A Fireside Chat: Lord Justice Rabinder Singh in conversation with the judiciary on the importance of judicial diversity and inclusion in the employment jurisdiction
As well as the President of the Employment Tribunal, Judge Barry Clarke, and the President of Employment Appeal Tribunal, Mrs Justice Jennifer Eady, the Right Honourable Lord Justice Singh will be in conversation with His Honour Judge James Tayler, Employment Judge Safia Iman, Regional Employment Judge Benjimin Burgher and Employment Judge Ash Fredericks-Bowyer.
You are invited to come and understand more about this expanding and fascinating area of law and learn why you should apply for full or part time judicial positions within the Employment Tribunals.
“We’re here not as one-at-a-time curiosities. We are here to stay, and in all our diversity” Ruth Bader Ginsberg
18:00 Welcome drinks and arrival
18:15 Welcome – Judge Safia Iman – Diversity and Inclusion Lead London East Employment Tribunals
18:20 President of the Employment Tribunal Judge Barry Clarke - Opening remarks
18:30 The Right Honourable Lord Justice Singh in conversation with the panel
19:40 President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Mrs Justice Jennifer Eady, Closing remarks
19:50- Networking
Biographies of Speakers
The Right Honourable Lord Justice Singh is also President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and was formerly a High Court judge of the Queen’s Bench Division, a barrister and Queen’s Counsel, a founding member of Matrix Chambers, a legal academic and respected author. He earned a double first in law at Trinity College, Cambridge. He became a Harkness Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley.
Dame Jennifer Eady DBE was called to the bar in 1989 and took silk in 2006. She specialised in employment and discrimination law, taking up her first fee-paid appointment as an Employment Judge in 2001, and later holding salaried office as a Senior Circuit Judge at the Employment Appeal Tribunal (from 2013). In October 2019, Jenny was appointed to the High Court bench (King’s Bench Division) and in February 2022, she returned to the EAT as President.
His Honour Judge James Tayler practised at Devereux Chambers from 1990, specialising in employment law. He was appointed as a salaried Employment Judge in 2007. He is a Diversity and Community Relations Judge. He was called as a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2019 and has served on the Equality, Diversity and Social Mobility Committee and the Race, Equality, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Working Group. He regularly leads Middle Temple training sessions in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Ethics. He was appointed as a Senior Circuit Judge of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in 2020 and is a visiting judge at Southwark Crown Court.
Judge Barry Clarke has been the President of Employment Tribunals in England and Wales since 2020. He is also a Visiting Judge of the Employment Appeal Tribunal and sits as a Recorder in both the County Court and the Crown Court.
Regional Employment Judge Benjimin Burgher was a barrister, called in 1995, specialising in employment and discrimination law. Benjimin was a jurisdictional consultant in Abu Dhabi from 2017 to 2019 and is an accredited mediator. He was appointed as fee paid Employment Judge in 2005, salaried Employment Judge in 2019 and Regional Employment Judge in 2023, and Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) 2024. He is also a Deputy Chair of the Central Arbitration Committee and a Bencher at the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.
Employment Judge Safia Iman was called to the Bar in 2006. She has previously worked in Executive positions in a range of industries alongside working as a barrister. She was appointed as a Salaried Judge of the First-tier Tribunal, assigned to the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber, in 2021. She was appointed as a Salaried Employment Judge in April 2024. She is a Diversity and Community Relations Judge and is also the diversity and inclusion lead for the London East Employment Tribunal.
Employment Judge Ash Fredericks-Bowyer qualified as a solicitor in 2015 and undertook a coaching role supervising business litigation services in a University law firm. In 2021, he was appointed as a fee-paid judge in the Employment Tribunal and in the Health Education and Social Care Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. He was appointed as a salaried Employment Judge in May 2024. Ash is also a mentor for the Judicial Appointment Commission's 'Targeted Outreach Programme' which supports individuals applying for judicial roles from under-represented groups.
Please note that this is an in person event.
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn
8 South Square
London, WC1R 5ET
United Kingdom