Michael White

Michael has substantial experience in commercial law – particularly, but not exclusively, in the context of employment and business protection, including disputes over restrictive covenants, ‘team moves’ and breaches of confidence and fiduciary duties. This experience spans both civil litigation and arbitral proceedings, and has involved many cases in which interim injunctive relief is sought.

Michael has been instructed alongside many of the leading silks in this area on very high-value court and arbitral disputes involving international financial institutions, Formula 1 racing teams, global reinsurers, and many other clients based both in the UK and abroad. He also has experience acting unled for a wide range of clients on business protection matters.

Michael has represented numerous respondents and claimants in statutory employment law proceedings before the Employment Tribunal. These have included many complex whistleblowing and discrimination matters, among them cases in which tens of millions of pounds have been sought in damages.

Much of Michaelʼs work in the employment law arena, including for senior executives, law firms and financial services institutions, is unled. He also has experience acting as junior to many of the leading KCs in the field, and working on employment-adjacent regulatory matters.

Alongside numerous lengthy trials, Michael has successfully represented clients on interim applications for strike-out, costs and anonymity orders, and in appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. He has substantial advisory experience, including on TUPE issues, redundancies and corporate matters with an employment angle.

Michael has been ranked in Chambers & Partners for employment law since 2021.

Michael regularly acts for defendants in ‘data breach’ and related claims (although he also has claimant-side experience in this field). Michaelʼs data protection practice is complemented by wider media and information law experience, including on cases for the Information Commissioner.

Examples of recent high-profile work in this area include acting as junior to Anya Proops KC in matters for the Labour Party (in a multi-claimant case arising out of the leak of an internal report into antisemitism) and Capita (in a mass claim arising out of a hack of Capita’s servers).

Michael has also represented numerous clients unled in this field. He has particular experience in the management of vexatious or repeat claimants in the data protection sphere, and in cases with an employment or reputational angle. He also frequently advises clients on non-contentious data matters.

Michael co-authored the chapter on ‘Information Lawʼ in the Education Law Handbook (2021).

Michael is ranked in Chambers & Partners for data protection law (‘Band 3’).