*/
Visibility can be quiet but powerful. Sometimes it is the tiny intervention that counts. When I added ‘Mx Oscar Davies’ to the chambers board having got tenancy, I posted the achievement on Twitter but did not expect much. My tweet went viral and I was interviewed by the Times, Legal Cheek and Reuters. I started @nonbinarybarrister off the back of that, to help people understand the law around trans and non-binary issues. Students then began writing to me, saying they could finally picture themselves at the Bar. Judges started getting used to ‘Mx’ being an option in court instead of ‘Ms’, ‘Miss’, ‘Mr’ or ‘Dr’. Five years on, I am ‘Changemaker of the Year’ at the 2025 King’s College London Distinguished Alumni Awards and my picture appears on a board at King’s on the Strand. It is surreal as I never thought that would happen to me, but here we are.
Use your advocacy skills inside and outside of court. This is one of the few professions where you get paid to practise speaking. In court, you get what you are given via the cab rank rule; a useful exercise in itself in that it forces you to be intellectually flexible, arguing to your best ability in your client’s best interests. Some of my scariest but most rewarding experiences in court have been against KCs in precedent-setting case law around belief discrimination (Thomas v Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust & Ors) and COVID vaccines (Masiero & ors v Barchester Healthcare Ltd). Outside court, I use my advocacy skills all the time: whether on the board for LGBTQ+ organisations, on committees such as Inner Temple Bar Liaison and FreeBar, briefing MPs in Parliament about the dangers of the FWS decision, writing articles on important cases or making viral videos about matters that affect your community. You should advocate on what you are passionate about.
Being precise with language matters now more than ever. It shapes not only how we argue but also who the law protects. We still do not have proper equality protections for non-binary and intersex people in this country. It is embarrassing, really. The Equality Act 2010 still talks about ‘gender reassignment’. On paper, that sounds inclusive. In practice, it may leave non-binary and intersex people out, leaving them precariously dependent on judicial creativity (e.g. Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover). That fragility is why I have put forward drafting suggestions in ‘Language as a cage and a tool: drafting non-binary into UK legislation’, a double-blind peer-reviewed article for law journal GenIUS.
We are in a linguistic turn towards obfuscation, with such heat given to DEI initiatives, and groups attacking others, such that there is little agreement on what certain words actually mean. Judges do not always hear the ‘dog whistle’ – a phrase may seem ordinary but can carry a subtle, often political, message for a particular demographic group. For example, in a recent case, the term ‘gender ideology’ was used without scrutiny by a judge (R (on the application of Smith) v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police). ‘Gender ideology’ is a well-known dog whistle for ‘gender identity’, with the hidden ‘whistle’ being the intention of relegating gender identity to something based on belief rather than knowledge of the self vis-à-vis body.
As case law is created, so too is a new legal reality, sometimes with dangerous practical consequences. The Supreme Court in FWS had to decide whether ‘sex’ in the Equality Act means ‘biological sex’ (‘sex at birth’, para 7), yet the term ‘sex’ is not drilled into anywhere in the judgment – what makes up a person’s sex, and will this always be agreed? Meanwhile ‘biological sex’ has become a dog-whistle term to exclude trans people and their lived sex/gender. The Equality Act is meant to be a shield, not a sword, and its exclusions (i.e. when discrimination may be justified) are permissive (e.g. you may exclude if it is proportionate). This has been misinterpreted by many including, concerningly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to mean trans people must be excluded from certain spaces. Trans people are already a very marginalised group, and I fear that the law at present is effectively pushing them out of public life. Many are moving abroad because they consider the government and judiciary are making their lives impossible. Where is the dignity in ostracisation?
Rights go up and outwards – they are not confined within a pie chart, with one increasing and the other decreasing. I wish people would understand that trans people are just people; they are not trying to seek more rights than anyone else but a base level of protections; they are not trying to erode women’s rights; and those rights are not oppositional. If we all took a more compassionate approach, then these false dichotomies would fall away.
Find your USP (unique selling point). When I joined the Bar, being non-binary and a barrister was unheard of. Combining this with my background in social media, I now run @nonbinarybarrister across several platforms, garnering over 20,000 followers. By turning current serious legal issues into short but fun videos I aim to challenge language and perceptions, and inform people of their rights. Creativity and cachet are more important than ever for barristers to succeed in the market. It is not just about imaginative advocacy, but about connecting with clients, colleagues and the public in a world where technology can do some basic work but cannot replace human empathy or wit.
Social media can help your job, if used carefully and mindfully. The law has traditionally thought of social media as frivolous. However, this is changing. While you speak to one or a few judges in court, on one client, you can reach thousands doing advocacy online. The importance of this cannot be understated, particularly if we are thinking about access to justice. Because of it, I am widely recognised as an expert in my areas of specialism; won 2024’s Legal 500 ESG award ‘LGBTQ+ Champion of the Year’; had my photo taken for ES Magazine ‘Unsung Heroes’ issue (edited by Donatella Versace!); listed in Attitude’s 2025 101 top 10 influential figures in financial and legal; in the Guardian’s 2025 Rainbow Honours List; and nominated for Legal 500 ‘DEI Rising Star’. Social media is not for everyone, but for those who think it makes you a less serious advocate, I would say, think again.
Finding a cause bigger than yourself can make you work harder and be a better lawyer. What can you do to help regular people access justice? I am writing a book on this at the moment, so it is on my mind a lot. There is a difference between knowing you have rights; knowing what those rights are; and knowing how to enforce them. Working in the discrimination field, in particular on trans cases, has forced me to grapple with difficult issues on the ‘cutting edge’ of law being made – ethical, legal and spatial. I am now working on the Dr Victoria McCloud case challenging the FWS decision in the European Court of Human Rights and many other cases which will hopefully have a positive impact in years to come. Sometimes when you feel too exhausted to continue, it is the bigger picture that will push you to do more.
Resilience is the job description. My journey has been far from smooth. I first got pupillage at a media law chambers but while working over the summer in Luxembourg I got a call from the pupillage convenor saying the chambers was dissolving, along with my pupillage! After some emergency interviews, I found another pupillage but was not taken on for tenancy. After a third six elsewhere I built a fairly successful starting practice, and moved to Garden Court Chambers two years ago to pursue more public and education law as well as my usual discrimination areas (employment, housing). I am now doing the kind of work I have always wanted to do. Because your professional advocate self is usually quite closely linked to your personal self, it can be disheartening when you have multiple ‘losses’ in a row. But you have to be able to bounce back rapidly and meet all your other commitments to the high standard required.
Make (travel) opportunities happen, don’t wait for them to happen to you. I believe in travelling as part of work (and life) as a way of broadening your horizons. During Bar school, I heard that you could be a stagiaire (intern) at the European Court of Justice and I applied for a stage with the then British Judge Vajda. This was an invaluable experience and always helps whenever I have international/EU/Convention cases. I also did the Paris-London Bar exchange in 2023 and spent a month working in an employment law firm in Paris. This was a great opportunity to keep up my French and learn first-hand how another jurisdiction works.
Hobbies keep you human. For me, it is music, writing and movement. If I didn’t do these things (and as someone with ADHD), my brain would not function as well as I know it must for my cases and clients. There is nothing more boring than a barrister talking about their cases all the time and nothing else. Have depth. Live your life!
(Mr S Thomas v 1) Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 2) Ms A Brett [2024] EAT 141
Masiero and Others v Barchester Healthcare Ltd [2024] EAT 112
For Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers (Respondent) [2025] UKSC 16
Ms R Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover Ltd, 1304471/2018
Smith, R (On the Application Of) v The Chief Constable of Northumbria Police [2025] EWHC 1805 (Admin)
‘Trans+ legal experts warn Supreme Court ruling could breach human rights as 60+ attend Parliament briefing’, Attitude, 15 May 2025
‘Gender critical cases: making bad law?’, Oscar Davies, New Law Journal, 26 April 2024 (£)
nonbinarybarrister on Instagram
‘Language as a cage and a tool: drafting non-binary into UK legislation’, Oscar Davies, GenIUS: Journal of Legal Studies on Sexual Orientation and Gender, 19 February 2025
‘A third sex: returning to an intermediate zone’, O Davies, J O’Thomson, Discrimination Law Association’s Briefings, July 2025
Bar Standards Board guidance for barristers using social media
.jpeg?sfvrsn=c88e2593_1)
Oscar Davies is a multi-award-winning barrister at Garden Court Chambers, specialising in discrimination, employment and public law. They are a sought-after speaker and writer, recognised for advancing equality, inclusion and creating legal change.
Visibility can be quiet but powerful. Sometimes it is the tiny intervention that counts. When I added ‘Mx Oscar Davies’ to the chambers board having got tenancy, I posted the achievement on Twitter but did not expect much. My tweet went viral and I was interviewed by the Times, Legal Cheek and Reuters. I started @nonbinarybarrister off the back of that, to help people understand the law around trans and non-binary issues. Students then began writing to me, saying they could finally picture themselves at the Bar. Judges started getting used to ‘Mx’ being an option in court instead of ‘Ms’, ‘Miss’, ‘Mr’ or ‘Dr’. Five years on, I am ‘Changemaker of the Year’ at the 2025 King’s College London Distinguished Alumni Awards and my picture appears on a board at King’s on the Strand. It is surreal as I never thought that would happen to me, but here we are.
Use your advocacy skills inside and outside of court. This is one of the few professions where you get paid to practise speaking. In court, you get what you are given via the cab rank rule; a useful exercise in itself in that it forces you to be intellectually flexible, arguing to your best ability in your client’s best interests. Some of my scariest but most rewarding experiences in court have been against KCs in precedent-setting case law around belief discrimination (Thomas v Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust & Ors) and COVID vaccines (Masiero & ors v Barchester Healthcare Ltd). Outside court, I use my advocacy skills all the time: whether on the board for LGBTQ+ organisations, on committees such as Inner Temple Bar Liaison and FreeBar, briefing MPs in Parliament about the dangers of the FWS decision, writing articles on important cases or making viral videos about matters that affect your community. You should advocate on what you are passionate about.
Being precise with language matters now more than ever. It shapes not only how we argue but also who the law protects. We still do not have proper equality protections for non-binary and intersex people in this country. It is embarrassing, really. The Equality Act 2010 still talks about ‘gender reassignment’. On paper, that sounds inclusive. In practice, it may leave non-binary and intersex people out, leaving them precariously dependent on judicial creativity (e.g. Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover). That fragility is why I have put forward drafting suggestions in ‘Language as a cage and a tool: drafting non-binary into UK legislation’, a double-blind peer-reviewed article for law journal GenIUS.
We are in a linguistic turn towards obfuscation, with such heat given to DEI initiatives, and groups attacking others, such that there is little agreement on what certain words actually mean. Judges do not always hear the ‘dog whistle’ – a phrase may seem ordinary but can carry a subtle, often political, message for a particular demographic group. For example, in a recent case, the term ‘gender ideology’ was used without scrutiny by a judge (R (on the application of Smith) v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police). ‘Gender ideology’ is a well-known dog whistle for ‘gender identity’, with the hidden ‘whistle’ being the intention of relegating gender identity to something based on belief rather than knowledge of the self vis-à-vis body.
As case law is created, so too is a new legal reality, sometimes with dangerous practical consequences. The Supreme Court in FWS had to decide whether ‘sex’ in the Equality Act means ‘biological sex’ (‘sex at birth’, para 7), yet the term ‘sex’ is not drilled into anywhere in the judgment – what makes up a person’s sex, and will this always be agreed? Meanwhile ‘biological sex’ has become a dog-whistle term to exclude trans people and their lived sex/gender. The Equality Act is meant to be a shield, not a sword, and its exclusions (i.e. when discrimination may be justified) are permissive (e.g. you may exclude if it is proportionate). This has been misinterpreted by many including, concerningly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to mean trans people must be excluded from certain spaces. Trans people are already a very marginalised group, and I fear that the law at present is effectively pushing them out of public life. Many are moving abroad because they consider the government and judiciary are making their lives impossible. Where is the dignity in ostracisation?
Rights go up and outwards – they are not confined within a pie chart, with one increasing and the other decreasing. I wish people would understand that trans people are just people; they are not trying to seek more rights than anyone else but a base level of protections; they are not trying to erode women’s rights; and those rights are not oppositional. If we all took a more compassionate approach, then these false dichotomies would fall away.
Find your USP (unique selling point). When I joined the Bar, being non-binary and a barrister was unheard of. Combining this with my background in social media, I now run @nonbinarybarrister across several platforms, garnering over 20,000 followers. By turning current serious legal issues into short but fun videos I aim to challenge language and perceptions, and inform people of their rights. Creativity and cachet are more important than ever for barristers to succeed in the market. It is not just about imaginative advocacy, but about connecting with clients, colleagues and the public in a world where technology can do some basic work but cannot replace human empathy or wit.
Social media can help your job, if used carefully and mindfully. The law has traditionally thought of social media as frivolous. However, this is changing. While you speak to one or a few judges in court, on one client, you can reach thousands doing advocacy online. The importance of this cannot be understated, particularly if we are thinking about access to justice. Because of it, I am widely recognised as an expert in my areas of specialism; won 2024’s Legal 500 ESG award ‘LGBTQ+ Champion of the Year’; had my photo taken for ES Magazine ‘Unsung Heroes’ issue (edited by Donatella Versace!); listed in Attitude’s 2025 101 top 10 influential figures in financial and legal; in the Guardian’s 2025 Rainbow Honours List; and nominated for Legal 500 ‘DEI Rising Star’. Social media is not for everyone, but for those who think it makes you a less serious advocate, I would say, think again.
Finding a cause bigger than yourself can make you work harder and be a better lawyer. What can you do to help regular people access justice? I am writing a book on this at the moment, so it is on my mind a lot. There is a difference between knowing you have rights; knowing what those rights are; and knowing how to enforce them. Working in the discrimination field, in particular on trans cases, has forced me to grapple with difficult issues on the ‘cutting edge’ of law being made – ethical, legal and spatial. I am now working on the Dr Victoria McCloud case challenging the FWS decision in the European Court of Human Rights and many other cases which will hopefully have a positive impact in years to come. Sometimes when you feel too exhausted to continue, it is the bigger picture that will push you to do more.
Resilience is the job description. My journey has been far from smooth. I first got pupillage at a media law chambers but while working over the summer in Luxembourg I got a call from the pupillage convenor saying the chambers was dissolving, along with my pupillage! After some emergency interviews, I found another pupillage but was not taken on for tenancy. After a third six elsewhere I built a fairly successful starting practice, and moved to Garden Court Chambers two years ago to pursue more public and education law as well as my usual discrimination areas (employment, housing). I am now doing the kind of work I have always wanted to do. Because your professional advocate self is usually quite closely linked to your personal self, it can be disheartening when you have multiple ‘losses’ in a row. But you have to be able to bounce back rapidly and meet all your other commitments to the high standard required.
Make (travel) opportunities happen, don’t wait for them to happen to you. I believe in travelling as part of work (and life) as a way of broadening your horizons. During Bar school, I heard that you could be a stagiaire (intern) at the European Court of Justice and I applied for a stage with the then British Judge Vajda. This was an invaluable experience and always helps whenever I have international/EU/Convention cases. I also did the Paris-London Bar exchange in 2023 and spent a month working in an employment law firm in Paris. This was a great opportunity to keep up my French and learn first-hand how another jurisdiction works.
Hobbies keep you human. For me, it is music, writing and movement. If I didn’t do these things (and as someone with ADHD), my brain would not function as well as I know it must for my cases and clients. There is nothing more boring than a barrister talking about their cases all the time and nothing else. Have depth. Live your life!
(Mr S Thomas v 1) Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 2) Ms A Brett [2024] EAT 141
Masiero and Others v Barchester Healthcare Ltd [2024] EAT 112
For Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers (Respondent) [2025] UKSC 16
Ms R Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover Ltd, 1304471/2018
Smith, R (On the Application Of) v The Chief Constable of Northumbria Police [2025] EWHC 1805 (Admin)
‘Trans+ legal experts warn Supreme Court ruling could breach human rights as 60+ attend Parliament briefing’, Attitude, 15 May 2025
‘Gender critical cases: making bad law?’, Oscar Davies, New Law Journal, 26 April 2024 (£)
nonbinarybarrister on Instagram
‘Language as a cage and a tool: drafting non-binary into UK legislation’, Oscar Davies, GenIUS: Journal of Legal Studies on Sexual Orientation and Gender, 19 February 2025
‘A third sex: returning to an intermediate zone’, O Davies, J O’Thomson, Discrimination Law Association’s Briefings, July 2025
Bar Standards Board guidance for barristers using social media
The Bar Council continues to call for investment for the justice system and represent the interests of our profession both at home and abroad
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
AlphaBiolabs has made a £500 donation to Sean’s Place, a men’s mental health charity based in Sefton, as part of its ongoing Giving Back initiative
Q&A with Tim Lynch of Jordan Lynch Private Finance
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management
Six months of court observation at the Old Bailey: APPEAL’s Dr Nisha Waller and Tehreem Sultan report their findings on prosecution practices under joint enterprise
The Amazonian artist’s first international solo exhibition is wholly relevant to current issues in social and environmental justice, says Stephen Cragg KC
Despite its prevalence, autism spectrum disorder remains poorly understood in the criminal justice system. Does Alex Henry’s joint enterprise conviction expose the need to audit prisons? asks Dr Felicity Gerry KC
Until reforms are instituted and a programme of training is introduced, expert opinion on intimate partner abuse remains vital to realigning the tilted scales of law and justice, writes Professor Susan Edwards
It’s been five years since the groundbreaking QC competition in which six Black women barristers, including the 2025 Chair of the Bar, took silk. Yet today, the number of Black KCs remains ‘critically low’. Desirée Artesi talks to Baroness Scotland KC, Allison Munroe KC and Melanie Simpson KC about the critical success factors, barriers and ideas for embedding change
