Olivia-Faith Dobbie is an employment law expert with extensive experience of a broad range of disputes, both in the civil courts and tribunals. She also has a sound appellate practice with cases at all levels from the Employment Appeal Tribunal to the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. Olivia was appointed as a part-time employment judge in 2020 and regularly sits in Cambridge on a wide range of cases, including multi-day discrimination claims.

Olivia is currently instructed as junior counsel in various large multiple claims, including being led by Caspar Glyn KC in the Bolt litigation (representing almost 7000 claimants on the issue of employment status) and being led by Rachel Crasnow KC in the mass supermarket equal pay claims against Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco (representing thousands of workers). Last year, she acted as sole counsel for the Respondent in the widely-publicised case of Forstater v CGD.

In 2024, Olivia was ranked in Tier 2 in the Legal 500: “Olivia is excellent with clients, and exceptionally strong in cross-examination. She is at the top of her game”. In Chambers and Partners 2024: "She is very responsive as well as being client-focused with excellent advocacy."; "A tireless and effective barrister, Olivia is always on top of the papers and the quality of her work speaks for itself."; and "I am very impressed with Olivia's expertise, attention to detail and advocacy. She is very approachable."

In her daily practice, Olivia has a particularly strong reputation for discrimination, holiday pay, employment status and whistleblowing. Due to her depth of knowledge of discrimination law, Olivia also represents clients and advises on discrimination claims in the county court in the areas of Goods & Services, Education and Associations (including members’ clubs and political parties).

Olivia is also highly sought after for her experience in undertaking internal investigations or procedures for a wide range of clients, from higher education institutions to commercial undertakings, solicitors' firms to political parties. She often handles very sensitive allegations of serious sexual assault and is able to put witnesses at their ease to ensure a fair investigation is achieved.

In recent times, Olivia has advised numerous clients including schools, local authorities, fire services and private commercial companies with respect to handling changes to holiday pay for thousands of employees. She has also represented respondents (one local authority and one commercial undertaking) in large multiple claims in respect of holiday pay. One such case resulted in amendments to the terms and conditions of thousands of workers. Due to this expertise in holiday pay and working time, Olivia has appeared on BBC radio and television discussing this topic on various occasions, including on the Victoria Derbyshire show, the six and ten o'clock BBC news and BBC Radio.

“Olivia Dobbie is a rare breed of barrister who is dogged, positive and upbeat, excellent with clients and a brilliant advocate in Court. She is a terrific drafter of pleadings both claims and defences acting for both Claimants and Respondents. She is approachable and friendly and is a terrific worker always responsive and willing to work long hours. Her broad range of work spans unfair dismissal, tricky race, disability and sex discrimination cases and breach of contract including restrictive covenants and large wrongful dismissal claims. But most importantly she is an eminently lovely person. I feel privileged to work with her and for her to represent my clients.”

"Olivia is always our first port of call on employment matters, and we have instructed her on a number of matters in the past three years. We have always found her excellent, as she is very quick on her feet and she has proven herself a seasoned cross-examiner. She is also exceptionally user-friendly as a barrister, partly because of her expertise and partly because she gets on very well with our clients. She is also able to break complex matters down easily for them.”

“I would recommend Olivia to anyone looking for a stand-out barrister who is not only extremely knowledgeable but an excellent advocate and very approachable. Knows her stuff and someone I would always want on my side!”

“Olivia has been advising my start-up companies and entrepreneur colleagues on commercial legal matters for over five years. She always gets right to the heart of the matter and finds the most practical solutions to even the most complex issues. I would highly recommend Olivia for any engagement.”

Legal 500 2024: Ranked Tier 2 (Employment): “Olivia is excellent with clients, and exceptionally strong in cross-examination. She is at the top of her game.”

Chambers and Partners 2024: Ranked Band 3 (Employment): "She is very responsive as well as being client-focused with excellent advocacy." "A tireless and effective barrister, Olivia is always on top of the papers and the quality of her work speaks for itself." "I am very impressed with Olivia's expertise, attention to detail and advocacy. She is very approachable." “Olivia-Faith Dobbie handles a far-reaching employment practice specialising in discrimination claims and working time disputes. She represents clients both at employment tribunals and in court.”

Legal 500 2023: “Clear advice, ability to get to the key issues quickly, excellent soft skills, and a strong communicator.”

Chambers and Partners 2023: "Olivia is an outstanding employment barrister. She can explain the most complex and sensitive employment law issues to clients from all industry sectors." "She performs extremely well in court with a confident, calm, measured and quick-thinking approach."

Chambers and Partners 2022: "A fantastic advocate." "Very impressive - a winning combination of being very efficient but also a really nice person to deal with." "She is a fantastically knowledgeable and very commercial barrister, and she is an excellent communicator. Her eye for detail is great and she meets deadlines." "Olivia is a strong all-rounder who has built a deserved reputation for being a capable pair of hands for tricky cases."

Legal 500 2022: "An excellent employment barrister- highly recommended."

Chambers and Partners 2021: "A fantastic advocate." "Very impressive - a winning combination of being very efficient but also a really nice person to deal with."

Legal 500 2021: "Provides digestible and commercial advice that clients can rely upon."

Chambers and Partners 2020: "She really knows the holiday pay area very well and can explain things to clients in a clear and easily understandable way." "A brilliant junior and one to watch."

Legal 500 2020: "Excellent ability to digest complex fact patterns and legal issues and to distil these into a sensible and commercial proposals for the client."

Chambers and Partners 2019: "Handles a far-reaching employment practice, specialising in discrimination claims and working time disputes. She represents clients both at Employment Tribunals and in court, and has a growing practice handling High Court litigation." "Cool, calm and professional." "She has a real eye for detail and a winning style with clients. She is terrifically smart and a real pleasure to work with."

Chambers and Partners 2018: “She is brilliant, very personable and charming.”

Chambers and Partners 2017: "She is excellent at getting on top of the brief and provides strategic advice for success at tribunal." "She has a calm, structured approach to advice, providing absolute clarity in opinion."

Chambers and Partners 2016: "Described by respondents as a barrister "who is going places" she has a strong reputation for her "great experience and cool head." She is a sought-after advocate for a range of employment disputes. "She is meticulous in preparation and very effective in cross-examination, leaving no stone unturned". "A clear, thorough and strong advocate."

Chambers and Partners 2015: "Her work is at a high level and she always goes the extra mile." "Approachable, commercial and able to turn around complex instructions in a short timescale."

Chambers and Partners 2014: "The amount of preparation that goes into her work is impressive. No stone was left unturned." and "I am particularly impressed with her closing written submissions; they are amongst the best that I've ever read."

Chambers and Partners 2013: "user-friendly, commercial and tenacious."

Employment Lawyers Association

Industrial Law Society

Discrimination Law Association

Employment Law Bar Association

Cloisters’ blog, November 2023: Indirect Discrimination by Association: An end to the Confusion (at last)

ELA Briefing, January 2018: Can't Use it Don't Lose it, the Avalanche of Rolling Over Holiday Pay

Adviser magazine, October 2015: Holiday Pay: What should you be advising employees?

Oxford Human Rights Hub, June 2015: Lee v Ashers Bakery: Cake Now or Cake Later?

ELA Briefing, February 2015: How far can a Tribunal go to assist a litigant in person?

Solicitor's Journal, Half Year Review, 2013: Treated Equally

Discrimination Law Handbook, Legal Action Group (practitioner's text), 2013, author of three chapters

ELA Briefing, June 2011: Exploring Combined Discrimination

Practical Law Company (online) 2011 section on Some Other Substantial Reason

Counsel Magazine, December 2008: ‘Discrimination: Sidelined by Semantics'.

Counsel Magazine, April 2007: ‘An End to the Blame Culture?'

London Law Review, October 2006: ‘The Compatibility of a Bill of Rights in a Deliberative Democracy'

College of Law (BVC)

King's College London (LLB Law with honours)

Middle Temple, Blackstone Scholarship

University of Bologna (Italy), Study Scholarship – Human Rights

• Thousands of Claimants v Bolt Operations OU and Bolt Services UK Ltd (hearing in 2024 to determine status)

• Thousands of Claimants v Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd (ongoing equal pay litigation)

• Thousands of Claimants v Tesco Stores Ltd (ongoing equal pay litigation)

• Thousands of Claimants v Asda Stores Ltd (ongoing equal pay litigation)

• Thousands of Claimants v WM Morrison Supermarkets Ltd (ongoing equal pay litigation)

• Maya Forstater v Centre for Global Development 2200909/19 concerning gender critical belief and trans rights [2022 and 2023]

• Williams v The Trustees of Swansea University Pension & Assurance Scheme & Anor UKSC 65. The meaning of ‘unfavourable' under Section 15 of the Equality Act 2010. [2018]

• Guimaraes v Findlater & Ors UKEAT 0236/16/3101 [2017] Employment Status

• Nawaz v BG Consulting Group Limited UKEAT/0088/17 [2017] Cutting and pasting from counsel's submissions – bias?

• British Gurkha Welfare Society & Others v Ministry of Defence (2017), European Court of Human Rights, application number 44818/11 Discrimination in pensions

• British Gas Services v Basra [2015] 1 ICR D5

• Centrewest London Buses Limited v Spencer [2013] UKEAT/0481/12 (Tolley's Employment Handbook 2014 and Westlaw)

• X v Mid Sussex CAB and Ors [2013] 2 CMLR 16, [2013] ICR 249

• X v Mid Sussex CAB and Ors [2011] ICR 460, [2011] 2 CMLR 18, [2011] IRLR 335

• Hine & Another v Talbot & Others (2011) UKEATPA/1783/10/SM

• British Gurkha Welfare Society & Others v Ministry of Defence [2010] EWCA Civ 1098 [2010] All ER (D) 131 (Oct)

• British Gurkha Welfare Society & Others v Ministry of Defence [2010] EWHC 3 (Admin)