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David Leach

David Leach

Senior Associate

020 7405 4600

Contact by email

David is an employment lawyer who specialises in working for local government, education and blue light sectors. He regularly advises clients on all aspects of employment law in both litigation and non-litigation matters (including pre-litigation situations). He has substantial experience working for a wide variety of local government and public sector partners, which have included the police and educational establishments and small charities.

Skills and strengths:

David provides pragmatic, unfussy and commercially focused advice, he aims to develop trusted relationships with his clients to become an effective extension of their legal or management teams. David works collaboratively with his clients and seeks to foster friendly working environments to allow for ease of communication.

David is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA), and the Association of Pension Lawyers (APL).

  • Blue light sectors
  • Charities
  • Education
  • Local Government
  • Employment
  • Employment Tribunal Fees Information
  • Litigation
  • Pensions
  • TUPE
  • David has worked with ELA and provided responses with them on Government Consultations
  • Acting for a London authority in defending a complex race discrimination claim with all claims dismissed
  • Advising on EAT claims as both an Appellant and Respondent appealing judgments from the Employment Tribunal
  • Acting for the local authority in successfully overturning an employment tribunal’s finding that it was not reasonably practicable for a claimant to have presented his claim in time, where he had not received the ACAS early conciliation certificate by the expiry of the relevant limitation period
  • Acting for a police force in a disability discrimination case with a claim in excess of £100,000 of damages
  • Acting for a school in successfully defending against a claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination
  • Working with a Local Authority on dealing with overseas recruitment and relocation issues
  • Advising on a leisure centre procurement with a value of £80 million over the life of the contract. The outsourcing project involved challenging TUPE implications where detailed advice was required.
  • Advising a London Borough on the TUPE implications involved in the conversion of a school to an academy. Reviewing the relevant indemnities provided in the Commercial Transfer Agreement.

Navigating changes to TUPE, and the Employment Rights Bill in procurement

24 January 2025

Many commentators have focused on extensive proposals to improve employee rights within The Employment Rights Bill (the Bill). However, tucked away in the Bill are a number of proposals that may not be as publicly provocative but nevertheless are going to have an impact on public sector employers. Currently, the TUPE regulations act to “lift…

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Employment Appeals Tribunal rules that a charity trustee was not precluded from bringing a whistleblowing claim

6 January 2025

Under section 47(B) Employment Rights Act, workers have legal protection from being subject to a detriment or dismissed because they have made specific disclosures of wrongdoing (whistleblowers) Until this case, the term ‘worker’ included all individuals paid for their service to the organisation but excluded volunteers and self-employed contractors. Case background During his time as…

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The King’s Speech – What is on the Employment Law Horizon

18 July 2024

The King’s Speech on Wednesday, 17 July, launched the plans for the new Labour Government. Whilst there is quite a lot of information to unpack in the government’s plans, David Leach lifts the lid on what to expect from an employment law perspective. Labour set out their proposals in their election manifesto, so a number…

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David's Publications
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