Jenni Richards QC and Benjamin Tankel force Jeremy Hunt U-turn in junior doctors contract dispute

Jenni Richards QC and Benjamin Tankel are instructed by Bindmans LLP in the challenge brought on behalf of 54,000 junior doctors against the decision of the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, to impose a controversial new contract on them.

Their challenge is that the Secretary of State did not have the power to impose a contract, failed to consult prior to imposing it, and made an irrational decision in deciding to impose it.

Jenni and Ben scored a significant victory at the pre-action stage, forcing the Secretary of State into a major U-turn over his repeated claims in Parliament and the press that he had "imposed" a new contract. They are now going to Court to ensure that, consistently with that U-turn, the contract will not be imposed in August 2016 as threatened. The claim has been issued today in London's Royal Courts of Justice.

Jenni and Ben are instructed by Saimo Chahal QC of Bindmans.

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