A leading junior with a Masters in Labour Law from LSE, James Wynne was called to the Bar in 2002 and has since developed a general commercial practice with a focus on employment law.

James has appeared in employment tribunals and county courts, the High Court, the EAT and the Court of Appeal on a number of matters including all forms of discrimination, breach of contract cases, whistle blowing, restrictive covenants and TUPE.

On the commercial side James' practice involves advocacy and advisory work at all stages of litigation in all forms of contractual disputes. His expertise covers the sale and supply of goods and services, mortgage disputes, hire purchase, insolvency and employment agency contracts.

Some of James' notable cases to date include Voith Turbo Ltd v Stowe, Real Time Civil Engineering Ltd v Callaghan, Green v St Nicholas Parochial Church Council, Humphries v Chevler Packaging Ltd and Northgate HR Ltd v Mercy.

James has contributed to a number of related publications including Blackstone's Employment Law Practice and Sweet and Maxwell's loose leaf Transfer of Undertakings.

Education

James was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 2002. He has a Masters degree in Labour Law from the London School of Economics (2000-2001), prior to which he obtained degrees in law from University College London (1997-2000) and in engineering from Cambridge University (1993-1996).

Practice Areas

Employment

James advises employers and employees on a wide range of employment matters and has extensive advocacy experience in tribunals, the EAT, CA, and civil courts. His expertise includes:

All forms of discrimination and harassment
Unfair dismissal and redundancy
Collective consultation
TUPE
Whistle blowing
Breach of contract claims including bonus disputes
Restrictive covenants and confidential information
Preliminary issues such as employee status and out of time applications.

Commercial

James has a broad commercial practice involving advocacy and advisory work at all stages of litigation with appearances in the County Court, High Court and mediation. Expertise and experience includes:

The sale and supply of goods and services
Mortgage disputes
Hire purchase agreements
Employment agency contracts
Passing off
Breach of database rights
Building disputes
Insolvency (both corporate and personal).

Other areas

James's practice also includes professional negligence work (particularly solicitors and trade unions), judicial review and defamation.

Notable Cases

Northgate HR Ltd v Mercy [2007] EWCA Civ 1304 [2008] IRLR 222
Hastingsbury School v Clarke UKEAT/0373/07 and UKEAT/0374/07
Voith Turbo Ltd v Stowe [2005] IRLR 228 EAT
Humphries v Chevler Packaging Ltd UKEAT/0224/06
Real Time Civil Engineering Ltd v Callaghan UKEAT/0516/05
Green v St Nicholas Parochial Church Council UKEAT/0904/04

Publications and Lectures

Contributes to the loose leaf Transfer of Undertakings (Thomson Sweet and Maxwell)
Contributed to Blackstone's Employment Law Practice 2006 (Oxford)
Whistle Blowers - An Update, October 2006 seminar
The New Draft TUPE Regulations, April 2005 lecture
Who isn't a worker?, February 2005 lecture
A New ERA, 2004 solicitors Journal 1266, with John Bowers QC
James wrote for IDS Brief in 2001 to 2002 contributing case summaries, articles and part of the Disability Discrimination Handbook.

Professional Associations

Employment Law Bar Association
Employment Lawyers Association
Industrial Law Society
Commercial Bar Association

Personal

Outside interests include rock climbing, ski mountaineering and fly fishing.