Two matters stand out in relation to Ms Hashmi.

Firstly, her grasp of the facts and the law is the highest standard I would expect. She was of considerable assistance to the tribunal in analysing those facts and presenting them in a detailed yet concise manner. To a very large extent I adopted those submissions in summarising the relevant law.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Ms Hashmi appreciates …. her client’s case on the facts, she very sensibly does not waste any of the tribunal’s time…. That element of judgement is not always present, even in more experienced counsel.

In summary, my experience of Ms Hashmi is that she has a substantial body of knowledge on employment law, the ability to put that knowledge into practice in a manner that is helpful both to her client and to the tribunal and a willingness to assist the tribunal in the tradition of the highest standards of the bar.

We have instructed Afshan in a number of Employment Tribunal cases. We have found her to be both a thorough and diligent Barrister who is always prepared to go that extra mile for the client with whom she invariably builds a good rapport.

We are the solicitors for the … union in the North West of England and I am the Head of Employment with the firm. We … have a list of preferred Counsel who we have used and who we trust and we will continue to instruct them.

In the last 12 months Ms Hashmi has been instructed by us on three occasions at least. In the two cases that I managed as Head of Department she dealt with very different cases. In the first …The client was very satisfied with her advocacy. On the second of these two cases however she was instructed in a complex constructive dismissal case with four very difficult clients two of who were extremely difficult to handle. The claims were complicated and difficult … The case was complex in its facts and required a grasp of the claimants working practices which were crucial to the judges understanding of their case. It also needed careful cross examination to show inconsistencies between the two sets of witnesses from the original employer and the TUPE’d new employer which was at the heart of the legal issues in the case. Ms Hashmi was patient and thorough in dealing with the claimants who, in my opinion, one in particular demanded how she should run the case. Notwithstanding this we won the case and three of the four claimant got significant pay outs. I can say quite clearly that the way she dealt with the clients in the two very different cases showed a degree of professionalism and attention to detail which means she remains on the list of preferred Counsel.