Shazia Khan

Irwin Mitchell

Employment law is often a reactionary practice area and much of Shazia Khan’s heavy workload in 2020 could not have been predicted 12 months ago. But as distress call after distress call came in, Khan has, as usual, stepped up to the plate.

As the Black Lives Matter movement was erupting across the world, she was fighting on behalf of Semhar Tesfagiorgis, an Eritrean who has worked as a croupier at Mayfair casino Aspinall’s, where managers had turned a blind eye to racism. Meanwhile, in the wake of Covid-19, she is fighting a complex group action litigation for 66 agency workers against Angard Staffing Solutions and Royal Mail Group, successfully challenging a ‘status’ appeal brought by Angard and Royal Mail to the EAT, who confirmed that her clients were agency workers and should not be denied agency worker rights.

The new year’s challenges will be equally unanticipated, but at least one development can be foretold: alongside Hot 100 2020 alumna Emilie Cole, Khan will be setting up her own boutique firm as of May 2021. With reputations like theirs, success seems assured.