Shyam is a go-to junior for commercial and employment work. He is comfortable dealing with a broad range of issues from contractual disputes and company law issues to breaches of employment rights and worker-status arguments.

Shyam has proved himself a distinguished advocate and appears frequently in trials and application hearings in the High Court, County Court and various tribunals. He is further often instructed to represent clients in mediation and other means of alternative dispute resolution where he offers measured and practical advice.

Shyam recently returned from working in the international litigation team in the leading law-firm, Al Tamimi & Co, in Dubai. He worked on multiple high-value and complex commercial matters in both arbitration and in the DIFC Courts. He is comfortable with taking on instructions with an international dimension.

Key cases & testimonials

Commercial

Sotheby’s v Mark Weiss and others [2018] EWHC 3179 (Comm) (led by Richard Wilson KC)

Appeared as junior counsel in the Commercial Court for the Second Defendant in an interlocutory hearing to determine whether documents exchanged between the Claimant auction house and its experts were protected by litigation privilege.

Sotheby’s v Mark Weiss and others [2019] EWHC 3416 (Comm) (led by Richard Wilson KC)

Appeared as a junior counsel for the Second Defendant in this two-week Commercial Court trial concerning an allegedly forged Frans Hals painting.

Unilever PLC & Unilever NV v Quality Foods (London) Limited (ChD, IPEC, 4 March 2019) 

Appeared in the Intellectual and Property Enterprise Court on behalf of the Defendant/Applicant, successfully setting aside default judgment entered against it.

Employment

Parnell v (1) Diamond Blaque R Limited & (2) The London Borough of Camden (Case no. 2202841/2023)

Appeared on behalf of the Second Respondent in a five-day whistleblowing claim in the Employment Tribunal (judgment awaited).

Grant-Ryder v (1) The Governing Body of the Maelor School (2) Wrexham County Borough Council (Case no. 1600885/2020)

Appeared on behalf of the successful claimant in a five-day substantive hearing in the Employment Tribunal concerning disability discrimination and unfair dismissal. Shyam also appeared for the Claimant at a separate remedies hearing where she was awarded approximately £78,000. Press coverage here and here.

Hancock v Hollinway Ltd t/a WOWYAUCHOW Altrincham (Case no. 2405920/2020)

Appeared on behalf of the successful Claimant in her claims for pregnancy discrimination and automatic unfair dismissal. Represented the Claimant in a separate remedies hearing.

Michalewicz v Auria Solutions Limited 1306748/2019 (Case no. 1306748/2019)

Appeared on behalf of the Respondent in a 5-day trial concerning claims of pregnancy discrimination and automatic unfair dismissal.

Teanne Andrews v London Borough of Waltham Forest (Case no. 3213017/2020)

Appeared on behalf of the Respondent in its application for deposit orders. Following a one-day hearing the Tribunal issued deposit orders in respect of the majority of the Claimant’s claims, including her claims for redundancy pay, race discrimination and victimisation.

Cindy Goulding v Heritage English Blind Company Ltd t/a English Blinds (Case no. 1300280/2021)

Appeared on behalf of the Respondent in successfully securing deposit orders and strike outs of the majority of the Claimant’s disability discrimination and breach of contract claims.

Hayley Bates v A.S.H Elite Equine Ltd (Case no. 3307073/2022)

Appeared on behalf of the successful Claimant in her claim for automatic unfair dismissal. The principal reason for her dismissal was held to be her pregnancy. The Claimant was awarded approximately £55,000.

Shyam was excellent in how he worked smoothly as part of our team to support the client and witnesses in the case. The hearing had a number of unexpected developments from the litigant in person which Shyam dealt with very effectively to secure a successful judgment. Solicitor, 2023
Shyam represented me in a complex employment case involving constructive dismissal, age discrimination and breach of contract. He dealt with the preliminary hearings and was supportive, accessible and diligent throughout, providing a high standard of work.Client, 2023

Areas of expertise

Shyam has assisted numerous businesses and individuals with contractual, shareholding and insolvency issues. He has acted both for and against multinational corporations and accepts instructions at all stages of proceedings. Some recent examples of his work include:

  • Acting on behalf of the successful Claimant on every single issue in a 2-day County Court trial concerning the structure of a commission-based agreement between the parties.
  • Acting on behalf of the Defendant in a share sale dispute listed for a 2-day multi track trial. Following Shyam’s introduction to the case and after providing advice, a favourable settlement agreement was entered into with Shyam’s client not having to make any further payment to the Claimant.
  • Advising a creditor on how they can set aside an undervalue transaction in potential insolvency proceedings.

As part of the Pegasus Scholarship, Shyam recently undertook a placement at a leading law firm in the MENA region, Al Tamimi & Co. He worked in the international litigation team and played an integral role in numerous cases. Some of Shyam’s work during his time there included:

  • Leading the drafting of a successful application, and evidence in support, for urgent interim relief and a freezing order for the value of c. US $110 million.
  • Assisting David Holloway (Partner and Head of Advocacy) in successfully defending an application to set aside a consent order based on lack of jurisdiction. Acted for a multi-billion-dollar company.
  • Assisting in pre-arbitration correspondence for a claim with an estimated value of US $10-20 million.
  •  Drafting a claim in the DIFC courts for a claim worth an estimated US $7.5 million.

Shyam is a specialist in cyber law and co-authored the book: Cyber Risks and Insurance: The Legal Principles (Bloomsbury Professional, July 2021). Shyam can advise on a range of issues in this field, including crypto fraud, initial coin offerings and regulatory and compliance considerations.

He further regularly deals with data protection issues, including breaches of the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, as well as the related issues of misuse of private information and breach of confidence.

Some examples of Shyam’s recent work in cyber and data protection include:

  • Advising on whether a claimant could claim the value of lost Bitcoin at the time of a default judgment hearing or whether she was bound to only recoup the value of the Bitcoin at an earlier period. The value of the Bitcoin had risen by approximately £4 million by the time of the default judgment hearing.
  • Drafting Particulars of Claim for a blockchain developer following the Defendant’s failure to pay digital tokens in breach of contract.
  • Advising a client on the likely damages to be awarded for a data breach involving over 1,300 potential claimants.

Shyam is an experienced and high-quality junior in all areas of employment law. He frequently appears in the Employment Tribunal in preliminary hearings and multi-day trials. He acts on behalf of both Claimants and Respondents and has dealt with complex discrimination, unfair dismissal, whistleblowing, deduction from wages and worker status claims.

In addition to his advocacy work, Shyam is often instructed to draft pleadings and advice, as well as represent clients in Judicial Mediation.

Whilst on his placement with Al Tamimi & Co, Shyam worked on an employment matter in the DIFC Courts concerning the breach of a secondment agreement governed by Dutch law. Shyam welcomes employment instructions with an international dimension.

Shyam has also represented numerous teachers against the Teaching Regulation Agency in professional conduct proceedings and has been successful on multiple occasions in persuading the professional conduct panel to not recommend a prohibition order.

Further information

BA (Hons) History (St John’s College, University of Oxford)

Graduate Diploma in Law (City, University of London)

Bar Professional Training Course (The University of Law, London)