Neil Todd is the Head of the Trade Union Law Group at Thompsons Solicitors and is nationally recognised as a leading expert in trade union law. Over the course of his career, he has represented a significant number of trade unions in a wide variety of high-profile cases all the way up to the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
The TULG team that he heads up is a dedicated resource for trade unions in respect of the law on industrial action, institutional trade union law, Certification Officer cases, collective labour law and all other matters requiring specialist trade union expertise.
Neil regularly writes and lectures on employment rights for both ThompsonsSolicitors and external organisations such as the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Institute of Employment Rights.
He is proud to be part of Thompsons Solicitors: “Thompsons is driven by a strong commitment to achieving social justice and advancing the rights of working people. It differs from other law firms because this principle is at its core and dictates the firm’s strategic direction.”
Case Experience:
- USDAW v Tesco Stores Ltd [2025] I.C.R. 107 Supreme Court. Successfully represented USDAW in securing a permanent injunction against Tesco in a fire and rehire exercise.
- London North Eastern Railway Ltd v Jiwanji & Ors [2026] EAT 102. Successfully represented RMT members in the EAT under section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
- Ineos Infrastructure Grangemouth Ltd v Jones and Others [2022] EAT 82. Successfully represented Unite in the EAT in a collective claim under section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
- R (Public and Commercial Services Union) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, represented PCS in a judicial review claim challenging the imposition of (now withdrawn) regulations requiring Border Force to maintain minimum service levels during strike action.
- McCloud Pension Discrimination, representing over 14,000 trade union members seeking compensation arising from age-discriminatory public sector pension reforms.
- Birmingham City Council v Unite the Union & Unison [2019] EWHC 478 (QB)- Successfully represented Unite in defending an injunction application seeking to restrain industrial action.
- George Taylor & Unite the Union v Birmingham City Council [2017] EWHC 2776 (QB)- Successfully obtained an injunction on behalf of Birmingham City Council refuse workers which restrained the employer from dismissing them on grounds of redundancy.
- Merseyrail Electrics 2002 Limited v RMT [2017] EWHC 515 (QB)- Successfully represented RMT in defending an injunction application seeking to restrain industrial action.
- Blacklisting Litigation 2016- Representing 256 Unite members in litigation arising from the use of the Consulting Association by the largest construction companies in the UK including Robert McAlpine Limited and Balfour Beatty Engineering Services which secured more than £10 million in compensation.
- National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers v. United Kingdom April 8, 2014, in the European Court of Human Rights on a case concerning the UK's blanket ban on secondary industrial action and Article 11 freedom of association.
Professional membership
Neil is a member of the national executive committee of the Institute of Employment Rights.