His Hon Judge William Birtles

His Hon Judge William Birtles
Year of Call Nov 1970


Profile
Specialisation: Barrister specialising in environmental, planning and local government law. Has had considerable experience in both civil and criminal aspects of pollution claims including land contamination (arising from oil, toxic waste and industrial waste disposal), water (e.g. Barry Docks, Cardiff), air (particularly industrial smells) and noise.

Major inquiries include the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Inquiry (1984-86), the Westminster Council District Audit Inquiry (1994-5) and various inquiries for local authorities including the London Borough of Greenwich and Sailsbury District Council.
Also specialises in employment law, individual employment law (esp. discrimination and trade union law) and professional negligence.

Recent cases include:
Speciality Care plc v Pachela and another [1996] IRLR 248
Wallace v C.A. Roofing Services [1996] IRLR 435
R v Rochdale MBC ex parte Brown [1997] Env. R 100
R v Derbyshire CC ex parte Woods [1997] JPL 958
R v Somerset CC ex parte Dixon [1997] JPL 1030
Ind. v The Plant Hire Company (Stroud) Limited [1998] Env. L.R.D15
Housing Corporation v Bejard [1999] ICR 123
R v NorthYorkshireCounty Council ex parte Brown [1999] 1 All ER 969 (HL).

Qualifications
SheneCountyGrammar School; King's College, London (LLB 1967, LLM 1968); HarvardLawSchool (LLM 1971); New YorkUniversityLawSchool (Robert Marshall Fellow 1971-1972).