Catherine Urquhart

Catherine is a former journalist who switched to law and is now an established civil practitioner, specialising in employment law.

She has wide experience of hearings in Employment Tribunals and County Courts across England and Wales, and has a growing appellate practice in the Employment Appeal Tribunal. She has also represented clients in the High Court, and before panels such as the National Midwifery Council.

In particular, she has wide experience of unfair and wrongful dismissal claims, all types of discrimination, whistleblowing, hearings on employment status, applications for interim relief, costs arguments, and applications to strike out claims.

Catherine is qualified to accept instructions from members of the public on a Direct Access basis. She regularly takes on pro bono work through the charity Advocate.

She is ranked in Legal 500, rising to Tier 4 in the 2023 edition for employment at the London bar.

In her former life, Catherine spent nearly 20 years as a journalist, the last ten as travel editor of The Times. She finds the skills she learned on newspapers – such as interviewing and listening to people, arguing with the editor, and getting to grips with large amounts of information in a short time – translate well to her work as a barrister. Clients tell her that they value her wide experience of life and the workplace. She has a calm manner with nervous witnesses and understands that litigating to the bitter end is not always the answer – but if the fight is unavoidable, she is a strong advocate on her clients’ behalf.

Outside work, Catherine is a keen swimmer, in open water where possible, and most summers can be found swimming slowly around some of the smaller Greek islands. She is an enthusiastic amateur photographer, and has started learning German.