Palak Sikri

Call: 2021

Palak is a specialist civil law practitioner developing a practice in business and commercial disputes, employment law, personal injury, and property law. She is regularly instructed for both Claimants and Defendants, appearing in the Employment Tribunal, the County Court, and the High Court.

Palak’s employment practice encompasses the full range of contentious matters before the Employment Tribunal, including unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, whistleblowing, discrimination, harassment, and victimisation. She represents both claimants and respondents at all stages of proceedings, from preliminary hearings and judicial mediation through to multi-day final hearings. She also advises on settlement and quantum and is experienced in drafting ET1, ET3, and schedules of loss.

In civil proceedings, Palak is regularly instructed across personal injury, property, and commercial and contractual disputes. Her personal injury practice spans employer’s liability, occupiers’ liability and public liability claims, and she is routinely instructed in credit hire matters across both the Fast Track and Small Claims Track.

On the commercial and contractual side, Palak has experience representing both claimants and defendants in breach of contract claims, including disputes arising from agency and principal relationships. She has experience in advising on liability, quantum, and the prospects of settlement in commercial disputes, and brings a commercially-minded approach to litigation that reflects her background in business and finance.

Palak has also appeared in contested possession proceedings and is experienced in High Court case management, including applications to amend statements of case and to strike out. She also appears in interlocutory applications, winding-up petitions, bankruptcy petitions, and applications to set aside statutory demands.

Palak is experienced in adapting swiftly to shifting circumstances, whether responding to unanticipated legal arguments, managing the absence of key witnesses, or navigating applications that arise without warning on the day of the hearing. She approaches difficult and fast-moving situations with composure, and has consistently demonstrated an ability to achieve favourable outcomes for clients even where proceedings have not followed their anticipated course.

Prior to starting pupillage, Palak worked as a paralegal at Linklaters within the Anti-Trust and Foreign Investment Group, deepening her understanding of complex commercial and regulatory frameworks before turning to practice at the Bar.

Before coming to the Bar, Palak read Economics at the University of Cambridge and built an extensive commercial career spanning the Finance, Healthcare, and Media sectors. In those roles, she advised and presented to boards and senior management, led negotiations, managed strategic initiatives and operational programmes, and headed teams across complex, fast-moving environments. She also gained direct experience of high-value international dispute resolution, having worked on a complex multi-jurisdictional arbitration matter. This breadth of commercial and transactional experience gives Palak a practical, business focused perspective that distinguishes her approach to advisory and advocacy work. She is well placed to understand the commercial pressures and strategic priorities facing clients in dispute and to translate legal advice into clear, actionable guidance.

Expertise

Commercial & Civil

Palak is happy to undertake work in all areas of civil and commercial law including contractual disputes, corporate as well as personal insolvency, director’s duties, company law, agency, unjust enrichment and contentious trust matters.

Appeared in Case Management Conferences in the High Court, dealing with applications to amend statements of case and strike out applications.
Successfully established employer’s liability in a personal injury claim where a nursery practitioner sustained injury on colliding with open shelving in the children’s area of the workplace.
Successfully established employer’s liability in a slip and trip claim arising in the kitchen of a care home.
Successfully mitigated the client’s exposure in a breach of contract claim, securing a significantly reduced finding of liability on behalf of the employer.
Successfully established breach of contract by a managing agent in respect of payment due to the principal.
Successful in a contested possession trial before the County Court.
Routinely instructed in Fast Track personal injury matters for both Claimant and Defendant.
Routinely instructed in credit hire disputes in both the Fast Track and Small Claims Track, for Claimants and Defendants.
Experienced in drafting Particulars of Claim and Defences across a range of civil matters.
Experienced in infant settlement and Stage 3 hearings.

Employment & Discrimination

Palak is happy to undertake work representing both Claimants and Respondents in all areas of employment law.

Instructed in a ten-day complex Employment Tribunal hearing involving whistleblowing, discrimination, victimisation, and harassment. Achieved a successful outcome for the client, resolving the matter without the need for full litigation.
Instructed on behalf of the Respondent in a costs hearing; achieved a favourable outcome without the need for a contested determination.
Successfully established unfair dismissal by reason of redundancy for the Claimant at the final hearing.
Successfully struck out claims of disability discrimination against the Respondents at a preliminary hearing.
Instructed in a two-day final hearing on constructive unfair dismissal, representing the Respondent.
Instructed in a maternity discrimination matter, representing the Respondent before the Employment Tribunal.
Regularly instructed to appear at preliminary hearings for both Claimants and Respondents.
Instructed in judicial mediation and Early Conciliation appointments, achieving successful settlements for clients on both sides.
Experienced in drafting Employment Tribunal pleadings, including ET1, ET3, and schedules of loss.