A father and son team of solicitor advocates is poised to take on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) this week. John (the father) and William (the son) Mackenzie represent Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher, who was awarded over £170,000 damages by Leeds Employment Tribunal last autumn for sex and sexual-orientation discrimination while she was serving with the Royal Artillery.

The tribunal found that Fletcher, who is gay, had been subjected to a campaign of victimisation. The MoD is appealing the awards for exemplary and aggravated damages, but not for loss of earnings or injury to feelings. Mackenzie senior was called to the bar in 1971, but requalified as a solicitor in 1979 and gained higher rights in 1995. His son qualified in 2006 after completing his training contract with his dad’s Henley-on-Thames firm, Mackenzie. He is now with St Albans firm McKeowns and got his higher rights last September. Of working with dad, he says: ‘We have different takes on things, but a good working relationship – and he always gets good work.’