Ryan Anderson has a broad practice covering employment, civil, and housing law. He represents businesses, individuals, and local authorities.
In celebration of Pro Bono Week, he discusses a pro bono employment law case of his that concluded earlier this year with his client winning his £25,000 claim for loss of wages.
Please tell us about the pro bono work you did
Through the Work Rights Centre, I acted pro bono for an employee (Mr S) in his claim against his former employer.
My client had moved to the UK to take up a healthcare role as a salaried employee. He started employment, undertook training, but was never given shifts or paid. His employer, after making him wait for around a year, ultimately told him there was no work for him, which forced him to move back to India.
What impact did the pro bono work have on the people and communities you worked with?
He really appreciated having the support of the Work Rights Centre and me to help him with the legal aspects of his claim. English is not his first language, so it would have been particularly difficult for him to navigate a foreign legal system by himself.
Unusually for an employment tribunal case, the judge found that the threshold had been met for making a pro bono costs award against the respondent company, with £8,700 awarded to the Access to Justice Foundation (after I dealt with the trial, Robert Sharp acted pro bono at the costs hearing when the tribunal considered the pro bono costs award).
Did your pro bono work have an impact on your professional career? If so, in what ways?
Ruth, one of the solicitors from the Work Rights Centre was very complimentary about my representation of Mr S, and I was very grateful for her comments on LinkedIn:
‘Watching Ryan in the Tribunal was a pleasure… His ability to remain unfailingly respectful and polite while applying relentless pressure during cross-examination was a testament to his skill as a top rate advocate.
For anyone looking for a barrister who combines in-depth legal strategy and advice with superb presence and skill in Tribunal, you would be very hard pressed to find someone better’.
Something else that was gratifying was the article in The Guardian about the case.
Any final comments
Pro bono work can be highly rewarding – and it has the added benefit of being great for meeting new professional clients and providing exposure to work which may ordinarily be at a higher level than your existing knowledge and experience.