Amanda Hart

Before coming to the Bar, Amanda spent eleven years working for trade unions. She started out as a researcher for the Association of University Teachers and then moved to the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education as an Industrial Relations Officer. She was later promoted to National Official and for 8 months acted as NATFHE's Head of Higher Education (maternity cover). She has considerable experience of representing members in local and national negotiations, and organising national campaigns including industrial action. All her posts involved drafting the union's response to proposed legislation and providing legal advice to full time officers and members on a range of issues such as pay, conditions of service, equality, TUPE and industrial action. At NATFHE she was also responsible for administering the Union's legal advice and assistance scheme, providing preliminary opinions on legal merits and deciding whether a case merited union support. Throughout her union career Amanda has been responsible for providing training to full-time officers and lay members on employment law developments. Since being called to the Bar, Amanda has run courses for a number of unions and solicitor forms.

Before Amanda became active in unions, she was General Secretary of London School of Economics Students' Union (an elected paid post). As the union's spokesperson she dealt with the considerable media interest caused by the union's decision to elect Winston Silcott as its honorary president in order to highlight miscarriages of justice, giving TV, radio and press interviews. After LSE, Amanda spent a year working as a Committee Clerk for the English National Board of Nurses Health Visitors and Midwives, and was a NALGO branch officer.

Since being called to the Bar Amanda has specialised in employment and discrimination law, which builds on her experience as a union official. She has successfully represented clients in employment tribunals and the employment appeals tribunal on all areas of employment law. She has also successfully represented clients in civil court discrimination cases. In addition Amanda represents clients in personal injury claims and in regulatory bodies such as the HPC, NMC, internal disciplinary bodies, Care Standards Tribunal, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. As a pupil, practicing in criminal law she represented clients in magistrate courts, crown courts and successfully appealed an unduly harsh sentence to the Court of Appeal Marshall v CPS.

Amanda is co-author, with Robin Oppenheim QC, of "Damages under the Human Rights Act", in APIL Personal Injury law, Practice and Precedents. In 2007 she produced the text for the Liberty website sections on sex discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination and transgender discrimination. She is a member of Discrimination Law Association, Liberty, ELBA, ILS, PNBA and FRU.

Year of Call

2001

Education

BSc Social Anthropology, Grad Dip Law

Email Address

a.hart@doughtystreet.co.uk

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Specialist Teams

Member :

• Employment and Discrimination
• Human Rights