Join us for an inspiring evening celebrating the achievements of diverse members of the Bar and a frank discussion around the ongoing inequities within the profession.
Angela Jackman KC (Hon), Partner in our Public Law and Human Rights team, will be chairing a compelling panel discussion featuring several distinguished voices from across the legal profession:
• John-Paul Swoboda KC ,12 King’s Bench Walk
• Michael Etienne, Garden Court Chambers
• Elaine Banton, 7 Bedford Row
• Hannah Bakshani, St John’s Buildings
The event will end with a networking drinks reception and cultural snacks.
Â
 IM Respect brings this event to you to spotlight the importance of inclusive briefing practices and the role practitioners within the legal and professional sector can play.
This event is part of IM Respect’s ongoing commitment to raising awareness and promoting equity both within our firm and across the legal sector and celebrating diversity within the legal sector.
Â
Please RSVP to secure your place.
We hope to see you there!
© 2025 Irwin Mitchell LLP is Authorised & Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our Regulatory Information.
John-Paul specialises in Asbestos Litigation, Sports, International litigation, Serious injury, Aviation, Clinical Negligence, Professional Negligence and Inquests. He undertakes high value work appearing in the High Court and Appellate Courts. He enjoys working as part of a team. He won the Legal 500 Personal Injury Junior of the Year Award in 2023. John-Paul was elected joint Deputy Head of Chambers in July 2024. He took silk in 2025.
Â
Elaine Banton is an award-winning employment, equality, discrimination and human rights barrister at 7BR Chambers focusing on complex and protracted litigation including at all appellate levels. Recognised in both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, Elaine was featured in the Lawyer’s Hot 100 in 2024, as the Times Lawyer of the Week in March 2023 and was the Lawyer’s Barrister of the Week in November 2021.
Â
Elaine was invited to open the oral evidence in Parliament to the Joint Committee on Human Rights in the Inquiry into Human Rights at Work in June 2023 and is a UN Women UK delegate to the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women. Elaine is a recipient of the Legal 500 ESG Ethnicity Champion of the Year 2024 for initiatives to improve racial and ethnic diversity at the Bar. She is a Bencher at Middle Temple and a former Co-Chair of the Bar Council’s Equality, Diversity and Social Mobility Committee.
Â
Michael is a human rights and civil liberties barrister in self-employed practice at Garden Court Chambers.
He acts for individuals and NGOs in a broad range of areas but with a particular focus on the rights of those detained by the state, particular in relation to policing, mental health detention and prisons.
He also represents Children and Young People in education law, with a particular focus on the rights of children excluded from school and those with disabilities and Special Educational Needs. As such, he is often instructed in cases giving rise to issues of institutional discrimination, most often in terms of race and disability.
Michael has also been an advocate for tackling issues of discrimination within the legal profession and a keen supporter of initiatives to improve opportunities for others from marginalised backgrounds to practise law.
Â
Â
Hannah represents all parties, including the protected party (‘P’), statutory bodies and family members. She regularly receives instructions from the Official Solicitor.
Since becoming a tenant, Hannah has established herself as a ‘go to junior’ in the Court of Protection. She already has advocacy experience of contested capacity and final hearings, including fact finding hearings. Hannah has appeared before Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 judges in the full range of health and welfare cases in the Court of Protection. She has also acted as junior counsel to Joseph O’Brien KC.
Hannah has also worked as a prison lawyer, where she represented clients at prison adjudications and before the Parole Board.
Hannah is an accredited civil and commercial mediator with the ADR-OCR group.
Â
