Barrister

Shay is a barrister, who has worked with numerous satisfied clients over her 20+year career. She has a number of high profile wins, including the widely publicised Macken v BNP Paribas, which was one of the highest employment tribunal payouts of all time and remains the only case in the top 10 awards of all time to have been conducted by a direct access barrister (meaning that Shay won this with her client with no solicitor support). It was a historic victory in that it was the first (and only) case in the UK where the tribunal have awarded an equal pay audit against an employer and is one of the highest ACAS uplifts and injury to feelings awards in the UK for a discrimination case to date. The win was termed by the Guardian as a “rare win” in the equal pay field and prompted the start of the #metoopay movement. 

Shay undertakes direct access instructions in most of her cases and has gone onto win against highly resourced legal teams in that capacity. She works very closely with her clients in order to ensure that they achieve the best possible outcome for their particular claim. Although Shay works with a lot of corporate claimants, she has successfully represented clients from all walks of life.

Although the vast majority of her cases do not feature in the press and of course client confidentiality is paramount, She has nevertheless been involved in a number of other high profile cases, some of which have been featured across every major newspaper, Channel 4 and the BBC. Some of her most publicised cases include Dehais v BNP Paribas, Mulumba v Partners Group, Ramos v Post Office, Edebi v Canary Wharf Management, Ms. A v Lord Ranger & others and she has had involvement in  Walker v Co-op and Rajput v Commerzbank.

She is also featured in “Its Raining Women” a feature length documentary about Equal Pay and the glass ceiling which premiered virtually in Finland (January 2022) in person in Amsterdam (March 2023) as well as featuring at Jeden Svet/ One World Human Rights Festival in Prague (March 2023)

Shay is also a CEDR accredited mediator and trainer who has trained hundreds of mediators all over the world as well as conducting seminars within organisations about various aspects of employment law and conflict resolution.

Shay is known for being a down to earth, sensitive practitioner who has a knack for explaining complicated concepts in an easy way. The fact that she gets a large majority of her work through personal referral is a testament to her legal skills.

You can find out more about Shay’s legal work at www.sheilaaly.com or follow her entertaining #shayincourt on social media