to Citigroup in a multimillion-pound multi-discrimination claim." Chambers UK 2014

  "She is popular with clients, in whom she inspires confidence." - Chambers UK 2014  

  "Laura’s advocacy, especially her cross examination of the claimant went a long way towards us winning the case" - Lewis Silkin

  "Laura handled the conference extremely impressively" - Partner at Irwin Mitchell

  "Laura was on top of all the papers, alert to all the issues and incredibly responsive to the way the hearing unfolded… The judgement was a testament to her clarity of analysis" - Xerox UK Ltd

• Employment

  Add to Portfolio

  Laura has a wealth of experience representing both claimants and respondents in all aspects of employment law, including discrimination, unfair and wrongful dismissal, redundancy, whistleblowing, TUPE, breach of contract, and unlawful deduction from wages. She is involved with cases in an advisory capacity from the early stages, and appears in tribunals and the EAT. She also advises and represents parties in injunctive proceedings and bonus claims in the High Court.

  Laura represents a wide range of clients including Apple, British Airways, Barclays, American Airlines, BAA, Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Primark, the Metropolitan Police, Goldman Sachs International and the BBC. She also represents charities, local authorities and shop floor workers.

  • Jamiluddin v (1) British Airways (2) Tim Steeds (3) Willie Walsh (2012) – Laura was led by Ingrid Simler QC and instructed to represent all three Respondents in complex race, religion and disability discrimination, unfair dismissal, and unlawful deduction from wages claims. The case gathered a large media interest given its sensitive subject matter (alleged terrorist plots and the involvement of government organisations) and personal allegations against the former CEO, Willie Walsh
  • P v CBRE (2012) - Laura was instructed by the Claimant, a large international commercial real estate advisor, to advise on the enforceability of its contractual provisions relating to the claw back of bonus payments on termination of employment. The contractual provisions apply to a high proportion of its senior employees. The matter now proceeds against one such employee in the High Court. Laura is being led by Bruce Carr QC
  • S v G & J & T (2011) – Laura was instructed as junior to Suzanne McKie, and represented all three Respondents - a global law firm, and two senior partners in its employment team. The claimant alleged disability discrimination. The case was extremely sensitive given the nature of the First Respondent’s business, the seniority of the other named Respondents, and other allegations against a number of senior employees within the firm
  • Kurumuth v. NHS Trust North Middlesex University Hospital UKEAT/0524/10/CEA - Laura represented the Respondent in a claim alleging unfair dismissal in the context of the immigration rules and the right to work. She persuaded the EAT to take a generous view of the employment tribunal’s judgment below, notwithstanding it got the burden of proof wrong. IDS Brief and the ELA Newsletter reported the EAT's judgement as suggesting that it is reasonable for employers to dismiss employees with uncertain immigration status
  • Lambden v. Henley Rugby Football Club UKEAT/0505/08 – Laura successfully represented the Respondent at both the ET and EAT. The principal rugby coach claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed and discriminated against on the grounds of age. Although there were numerous factors more consistent with employment, the claimant’s choice to be treated as an independent contractor was incompatible with him being an employee