Jimmy Barber
Call (2008) Lincoln’s Inn
LLB European (Magister), University of Exeter (First Class)
LLM, University of the Saarland (First Class)
BCL, University of Oxford
Profile
Jimmy has been a tenant since May 2012. His practice includes a wide range of civil work,
including:
- Commercial and Chancery
- Aviation and Travel
- Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence
- Employment
- Public law
He has extensive experience on his feet in the County Court in the multi-track, fast
track and small claims tracks, as well as in the Employment Tribunal.
Jimmy spent two terms at the Court of Appeal as judicial assistant to the present Lord
Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd (while he was President of the Queen's Bench
Division).
Practice Areas:
General Commercial
He appears regularly in the county courts on interim applications and at final hearings
on cases involving credit hire, road traffic accidents, damage to property from water
ingress, estate agents’ commission, infant approvals and possession hearings. He also
appears in the Chancery Division assisting Lawrence Power and on his own cases.
He is building an aviation and travel law practice, with particular experience of cases
involving Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004, the Montreal Convention and misrepresentation of
package holidays.
During pupillage at Crown Office Chambers he worked on Dhanani v Crasnianski [2011] EWHC
926 (Comm), a two-week case in the High Court regarding the formation of a private
equity fund, and the landmark case of Jones v Kaney [2011] UKSC 13 in the Supreme Court,
in which expert witnesses lost their immunity from suit. He also advised on commercial
guarantees, the interpretation of insurance contracts, product liability claims,
solicitors’ negligence and executors’ breaches of trust.
Before coming to the Bar, he spent six months working at a commercial solicitors’ firm on
disclosure and drafting in the case of SITA UK v Serruys, a £91million dispute involving
allegations of commercial fraud.
Employment
He appears on behalf of claimants and respondents in the Employment Tribunal at liability
and remedies hearings. Recent cases include S v Jobcentre Plus (2013), in which the ET
found that his client had been unfairly dismissed on capability grounds, and D v LFMA
(2013), a case of refusal of employment on grounds related to union membership. He has
experience conducting cases involving discrimination, breach of contract, unlawful
deduction of wages and the right to be accompanied by a union representative.
He is a member of the Employment Lawyers’ Association.
Aviation:
Jimmy undertakes court, advisory and drafting work in matters relating to aviation and
travel law, including:
- Carriage by air disputes involving EU regulations, the Warsaw and Montreal
Conventions and associated passenger, cargo, baggage and delay claims.
- Denied boarding claims.
- Negligence claims, including personal injury, in an aviation context.
Recent cases:
- Acting for airlines in defending claims brought under Regulation 261/2004, where
delays were caused by extraordinary circumstances.
- Successfully resisting various claims brought by passengers complaining of e.g.
offensive treatment at the hands of airline staff, and of distress and loss of
enjoyment as a consequence of erroneous denial of boarding.
- Representing tour operators in various claims for breach of contract and
misrepresentation relating to package holidays.
Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence
Jimmy has experience of settling advices on liability, quantum and procedure in personal
injury and clinical negligence matters, on cases involving orthopaedic injuries,
occupational stress, industrial deafness, road traffic accidents, chronic pain syndrome,
the six-pack Health & Safety at Work Regulations, negligent misdiagnosis and nervous
shock. He is regularly instructed in the County Courts to attend CCMCs, application
hearings and trials.
Jimmy is currently on part-time secondment as in-house counsel to the personal injury
team at HMRC Solicitor's Office advising on a wide range of employers' liability cases.
He also has considerable experience advising the Ministry of Justice on claims brought
against HM Prison Service, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Probation Service for
personal injury.
- Recent cases include N v N City Council, in which he successfully represented a
claimant who tripped over on a gravel verge in a council-run car park in her claim
for personal injury.
Public Law
He is frequently instructed on the Treasury Solicitor’s Baby Barrister scheme. He has
considerable experience advising the Ministry of Justice on private law claims brought
against HM Prison Service, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Probation Service, in
respect of claims for personal injury, false imprisonment, trespass to the person, lost
property and breaches of human rights. He has also carried out subject access requests
and advised on information law rights.
For the Department of Health he has drafted a series of schemes for the transfer of
assets and property from Primary Care Trusts to new legal entities in the reorganization
of the NHS. Recently he advised on the statutory amendments to primary and secondary
legislation made necessary by the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill, and on the tracing
of liabilities of NHS hospitals in respect of high profile historic sexual abuse cases.
Other Experience
He has extensive experience conducting multiple and single-day trials in the magistrates’
and youth courts both as a defence advocate and as a prosecutor. Notable cases include R
v JS & ors [2011], a seven-handed violent disorder case in the youth court, in which
the judge dismissed the case against his client following his cross-examination of a
police officer, which revealed breaches of Code D of PACE; and R v MM [2012], in which
he successfully defended a client charged with indecent exposure following a legal
argument on the interpretation of the Sexual Offences Act. He has appeared in the Crown
Court on interim applications, on appeals against sentence and to prosecute breaches of
parole.
During his appointment as a judicial assistant at the Court of Appeal, he drafted bench
memoranda for the Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal on permission to appeal applications
in commercial, employment, immigration and family disputes. He assisted Sir John Thomas
PQBD (as he then was) in the Divisional Court, by carrying out legal research and
preparing bench memos on criminal appeals, extradition cases and several high profile
judicial reviews.
He assisted on Tchenguiz v Serious Fraud Office [2012] EWHC 2254 (Admin), in which search
warrants obtained by the SFO to investigate the claimants’ alleged involvement in a
collapsed Icelandic bank were held to be unlawful, and R (Chong Nyok Keyu & ors) v
(1) Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs (2) Secretary of State for
Defence) [2012] EWHC 2445 (Admin), an unsuccessful application to judicially review the
Secretary of State’s decision not to hold a public inquest into British soldiers’
involvement in the Batang Kali massacre in 1948.
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