Laurene Veale
Year of Call: 2019
OVERVIEW
Equality
Laurene specialises in equality law. She has acted in a range of discrimination claims in employment and in services.
She has particular experience representing claimants with disabilities, including invisible disabilities and disabilities made worse by working conditions.
Laurene advises in claims of discrimination in housing and in services in the County Court. She has specific experience advising on discrimination arising from Covid-19 measures and unequal access to essential services during the pandemic.
Laurene has represented workers claiming sexual harassment at work and victimisation. She has also advised in cases of pregnancy and maternity discrimination and has written about the need for legal reform to address gender inequality at work, especially for new and expectant mothers.
Laurene is currently working with Daphne Romney QC in a large multi-claimant equal pay claim involving complex issues around defining work of ‘equal value'.
Employment
Laurene has experience in redundancy claims, including in the context of mass redundancies resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
She acted as sole counsel in a 6-day whistleblowing trial with witnesses giving evidence in several countries and raising complex evidential issues around disclosure and credibility.
Laurene welcomes instructions from trade unions and has acted for both large established unions and younger unions mobilising precarious sectors. Laurene has links with trade unions in France, Belgium and Tunisia and speaks French and Arabic fluently, giving her a particular understanding of international comparative labour law.
Laurene has assisted in appeals in the Employment Appeal Tribunal including in the landmark case of Bessong v Penine Care NHS Foundation Trust UKEAT/0247/18/JOJ, on employer's liability for third-party race harassment and interpretation of the EU Race Directive.
Laurene also assisted in the Court of Appeal case of Tabidi v BBC [2020] EWCA Civ 733, a decision on assessing the prospects of success in a discrimination claim for the purposes of a costs award.
Investigations
Laurene welcomes instructions to investigate allegations in the workplace. She has experience conducting investigations into allegations of discrimination, and allegations of whistleblowing within a multinational company. She has also assisted senior counsel on several large-scale investigations within NGOs and trade unions.
Public law
Laurene has experience in public inquiry work. She undertook work for the Grenfell Inquiry in 2020 and is currently on the Counsel team of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Prior to joining the Bar, Laurene worked in international human rights and humanitarian aid in the UK and overseas.
Laurene specialises in equality law. She has acted in a range of discrimination claims in employment and in services.
She has particular experience representing claimants with disabilities, including invisible disabilities and disabilities made worse by working conditions.
Laurene advises in claims of discrimination in housing and in services in the County Court. She has specific experience advising on discrimination arising from Covid-19 measures and unequal access to essential services during the pandemic.
Laurene has represented workers claiming sexual harassment at work and victimisation. She has also advised in cases of pregnancy and maternity discrimination and has written about the need for legal reform to address gender inequality at work, especially for new and expectant mothers.
Laurene is currently working with Daphne Romney QC in a large multi-claimant equal pay claim involving complex issues around defining work of ‘equal value'.
Employment
Laurene has experience in redundancy claims, including in the context of mass redundancies resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
She acted as sole counsel in a 6-day whistleblowing trial with witnesses giving evidence in several countries and raising complex evidential issues around disclosure and credibility.
Laurene welcomes instructions from trade unions and has acted for both large established unions and younger unions mobilising precarious sectors. Laurene has links with trade unions in France, Belgium and Tunisia and speaks French and Arabic fluently, giving her a particular understanding of international comparative labour law.
Laurene has assisted in appeals in the Employment Appeal Tribunal including in the landmark case of Bessong v Penine Care NHS Foundation Trust UKEAT/0247/18/JOJ, on employer's liability for third-party race harassment and interpretation of the EU Race Directive.
Laurene also assisted in the Court of Appeal case of Tabidi v BBC [2020] EWCA Civ 733, a decision on assessing the prospects of success in a discrimination claim for the purposes of a costs award.
Investigations
Laurene welcomes instructions to investigate allegations in the workplace. She has experience conducting investigations into allegations of discrimination, and allegations of whistleblowing within a multinational company. She has also assisted senior counsel on several large-scale investigations within NGOs and trade unions.
Public law
Laurene has experience in public inquiry work. She undertook work for the Grenfell Inquiry in 2020 and is currently on the Counsel team of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Prior to joining the Bar, Laurene worked in international human rights and humanitarian aid in the UK and overseas.
QUALIFICATIONS
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
Graduate Diploma in Law, City, University of London
Bar Professional Training Course with LLM (with Distinction) City, University of London
MEMBERSHIPS
Constitutional and Administrative Law Association (ALBA)
Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC)
Discrimination Law Association (DLA)
Employment Lawyers Association (ELA)
Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Legal Sectors Workers Union (LSWU)
Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC)
Discrimination Law Association (DLA)
Employment Lawyers Association (ELA)
Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Legal Sectors Workers Union (LSWU)
AWARDS
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
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