Shah Qureshi, Partner and Head of Employment
Department
Shah Qureshi is a Partner and
Head of the Employment Department at Webster Dixon
LLP. The Department was commended for its work
in the Best Legal Team category of the Law Society’s
Race Equality Awards 2005. Shah previously worked
at Legal 500 firms Christian Khan and latterly
Hodge Jones and Allen before joining Webster Dixon
in June 2004. He is recommended as a leader in
his field in the Legal 500 2006 and Chambers
Guide to the legal Profession 2007.
Current Professional Practice
Shah is Head of the firm’s Employment Department.
He has particular expertise in representing Executives
and Professionals in both contentious and non-contentious
work. He has also developed a good reputation in
pursuing successful discrimination cases against
large corporations and public bodies.
Shah has a portfolio of key respondent clients
including national charities, local authorities
and companies.
Shah has acted in a number of landmark cases and
has experience of pursuing appeals at the Employment
Appeal Tribunal, Court of Appeal and the House
of Lords. He has been involved in a number of high
profile and/or reported cases including Bahl -v-
The Law Society and Others (Employment Tribunal
only – race and sex discrimination); Murray
-v- Newham CAB (disability discrimination); and
Allen and Others -v- RJB Mining (Transfer of Undertakings).
He recently acted for Julia Smith, the Metropolitan
Police Authority’s Head of Race and Diversity,
in the successful settlement of her claims against
her former employer. He is currently acting in
the Court of Appeal Case, Aziz -v- Embassy of the
Republic of Yemen, which challenges a foreign state’s
right to claim immunity where it has already submitted
to the UK Court’s jurisdiction. The case
is likely to have implications on state immunity
law in the UK.
Professional and Community Interest
Shah is a visiting lecturer in Employment Law at
the London Metropolitan University. In recognition
of his expertise in discrimination law, he is
a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission’s
panel of experts.
Shah is an active member of the Discrimination
Law Association’s Board of Directors. He
has been involved in a number of the Association’s
activities including its submission to the Morris
Inquiry into Professional Standards and Employment
Matters in the Metropolitan Police Service, the
Constitutional Affairs Committee’s Legal
Aid Enquiry and, the European Council’s Consultation
on Racism and Intolerance in the UK. He is currently
involved in discussions with the Commission for
Racial Equality in relation to its legal strategy
for the forthcoming year.
Shah was recently co-opted onto the Muslim Council
of Britain’s Legal Affairs Committee and
is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association.
Shah continues to be involved in grassroots community
work and has acted as an advisor or trainer for
the Black London’s Forum, The 1990 Trust
and CAPA Civil Rights, (a community organisation
based in East London).
He has also spoken at a number of conferences
held by the Discrimination Law Association, BRAIN
and The National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
Areas of Work
All areas of employment law and discrimination
law.
Publications
Shah has written legal articles for a number of
publications including the SITRA Bulletin (Housing
Organisation Journal) and the DLA Briefing.
He writes the equal opportunities chapter of Tolley’s
Employment and Personnel Procedures.
Press Coverage
Many of the cases Shah has worked on have
received press coverage. He has been quoted or
interviewed in such publications as the Guardian,
the Scotsman, the Independent and the Evening Standard.
His cases have also been covered in the legal press.
He has appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight programme
to provide legal comment.
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