Employment.

Trained DLA Piper 1976; qualified 1978; assistant solicitor 1978-83; equity partner DLA Piper (Birmingham office) 1983-2004; partner Averta Employment Lawyers LLP 2005 to date.

Employment Law Committee of Birmingham Law Society; Employment Lawyer’s Association; Consultative Committee of the ELA dealing with various proposed changes to employment legislation (ACAS conciliation and settlement agreements in particular).

Alan is a partner in Averta Employment Lawyers, having joined in January 2005. He was previously a partner at DLA Piper between 1983 and 2004 where he was a member of the Birmingham office management committee and head of the employment team in Birmingham. Clients for which he had responsibility operated in the financial services sector, retail, banking and recruitment. Work types included enforcement and/or drafting restrictive covenants, contractual disputes, dismissals and discrimination. For many years he undertook advocacy at various employment tribunals throughout the country on behalf of a variety of client companies. Setting up Averta Employment Lawyers with David Sykes in 2005, Alan has used the skills, expertise and reputation for the benefit of individual clients, such as directors, senior executives, managers and professionals from businesses of all shapes and sizes. In the last eight years he has acted for hundreds of clients dealing with a variety of issues such as discrimination, whistleblowing, share issues, bonus claims and severance payments. He has acted for PLC main board directors, including some from banks and financial institutions and for several ‘partners’ leaving private equity funds (which gives rise to interesting ‘carried interest’ issues). Clients consider him to be approachable and, importantly, other lawyers in commercial law firms consider him to be a capable, practical and commercial employment lawyer. Much of Averta’s work comes by way of referral from other lawyers. Alan is particularly sensitive to the public relations side of employment issues in that an individual’s reputation (both internally and in media terms) can be very important. This can be particularly relevant in public sector terminations but is a significant issue to many senior executives in large companies.

Warwick School (1971); Bristol University (1975 Economics/Economic history); Chester College of Law (1975 and 1978).