Naomi Ellenbogen QC

‘"Mature, lucid and excellent on her feet, giving opponents a run for their money time after time.” Clients further report that she is a delight to deal with.’

(Chambers UK 2011)

One of the leading practitioners in the fields of employment, commercial and professional negligence law, 'first class advocate', Naomi Ellenbogen has won a raft of plaudits from clients and legal directories since she was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1992. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2010; amongst the most junior to be appointed in that year. Naomi is regarded as a clear-thinking, formidable advocate and a creative lawyer and tactician. She has a flair for putting people at their ease.

Legal directories have variously recognised Naomi’s 'superb' skill in cross-examination and her 'bright and commercial' attitude, as well as her strong reputation as a 'punchy advocate, recognised for her ability to assimilate large quantities of information' who 'will go that extra mile' for her clients and 'never fails to impress'. Naomi 'achieves success through her successful interaction with clients' and has 'excellent advocacy skills - great on her feet, she never concedes a point'. She is 'thoroughly prepared and tenaciously executes her advocacy without arrogance'. 'Clients are "lost in admiration" for Naomi Ellenbogen. This "strong and tremendously courteous advocate" has many fans'.

In commercial law, Naomi comes 'highly recommended' and was identified as a 'junior of note ','singled out by major firms' and 'seen by top firms as an approachable and able commercial practitioner'. She has been identified as a 'prominent practitioner' in the field of professional negligence.

Naomi is an accredited mediator, experienced in mediating complex and high value disputes in all her areas of practice. She is the General Editor of Butterworths Employment Law: Practice, Procedure & Precedents, Fifth Edition. Naomi is Barrister Vice-Chair of the Complaints Committee of the Bar Standards Board.

Naomi attended King David High School in Liverpool, before gaining an MA in Jurisprudence from Oxford University (New College).

employment

Naomi undertakes a wide range of employment litigation in courts, tribunals and mediation, regularly appearing at appellate level. Her principal areas of court work are high value claims arising during the currency and upon termination of employment. Naomi advises employers, senior directors and employees on the drafting and enforceability of restrictive covenants. She is experienced in bringing and resisting urgent applications for injunctive relief and in the speedy trials which often follow.

Breach of contract, fiduciary duty and bonus claims include those resulting in seven figure settlement sums. Tribunal work (for claimants and respondents) includes all forms of discrimination, high value unfair and wrongful dismissal, TUPE, whistleblowing and redundancy claims. Naomi is experienced in acting in litigation in which issues of national security arise and is considered to be particularly skilful in conducting cases involving publicity-sensitive issues.

Naomi has considerable and varied experience of acting in internal disciplinary enquiries. She has advised a number of public and private employers and educational institutions as to their disciplinary and regulatory rules and as to the conduct of their internal disciplinary and grievance processes. Naomi has appeared as counsel for individuals before professional disciplinary bodies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She has been instructed to act as a Designated Independent Person for the purposes of complaints against a ‘statutory officer’, governed by the provisions of the Local Authority (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001. Naomi recently resisted an application for judicial review of an NHS Trust’s decision not to permit an employee to be legally represented in the course of an internal process.

As a long-serving member of the Complaints Committee of the Bar Standards Board (and of its predecessor committee), Naomi has considerable experience in the practical application of rules of professional conduct and the surrounding considerations and sensitivities.

discrimination and equal pay

A specialist in all forms of discrimination law, Naomi has been involved in a wide variety of cases and is adept at dealing pragmatically with the wider commercial concerns and sensitivities which they can generate, for example arising from adverse publicity and press coverage. Over many years she has acted for numerous solicitors’ practices and sets of chambers, advising and defending their interests in connection with claims of sex, race, religion and belief, disability and age discrimination. Naomi is also regularly called upon to advise employers and professional bodies as to the content of their anti-discrimination policies. She regularly acts for universities, educational institutions and NHS Trusts, defending the discrimination claims which they face.

Since 2002, Naomi has been instructed by a large number of NHS Trusts, local authorities and private sector organisations in relation to multiple equal pay claims. Amongst other Trusts, Naomi acts for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust (formerly, North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust) in the largest piece of equal pay litigation in Europe. Her involvement with such cases, which require consideration of all aspects of equal pay law, has earned her recognition as a leading expert in this field. Most recently, Naomi has appeared in Potter v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("Potter No.1") [2008] ICR 910, EAT; Potter v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("Potter No. 2") [2009] IRLR 176, EAT; Potter v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("Potter No. 3") [2009] IRLR 900, EAT; Hurst v Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust [2009] IRLR 452, CA; [2009] IRLR 12, EAT; North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust v Fox (“Fox No. 1”) [2010] A2/2009/0840, CA and North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust v Fox (“Fox No. 2”) [2010] IRLR 804, CA.

commercial

Naomi's practice encompasses all forms of business and commercial dispute. She has a particular expertise in the inter-relationship between employment and commercial law. As a result, she is often instructed in cases in which employment disputes have arisen against a background of disputes relating to other commercial transactions and considerations. She has acted for individuals of high net worth in commercial arbitrations as well as in the High Court and is experienced in complex claims involving breaches of contract and fiduciary duty, frequently involving injunctive relief.

Recently, Naomi has:

acted for an NHS Trust in a claim valued at £16 million concerning the construction and operation of a private finance initiative;
advised a senior director of a large investment house as to his contractual entitlements in relation to a tax loan;
acted as junior Counsel for the Defendant in a substantial commercial arbitration concerning an Eastern European investment vehicle in which the Claimant sought damages/equitable compensation in the sum of £1million;
acted for one of the largest UK trade federations in connection with rights accrued by hundreds of employees under a staff pension scheme, the application of the Transfer of Employment (Pension Protection) Regulations 2005 and the regulatory implications arising from them.

professional negligence

Naomi has been recognised as a prominent practitioner in the field of professional negligence, in which she has wide experience. She has a particular expertise in those cases in which the alleged negligence arises in an employment or commercial context. In the raft of litigation which followed the property crash of the 1990's, as a very young junior, Naomi undertook a large volume of work for and against lending institutions, solicitors and surveyors and gained a reputation as a 'rising star' and skilled tactician who punched above her weight. She has built upon and consolidated that reputation ever since and is instructed by financial institutions, surveyors, solicitors, insurance brokers, accountants, trade unions and individuals in this area of law both in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal.

notable cases

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust v Fox (“Fox No. 1”) [2010] A2/2009/0840 (CA); Potter v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("Potter No. 2") [2009] IRLR 176 (EAT);
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust v Fox (“Fox No. 2”) [2010] IRLR 804 (CA); Potter v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("Potter No. 3") [2009] IRLR 900 (EAT);
Hurst v Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust [2009] IRLR 452 (CA); [2009] IRLR 12 (EAT);
Potter v North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust ("Potter No 1") [2009] IRLR 22 (EAT);
MITIE Managed Services Limited v French & Others [2002] IRLR 512 (EAT);
Symbian Limited v Christensen (sub nom In The Matter Of Symbian Limited) [2001] IRLR 77(CA).

mediation

Naomi recognises the value of alternative dispute resolution. Where appropriate, she advises clients as to the merit in ADR and is frequently instructed to present their cases to the mediator. She is familiar with and accomplished in the particular skills required in such circumstances and has been instructed in cases in which particular sensitivity and diplomacy have been called for, such as where one party was suffering from mental illness.

Naomi is an accredited mediator. She has experience of mediating high value and complex disputes in all fields in which she practises; her skills and experience in those areas enabling her to assist the parties in reaching agreement. She is creative in helping them to find solutions which would not be available were the matter to be litigated.

Silk: 2010 | Call: 1992
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