Kawsar is a busy practitioner and enjoys a diverse practice with particular expertise in Public (Education), Regulatory and Employment Law. He has appeared before a range of courts and specialist tribunals. He is regularly instructed in complex matters - beyond his level of call – both as an advocate as well as in an advisory and investigatory capacity.
Before becoming a Barrister, Kawsar was a solicitor at ‘Magic Circle’ law firms Clifford Chance LLP and Allen & Overy LLP in London, where he specialised in Financial Services Regulatory Law acting for some of the world’s largest corporate and financial institutions on a range of high-profile matters. He also worked on high-value International Commercial Arbitration and Mediation matters, complex Banking & Finance transactions, and in forming Private Funds.
Kawsar graduated with a First-Class law degree from the London School of Economics, before reading for the BCL at Oxford University as an OCIS Scholar, and then the LLM at Harvard Law School, where he was Fulbright Scholar. In 2009, he was a Global Fellow of the Prime Minister.
Kawsar is accredited to accept direct instructions from members of the public where appropriate.
Practice and Experience
Kawsar has been a school governor at secondary school in London for the past 6 years and a visiting lecturer in law at a leading university. As a result, he is very familiar with the school and university systems, their management and workings. He has also previously worked at the Department for Education.
Kawsar frequently appears in the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and the Upper Tribunal in respect of Educational, Health and Care Plans (“EHCPs“) and in claims of disability discrimination, both for parents and local authorities.
In the past year, he has been a leading barrister challenging GCSE and A-Level results on behalf of parents and pupils.
He has represented parents and pupils in a range of matters and acts as an independent legal advisor/clerk at hearings concerning admissions and exclusions. He also advises on, and subsequently acts in, civil claims and judicial review proceedings concerning the exercise of public law duties and powers in the context of education.
Other Experience
Kawsar’s broader public law, regulatory and employment law experience means that he is adept at advising and acting on matters which cut across other areas of law.
He is an experienced advocate in all Employment Tribunal matters. He has a particular interest in discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010. He has recently successfully represented:
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As leading junior, a group of 74 claimants in a class action against Carillion plc, in a 10-day preliminary hearing at the Manchester Employment Tribunal. The compulsory liquidation of Carillion plc is described by the Insolvency Service as the largest and most complex trading liquidation in the UK. Kawsar’s oral advocacy and submissions were praised by co-counsel as “very persuasive and attractive”; and
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A senior executive in a breach of (employment) contract claim against an international company involving complex legal argument on formation of contract at the London Central Tribunal.
Kawsar has advised and acted for clients on a range of regulatory law matters.
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He is frequently instructed in professional discipline proceedings. He has acted for doctors, osteopaths and nurses in full and interim order hearings before: the General Medical Council’s Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service; General Osteopathic Council’s Professional Conduct Committee; and the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee.
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He has also acted for landlords in appeals against local authority issued Interim and Final Management Orders and Final Penalty Notices under the Housing Act 2004.
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At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kawsar represented businesses across the country in challenging local authority grant decisions. He was interviewed and recognised by the BBC as the leading barrister in this field.
He is an experienced investigator and has led internal investigations and inquiries in the education, corporate, and charitable sector – often involving multiple jurisdictions. Recent investigations include a complex racial discrimination complaint at a public body and an employment grievance investigation within an international NGO.
He is currently a counsel to the Public Inquiry into Undercover Policing and security cleared to SC Level. As a result, he has good knowledge of public law issues including judicial review, and claims under the Human Rights Act. As a member of the Attorney General and Government Legal Department’s ‘Junior Junior’ Panel, he enjoys a busy public sector practice in all types of Public, Regulatory and Employment Law proceedings.
