A barrister has been ordered to pay £7,000 after he dialled in remotely to a hearing from a train in Germany. Michael Engelhardt-Sprack appeared via video link while representing Shannon Burns, a technology executive who was fired from her job for sleeping in a sauna after becoming intoxicated. Mr. Engelhardt-Sprack, an employment and housing law specialist at Garden Court Chambers in London, informed the tribunal that he lived permanently in Germany with his family despite practising in the UK.
During a wasted costs hearing, it was revealed that a tribunal judge had permitted Mr. Engelhardt-Sprack to appear remotely on the first day of the hearing last year. Despite this, Ms. Burns won her case after the tribunal found that her male colleagues were also intoxicated on the same night she fell asleep in the sauna. She is now seeking £76 million in damages from the company, which is currently owned by OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. Ms. Burns' attempt to secure damages will continue at a later hearing.
The case was initially postponed for 20 minutes before Mr. Engelhardt-Sprack was able to connect while travelling on a train in Germany. He reportedly assured the tribunal that he could conduct the case, but the judge determined that it was 'not a suitably quiet environment.' Instead of finding a quieter location, Mr. Engelhardt-Sprack took another train. Costs hearing judge Rachel Wedderspoon noted that 'the background noise of other passengers could be heard' and that 'the internet connection was poor and it was difficult to hear the representative above the other noise.'
The case was postponed to the next day when Mr. Engelhardt-Sprack appeared in person at the tribunal in Birmingham. Ms. Wedderspoon ruled that 'one day of the hearing was aborted and wasted,' leading to Mr. Engelhardt-Sprack being ordered to pay £6,767.44 in wasted costs. Mr. Engelhardt-Sprack was called to the Bar in 2014 and is described as having 'extensive experience,' with solicitor testimonials praising him for being 'fantastic with clients' and possessing 'encyclopedic knowledge.' His case follows that of Priyank Tanwar, who was struck off the solicitors' roll after he misled a county court judge about working remotely from London while he was actually in Germany. Mr. Tanwar was banned from the legal profession and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.