Mirza is commercially minded and has a strong customer focused approach that endeavours to achieve the best results for the client, in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
Nationally and independently recognised as a highly ranked lawyer by both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, Dr Mirza Ahmad is an award-winning barrister whose vast and multi-disciplinary expertise is called upon in some of the most serious, complex and high-profile cases in the market. As an illustrative example, Mirza has been involved in multi-million-pound commercial property disputes, cases adjudicated upon by the House of Lords and Supreme Court, as well as numerous reported cases across many disciplines in his 36 years at the bar.
Mirza brings a wealth of experience and served as an employed barrister in local government for 26 years, where he latterly served as the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Governance Director – leading over 800 staff and a team of 80 in-house solicitors and barristers, who handled approximately 9000 cases annually. An almost uninterrupted member of the General Council of the Bar since 1995, Mirza is a true multi-disciplinary heavyweight who serves as trusted advisor to major corporates, private individuals and public bodies alike.
Maintaining a successful four-pronged practice, Mirza’s vast experience and encyclopaedic knowledge of the law means that he is equally comfortable in complex personal injury or clinical/professional negligence cases; public & administrative cases; civil, commercial & property cases; and in employment cases. Mirza is an accomplished advocate, as well as a renowned expert in case strategy, litigation approach and drafting.
As a former president of the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors, Mirza has a keen interest in ensuring access to justice for all. As such, Mirza is able to take direct instructions from members of the public under the Direct Access scheme in each of the four main areas of his multi-disciplinary practice.
My approach
Mirza is commercially minded and has a strong customer focused approach that endeavours to achieve the best results for the client, in a cost-effective and efficient manner. In terms of employment law specialism, he is adapt at serving the needs of large/small employers and employees, whether as respondents or claimants.
Such work includes advice and representation in Tribunals and Courts relating to all aspects of discrimination law, unfair dismissal, whistleblowing, TUPE, breaches of contract and restrictive covenants. It also includes dealing with regulatory aspects relating to registration/suspension/withdrawal from professional bodies.
My work
Employment Law remains a specialist area of Mirza’s practice, for which he is nationally and independently recognized for his expertise. He regularly advises on complex and major multi-day Employment Tribunal cases (for and against multiple claimants / respondents and concerning multi-jurisdictional issues), as well as on employment appeals before the EAT.
During his local authority days, he had a number of cases that have ultimately reached the House of Lords and, latterly, the Supreme Court. Mirza’s successful employment practice, in which he is renowned as an accomplished advocate, covers the full spectrum of sub-specialisms, including the most complex and high value unfair dismissal, redundancy, TUPE, and discrimination cases. Mirza has rare experience of also covering multi-jurisdictional matters.
A small sample of Mirza’s vast employment experience, over the past 5 years, includes representing / defending numerous individuals, large employers, NHS Authorities/Trusts/Pharmacies, Colleges/Universities and Local Authorities (including cases over multiple weeks covering multiple aspects of discrimination, unfair / wrongful dismissal and TUPE). Some of the trials/hearings, recently, have been via CVP or Skype for Business. Mirza also appeared for the Respondent in Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust v Mrs. L Herlock-Green [2015] WL 4111165, before the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
About me
Called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn, in 1984, Mirza commenced his first career in local government, from 1985, and has been a Member of the General Council of the Bar for England & Wales since 1995 (save for 1998). Mirza practices from St Philips Chambers, since November 2011, from Birmingham (at 55 Temple Row) and in Leeds (23 Park Square).
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Mirza is the General Editor of Lexis Nexis “Local Authority Employment Law, Practice and Procedure” (since 2009); and was the general Editor for Butterworth’s “Knight’s Guide to Public Procurement Law and Practice” (2007-2014).
What my clients say
“Mirza’s performance is very impressive in case work and with dealing with the client. ” - Legal 500 2022
Over the course of his career, Mirza has been highly ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners in the areas of public & administrative law and employment law respectively. He has also been awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws.
A small sample of the many testimonials Mirza has received in recent years includes:
“Working with Mirza has been truly inspirational and returned my faith in justice” A direct access client
“We are really impressed with Dr Mirza’s performance in our recently instructed case. He not only managed to secure our client a good compensation but also recovered more than expected costs for us. We are definitely instructing him going forward.” Client Testimonial, Principal Solicitor at a well-known firm
“Mirza was instructed at very short notice and he prepared the case extremely well. His cross examination was faultless an excellent performance with a great result.” Client Testimonial, local authority employment client
“Mirza is a lawyer with an enviable range of skills and experience. He is conscientious with a high level of commitment to any task that he undertakes. If you want results, Mirza is the man to have on your team.” Client Testimonial, Principal Solicitor at a well-known firm
Further various client testimonials from legal directories and/or private clients:
“Recommended for unfair dismissals and restrictive covenants work.”
“Extremely thorough and shows great empathy.”
“Provides a realistic view of the strengths of a case.”
“He shows commercial awareness and strong technical knowledge of discrimination cases.”
Further feedback can be viewed on LinkedIn and at www.lawandgovernance.co.uk
Professional & academic
Articles and Publications:
Mirza is the General Editor of “Lexis Nexis’ Local Authority Law, Practice and Procedure” (since 2009) and was the General editor of “Butterworth’s Knight’s Guide to Public Procurement Law and Practice” (2007-2014).
He has, over the last two decades, written a number of articles on ethical and corporate governance, employment, EU Directives & UK Procurement Regulations, Compulsory Competitive Tendering, Human Rights Act 1998 and on TUPE (the Transfer of Undertaking Regulations).
Memberships:
- Member of The General Council of the Bar for England & Wales (since 1995, save for 1998), ELA, PIBA, Midlands Circuit, Birmingham Law Society;
- Chairman of the Bar Association for Local Government & the Public Services (since 1998); and
- President of the Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors (2009/2010)