Laurene acts in the areas of equality law, employment, clinical negligence, public law and data protection law. She also acts as an investigator of allegations of discrimination and whistleblowing.

Employment

Laurene advises on pre-action strategy, represents in settlement negotiations and appears in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal.

She acts in the full range of employment claims, including on health and safety at work, pay and conditions, working time, collective activities and discrimination.

She is regularly instructed by large established trade unions and younger unions mobilising precarious sectors.

Laurene has acted in several large redundancy claims and also acted in multi-week whistleblowing trial involving complex evidential issues with witnesses testifying in different countries.

Discrimination

Laurene acts in County Court claims for discrimination in services and housing as well as discrimination at work claims. She has advised on the failure to make adjustments for disabled service users, discriminatory tenancy conditions and unequal access to services during the pandemic.

Many of Laurene’s clients are people with disabilities bringing either Equality Act or clinical negligence claims. She has particular experience representing people with invisible disabilities and disabilities made worse by working conditions.

Laurene recently negotiated a settlement of over £200,000 for a worker who had been subjected to race discrimination, harassment and victimisation in a multinational company.

Laurene has particular experience in pregnancy and maternity discrimination, including redundancy after maternity leave and detrimental treatment of pregnant workers. She has written about the gaps in the law to address gender inequality at work, especially for new and expectant mothers.

Personal injury and clinical negligence

Laurene has acted in multi-track clinical negligence claims including in complex birth cases involving multiple experts where liability is disputed. She has also advised and represented in claims on behalf of infants and minors with complex future loss calculations.

Mass litigation / group claims

Laurene is part of the counsel team in a successful discrimination and victimisation claim on behalf of thousands of claimants. She has also worked on several large equal pay claims involving complex issues to define work of ‘equal value’.

Investigations

Laurene has been instructed as investigator into allegations of discrimination, harassment and whistleblowing. She has also worked as part of a team on several large-scale investigations within NGOs, universities and trade unions.

Public and international law

Laurene was on the counsel team of the Infected Blood Inquiry and also undertook work for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. She has experience in UK administrative law cases and in international jurisdictions such as the Commonwealth Secretariat Appeal Tribunal.

Data protection

Laurene has advised and represented in claims and appeals in the County Court for data protection breaches..

MA Politics and Arabic (with Distinction) University of Edinburgh

Graduate Diploma in Law, City, University of London

Bar Professional Training Course with LLM (with Distinction) City, University of London

Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC)

Constitutional and Administrative Law Association (ALBA)

Discrimination Law Association (DLA)

Employment Lawyers Association (ELA)

Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers

Industrial Law Society (ILS)

Legal Sectors Workers Union (LSWU)

Inner Temple – 2018 BPTC Exhibition Award

Inner Temple – 2017 GDL Exhibition Award

Evan Ashfield Memorial Prize 2018 for best BPTC - FRU result

33 Bedford Row 2018 Prize for best performance in Clinical Legal Practice (City Law School)

University of Edinburgh – 2014 Irene Crawford Prize for best undergraduate in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

University of Edinburgh – 2014 Carole Hillenbrand Prize for best undergraduate dissertation in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies