Robin Allen KC
Cloisters
Barrister (England and Wales/N.I.)
Regions
- London
1 Pump Court, Temple, London, EC4Y 7AA, United Kingdom
020 7827 4000
ra [at] cloisters.com
Robin Allen QC specialises in employment, equality, equal pay, discrimination, human rights, public law, artificial intelligence and local authority work.
Legal 500 rates him as a Tier 1 Employment Law Silk and he has twice been Chambers and Partners' "Employment Law QC of the Year".
He acts for a very wide range of clients, from individuals to organisations, senior bank employees and directors to the low paid, political figures to government, FTSE companies to major trade unions, major football clubs to small sports clubs, charities and accountancy firms, universities, local authorities, and other public bodies. He is frequently involved in test case litigation.
He works across the UK and in Europe. He also undertakes cross - border and international employment and equality issues: for instance, in recent years he has advised on a major Bermuda public sector labour dispute, acted in a cross-Atlantic labour arbitration, advised a pan-European NGO on developing European law, worked up proposals for amendments to the Montreal Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air and advised on the regulatory control of Artificial Intelligence across Europe.
Robin has appeared in over 154 reported cases in the Industrial Relations Law Reports (more than any other barrister). These include many path-finding appellate cases at the highest level in the UK and Europe. He has been instructed in over 40 cases in the House of Lords/Supreme Court (including four cases in 2013, three in 2016, two in 2017 and 2018).
His trial practice is concerned with high value and often high profile claims, including test cases and emergency injunctions in trade disputes. He has acted in numerous multi-party cases including securing substantial awards for very many part – time judges in their £2bn pensions' claim. Other such claims include acting for all the District Judges in Northern Ireland, part-time firefighters, numerous multi-million pound collective equal pay cases, the former employees of BCCI, the Gurkhas and the Chagos Islanders.
He has undertaken many public interest amicus and intervention briefs, both in the UK and worldwide, for among others the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Harvard University Law School, Public Concern at Work, and Liberty. He has also given evidence to Parliamentary Committees on the technical aspects of proposed legislation such as the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, and on behalf of the Bar Council. He advised the European Commission on the content of the first two key equality Directives.
In his advisory work he has a particular interest in corporate governance, the proper use of publicity powers, regulatory issues and the making of politically sensitive decisions by all kinds of public bodies. This includes advising the Local Government Association as to the implications of the Grenfell disaster and advising in relation to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review. Another example is the drafting of agreements between the Equality and Human Rights Commission and two police forces on protocols for stop and search. In 2018 he has advised a major football club in relation to regulatory issues, and the President of the Lawn Tennis Association in relation to disciplinary issues.
He is closely involved in the growing debate about discriminatory technology, writing and lecturing on this frontier issue. Along with Dee Masters he hosts www.ai-lawhub.com which contains information on the interface between technology and equality and human rights law. Together they have advised the European Equality Bodies as to how to approach these issues, the TUC and Corporations. Together they were finalists for the CogX 2021 Global Leadership Award.
Robin has extensive experience of media work on TV, Radio and in public issue awareness campaigns.
He both acts in, and undertakes, mediations, arbitrations (including cross-border arbitrations) and other forms of dispute resolution.
He was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2009.
In the autumn of 2018 he gave the prestigious Hamlyn Lectures, published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.
Legal 500 rates him as a Tier 1 Employment Law Silk and he has twice been Chambers and Partners' "Employment Law QC of the Year".
He acts for a very wide range of clients, from individuals to organisations, senior bank employees and directors to the low paid, political figures to government, FTSE companies to major trade unions, major football clubs to small sports clubs, charities and accountancy firms, universities, local authorities, and other public bodies. He is frequently involved in test case litigation.
He works across the UK and in Europe. He also undertakes cross - border and international employment and equality issues: for instance, in recent years he has advised on a major Bermuda public sector labour dispute, acted in a cross-Atlantic labour arbitration, advised a pan-European NGO on developing European law, worked up proposals for amendments to the Montreal Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air and advised on the regulatory control of Artificial Intelligence across Europe.
Robin has appeared in over 154 reported cases in the Industrial Relations Law Reports (more than any other barrister). These include many path-finding appellate cases at the highest level in the UK and Europe. He has been instructed in over 40 cases in the House of Lords/Supreme Court (including four cases in 2013, three in 2016, two in 2017 and 2018).
His trial practice is concerned with high value and often high profile claims, including test cases and emergency injunctions in trade disputes. He has acted in numerous multi-party cases including securing substantial awards for very many part – time judges in their £2bn pensions' claim. Other such claims include acting for all the District Judges in Northern Ireland, part-time firefighters, numerous multi-million pound collective equal pay cases, the former employees of BCCI, the Gurkhas and the Chagos Islanders.
He has undertaken many public interest amicus and intervention briefs, both in the UK and worldwide, for among others the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Harvard University Law School, Public Concern at Work, and Liberty. He has also given evidence to Parliamentary Committees on the technical aspects of proposed legislation such as the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, and on behalf of the Bar Council. He advised the European Commission on the content of the first two key equality Directives.
In his advisory work he has a particular interest in corporate governance, the proper use of publicity powers, regulatory issues and the making of politically sensitive decisions by all kinds of public bodies. This includes advising the Local Government Association as to the implications of the Grenfell disaster and advising in relation to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review. Another example is the drafting of agreements between the Equality and Human Rights Commission and two police forces on protocols for stop and search. In 2018 he has advised a major football club in relation to regulatory issues, and the President of the Lawn Tennis Association in relation to disciplinary issues.
He is closely involved in the growing debate about discriminatory technology, writing and lecturing on this frontier issue. Along with Dee Masters he hosts www.ai-lawhub.com which contains information on the interface between technology and equality and human rights law. Together they have advised the European Equality Bodies as to how to approach these issues, the TUC and Corporations. Together they were finalists for the CogX 2021 Global Leadership Award.
Robin has extensive experience of media work on TV, Radio and in public issue awareness campaigns.
He both acts in, and undertakes, mediations, arbitrations (including cross-border arbitrations) and other forms of dispute resolution.
He was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2009.
In the autumn of 2018 he gave the prestigious Hamlyn Lectures, published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.
Disclaimer: ELA members self-certify that they are qualified lawyers and practice employment law for at least 25% of their time. ELA is not a regulatory body and does not vouch for the quality of service of any member appearing in the membership directory. A member’s inclusion in the directory does not constitute any kind of recommendation.