Lance Harris

Lance advises and represents clients in a wide range of contentious and non-contentious commercial matters. His experience includes drafting contractual documentation (including advising on and drafting restrictive covenants), representing clients in claims for breach of contract and matters relating to the sale of goods and provision of services, and advising generally on matters of contractual interpretation and litigation tactics. He strives to deliver robust, practical advice that takes account of the commercial reality his clients face.

Lance has a particular niche in claims relating to commercial agents including claims for unpaid commission, misrepresentation, breach of contract and claims under the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993. Recent examples of his work in this area include:

• Advising a principal who wished to terminate a commercial agency agreement on grounds of poor performance by the agent.
• Advising an agent on the potential value of their claim for compensation under regulation 17.
• Advising a principal on whether their agent had repudiated the agency agreement through their conduct, and advising generally on the risks and value of any potential claims that may arise if the agency were terminated.
• Advising and representing a German manufacturer in its defence of a claim brought against it by way of a European Application for Payment. The matter raised issues of jurisdiction and the applicability of the Commercial Agents Regulations.
• Drafting a commercial agency agreement for an agent acting for a large manufacturer of roofing products based in the USA (Instructed on a direct access basis).

Lance has written a chapter on the law relating to commercial agents for the Westlaw Insight Encyclopaedia.

Lance acts in a wide variety of clinical negligence cases representing both claimants and defendants. He is experienced in drafting particulars of claim and defences, complex schedules of loss and counter schedules, and other formal court documents. He regularly advises in conference on issues of liability and quantum, as well as representing clients in court and in settlement meetings.

Examples of Lance’s work include:

• representing the claimant in a claim for negligently performed knee surgery leading to the requirement for a total knee re-placement;
• representing the Defendant hospital in a claim relating to a medically managed induction of labour resulting in a stillbirth;
• representing the claimant in a claim arising from a failure to diagnose right-sided heart failure and pulmonary hypertension;
• representing a Claimant in respect of a negligently performed osteotomy to correct a hallux valgus.

Lance also has extensive inquest experience. He represented the family in a multi-day inquest arising out of the death of a patient who suffered a pulmonary embolism. One of the main issues concerned the advice given to the deceased in respect of a plaster cast applied to his leg and whether this contributed to the development of a deep vein thrombosis subsequently leading to the embolism.

Lance appears regularly in Employment Tribunal, High Court and County Court litigation at first instance and on appeal. He is often instructed as sole counsel on multi-day hearings involving unfair and wrongful dismissal, unlawful deduction of wages, TUPE, whistleblowing, breach of contract, holiday and working time claims as well as the full spectrum of discrimination work. He has particular expertise in claims involving an international dimension and is well aware of the challenges, both legal and practical, such claims pose. Lance was involved as junior counsel drafting two separate applications to the European Court of Human Rights concerning trade union membership and the right to strike (led by John Hendy KC).

Lance acts for both employers and employees. His clients range from multinational corporations and NHS trusts to small business start-ups and private individuals. He is a member of the Free Representation Unit, the Employment Law Association and the Industrial Law Society.

Lance acted as junior counsel to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Leveson Inquiry into Press Ethics. Prior to commencing his pupillage Lance worked on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry where he was involved in redacting sensitive information from evidence to be published on the inquiry’s website. Due to the confidential nature of the work, Lance has been through the MOD’s Developed Vetting Procedure.

Lance regularly appears at coroners’ inquests.

Lance represents claimants and defendants in fast and multi-track proceedings in a broad range of areas of personal injury law, including road traffic accidents, employer’s liability, product liability and public liability. He is developing a particular specialism in claims involving chronic pain. Lance also regularly appears in coroners’ inquests and before the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

After finishing his degree in Environmental Science, Lance worked for two years as an environmental consultant for Mouchel, a large multi-disciplinary civil engineering consultancy. In this time he was regularly involved in projects relating to environmental impact assessments, contaminated land, air quality, noise issues and drainage law.

Since qualifying as a barrister Lance has gained extensive experience in a variety of environmental cases, including appeals against noise abatement notices and private nuisance claims brought by individuals. In the criminal law sphere, Lance regularly appears as sole counsel in multi-day hearings in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts representing companies charged with environmental and health and safety offences.

Lance also has a niche practice defending individuals charged with the full range of motoring offences.

Lance is a member of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association (UKELA) and sits on UKELA’s Water Working Party.

Lance has extensive experience of grievance and disciplinary procedures gained from his knowledge of employment law and procedure. He has recently assisted Michael Ford KC in an internal investigation concerning allegations of misconduct against a CEO of a local authority. He has also had experience of representing both employees and management before internal disciplinary and grievance panels.

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