Laura Bell

• Recommendations

  “Laura is always robust and tenacious in her cross-examination.” - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2026

  "Laura Bell is quick to pick things up and very responsive." - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2026

  "Laura Bell is fantastic on her feet and in conference with clients." - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2026

  “Laura is a fantastic barrister, is very available and understands the client's objectives and helps to develop a strategy to achieve those objectives.” - Employment, Legal 500 2026

  “Laura is second to none when it comes to her knowledge of the law and tribunal processes. She is engaging with clients and a very strong cross-examiner.” - Employment, Legal 500 2023

  An experienced barrister with a wide-ranging employment practice, bolstered by her personal injury law knowledge. She is particularly respected for her advocacy in discrimination cases. She often acts for clients from the financial services sector. "She is very bright, commercial, practical, client-friendly, and she is very capable on tricky and sensitive issues, especially disability discrimination." "She is very empathetic and she handles sensitive cases effectively. She also has excellent client care skills and she puts people at ease." - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2022. 

  "Laura is an excellent barrister. She has sound commercial judgement and fantastic client-care skills. She is particularly adept at handling sensitive and complex disputes, and has achieved very positive outcomes in difficult cases." - Employment, Legal 500 2022.

  Experienced barrister with a wide-ranging employment practice, bolstered by her personal injury law knowledge. She is particularly respected for her advocacy in discrimination cases. She often acts for clients from the financial services sector. "She is superb at getting to grips with a case quickly and distilling the issues in a way that has an eye on the client's commercial and pragmatic priorities." "She is client-friendly, masters the detail and is a forceful cross-examiner." Represented the claimant in Dr Emma Lahert v Proteome Sciences and Others, a complex sex, pregnancy and maternity discrimination claim and TUPE claim - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2021

  "Hugely bright and great with clients. She is a master of detail and uses this to great effect when cross-examining. Laura also gets the big picture and the objectives of the client - her advice is therefore commercial and relevant" - Employment, Legal 500 2021

  "Really impressive and able to handle a wide range of work." "Calm under pressure, clear and commercial in her advice, very personable and highly intelligent." - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2020

  ‘Calm under pressure, clear commercial advice, very personable and approachable as well as impressive during hearings.’ - Employment, Legal 500 2020

  "Brilliant. She always gives committed advice and she inspires confidence." "In addition to her clear practical skills as an advocate, she is very personable and very approachable with clients." Represented the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis in litigation regarding alleged victimisation and discrimination by senior officers. - Employment, Chambers UK Bar 2019

  ‘Her cross-examination is excellent.’ - Employment, Legal 500 2019

  “Fantastically commercial and personable advocate who is able to advise with the client's commercial aims in mind. She adapts her style ever so deftly. She can be charming and sensitive when needed, while immediately formidable and forceful when cross-examining.” Acted for PwC in a complex race and sex discrimination case in which the claimant made a large number of complaints against senior employees and partners at the employer. - Employment, Chambers UK 2018

  "She has excellent cross-examination skills and is a strong advocate overall." - Employment, Legal 500 2017

  "She is very measured and calm, very organised and on her feet she is very impressive - she judges the mood of the tribunal very well." "She is extremely easy to work with as she is very helpful and responsive and very thorough in her approach." - Employment, Chambers UK 2017

  "She is strong in her cross-examination and achieves the desired outcome for clients." Employment, Legal 500 2016

  Widely praised for her exceptional client service, her practice covers both employment and personal injury law. "Very good with clients, and tactically very astute." "She has a very calm and engaging style, and is exceptional at putting clients at ease. She delivers clear, well-reasoned arguments." Acted in the High Court for PricewaterhouseCoopers in a breach of contract claim, brought by a former employee of the company who was dismissed after returning from Russia. - Employment, Chambers UK 2016

  "An exceptionally skilled barrister, with excellent knowledge of the law and its application." - Employment, Legal 500 2015

  Has a wide-ranging employment practice and regularly advises on everything from whistle-blowing to breach of contract. She is known as a fearless litigator who is adept at thinking on her feet. She is also praised for putting clients at ease, with her client-friendly manner making her a trusted adviser. "I really think cross-examination is one of her strengths because she can be very tenacious." - Employment, Chambers UK 2015

  "An up-and-coming employment barrister, whose stable of clients includes several established financial sector multinationals. Recently, she has been instructed in an adversarial capacity to Citigroup in a multimillion-pound multi-discrimination claim." Chambers UK Bar 2014

  "She is popular with clients, in whom she inspires confidence." - Chambers UK Bar 2014  

Expertise

• Employment

  Laura has a broad, senior employment practice, focused on high‑value and complex disputes often involving significant reputational and commercial implications. She regularly appears, as sole counsel, in multi‑day tribunal proceedings, appellate litigation and High Court claims, and is trusted to handle matters requiring strategic judgement and decisive advocacy in procedurally complex claims involving high numbers of interim hearings, appeals and costs. 

   

  Her work frequently arises in the context of senior executive disputes, complex workplace investigations and contentious exits, where she is valued for her ability to grip detailed factual material quickly and develop clear, outcome‑focused strategies. Clients describe her as “quick to pick things up and very responsive” and “clear and commercial in her advice”.

   

  She acts for both employers and senior individuals, particularly within financial services and the technology sector, and is known as a “client‑friendly barrister who provides robust and commercially astute advice.” 

• Discrimination and Equal Pay

  Laura is particularly recognised for her work in fact‑sensitive and document‑heavy discrimination claims, including those involving senior individuals, complex comparators and allegations of systemic issues.

   

  She has extensive experience across the full range of discrimination claims including equal pay and is frequently instructed in cases involving overlapping legal and reputational considerations. 

   

  She is widely praised for her advocacy in this area, described as “fantastic on her feet and in conference with clients” and “calm under pressure”. Her strength lies in her ability to marshal detailed evidence and deploy it effectively in cross‑examination, with clients noting she is “a master of detail” and highly effective in challenging factual cases. 

• Whistleblowing

  Laura has a substantial whistleblowing practice, acting in high‑value and complex claims often arising in regulated sectors, particularly financial services.

   

  She is experienced in cases involving multiple protected disclosures, intricate causation issues and senior decision‑making structures, and is adept at navigating the factual and strategic complexity such claims present. She is regularly instructed in parallel disputes, including those involving dismissal, discrimination and contractual issues.

   

  Laura is particularly valued for her forensic and tenacious approach to advocacy, and is described as being “always robust and tenacious in her cross‑examination” and a “fearless litigator… adept at thinking on her feet.” Clients also highlight her effectiveness in managing complex cases, noting that she “leaves no stone unturned” in both advisory and advocacy work. 

• Cases of Note in the Last 12 Months

  Dr B Jones v ViiV Healthcare UK Limited and Others [2026] EAT 24: HHJ Auerbach sitting in the EAT accepted Laura's submissions in their entirety and dismissed the claimant's arguments that the ET had misapplied the s.136 Equality Act burden of proof provisions in respect of racial stereotyping.  

   

  X v LLP (2026): Laura has appeared on behalf of a legal LLP and managing partner in respect of maternity, sex, disability discrimination and victimisation claims brought by another partner. 

   

  Y v Z (2026): Laura has been involved in advising and drafting proceedings for a global recruitment and advisory firm from the very outset of a mental health disability discrimination and sexual harassment claim (including section 40A Equality Act 2010) brought by a male employee in respect of conduct by a female third-party contractor. 

   

  Y v F (2026): Laura was instructed by a leading global tech company in respect of a complex disability discrimination claim brought by a coding engineer with a schedule of loss exceeding £5 million. Laura was involved from the outset and advised the client on strategy through a number of preliminary hearings and represented the client at the final hearing. The claim involved consideration of the reasonableness of adjustments with international scope and significant reputational and commercial implications. 

   

  X v B (2026): Laura represents a global beauty brand in an anxiety disability discrimination claim and alleged dismissal for assertion of a statutory right.

   

  V v Z Ltd (2026): Laura represents an app-based bank in claims of pregnancy, maternity and sex discrimination. 

   

  Z v LLP (2026): Laura is instructed to represent a legal LLP and its chief executive in respect of whistleblowing claims brought by a former full equity partner.  

   

  A v XY (2026): Laura represents a leading global provider in aviation technology in respect of claims of sex discrimination and harassment brought by a male employee against his employer who is alleged to have failed to safeguard him against the conduct of a female employee.

   

  B v F (2026): Laura represents a global tech company in claims brought by an analyst for associative disability discrimination.  

   

  R v M (2026): Laura represents an international technology company and its named corporate subsidiaries in a multiple jurisdiction claim brought by a contractor engaged via a third part pay intermediary. The claims include whistleblowing, disability claims arising from a mental impairment, and breach of contract.

   

  C v S (2026): Laura was instructed to advise and represent an investment company in respect of unfair dismissal and race discrimination claims following a redundancy process. 

   

  V v W (2026): Laura represents an investment bank in claims brought against it of race discrimination and whistleblowing. 

   

  X v W (2026): Laura continues to represent an investment bank and named individuals in claims brought by an employee alleging disability discrimination and whistleblowing detriments. After multiple preliminary hearings, Laura was successful in getting the claim dismissed at the start of the final hearing. Laura continues to represent the respondents in successful defeats of subsequent appeals and claims for judicial review.    

   

  F v A (2026): Laura has advised and is instructed to represent a foreign embassy in London in respect of claims that centre on state immunity, diplomatic immunity, jurisdiction, and the boundary between sovereign functions and private‑law employment acts.

   

  J v H (2026): Laura represents a global tech company in respect of complex disability discrimination and whistleblowing claims arising out of the mental impairments of stress anxiety, depression and ADHD.   

   

  D v E and F (2025): Laura represented an investment bank and the bank's instructed solicitor in complex disability discrimination claims arising from anxiety and depression. The claims involved arguments of privilege and judicial proceedings immunity in respect of the instructing solicitor. 

   

  G v X (2025): Laura advised and represented a large U.S. financial services institution in claims brought against it by a male senior employee for whistleblowing, sex discrimination and victimisation. 

   

  S v T (2025): Laura represents a strategic delivery consultancy firm in respect of claims brought by a director sitting on the senior leadership team, for sexual orientation discrimination.  

   

  C v J (2025): Laura advised and represented a international tech company in respect of serious allegations by the claimant of sexual assault by a former co-worker who was named as a respondent in the proceedings. 

   

  S v A (2025): Laura was successful in striking out a number of claims brought by an employee of a global professional services firm.