Greenwoods

Employment

Partner, Employment

I’ve specialised in employment law for more than 30 years. Although, I’ve had experience during that time of most areas, there’s no such thing as ‘been there, done that, got the T-shirt’ as employment law is always developing and changing – which is what makes it exciting. Whatever matter I’m advising on, the most important question to ask the client at the outset is ‘what do you want to achieve’? My approach is to use the law as a tool to deliver the solution the client wants by advising in a pragmatic and commercially focused way.

Since qualifying as a solicitor in 1986, I’ve spent the entirety of my career working in London. In the early 90s, I helped set up a London office for a firm based in the north-west. I spent 10 years developing that office and its successor practice before becoming a partner in the employment department of a mid-sized London firm in 2001 where I remained until joining Greenwoods at the beginning of 2015.

I advise both employers and employees. Although I spend the majority of my time working with employers, I think it’s really important to understand any case from both perspectives which is why a large part of my workload is acting for employees.

I work with clients in sectors such as construction, leisure, travel, insurance, recruitment and IT. Many of the businesses I work with are longstanding clients.  Getting to know and understand the ‘ethos’ of a business is vitally important to being able to provide commercially focussed advice. As well as day-to-day advice to businesses, I particularly enjoy the more contentious side of employment law and have developed a focus on the area of restrictive covenants.