Paris Smith LLP

Employment Law

Senior Associate

I am an employment specialist with over 10 years’ experience in employment law and HR matters, regularly advising both employers and employees with all areas of employment law and in particular:

day to day HR issues and enquiries; grievance and disciplinary processes; performance and absence management processes; protected conversations and settlement agreements; drafting employment contracts and staff handbooks; the enforceability of restrictive covenants; ET and EAT litigation; discrimination and whistleblowing claims; redundancy and restructuring advice; TUPE; advice on employment status; corporate support work during the sale and purchase of a company and to set up directorship arrangements (both non-executive and executive); and GDPR in the employment and HR context.

I have particular expertise in providing corporate support to companies during the due diligence process of buying and selling a company and GDPR in an employment context.

I provide in house training to HR teams and managers and regularly deliver our line manager training programme to small groups of attendees.

Immigration Law

I also advise on a range of business and personal immigration issues.

BUSINESS IMMIGRATION

I regularly support companies navigate the complexities of the immigration system, in particular:

advice on becoming a sponsor; assistance with the application process to become a sponsor; advice on sponsoring a specific employee to work in the UK and the process to follow; compliance with sponsor duties and reporting relevant issues to the Home office; conducting appropriate right to work checks; and the rights of EU nationals to work in the UK after Brexit and the steps a business must take. PERSONAL IMMIGRATION

I also regularly advise individuals on their personal immigration situation and applications, in particular:

spousal and dependent applications to come to the UK or extend their right to be in the UK; applications for indefinite leave to remain in the UK; applications to naturalise as a British citizen and gain a British passport; and advice to EU nationals on their options for remaining in the UK after Brexit

I strongly believe in working alongside our clients to identify their preferred outcome and take steps to achieve that outcome, whilst working within the legal framework available to them. I take time to get to know our clients and their businesses so that the advice I give is tailored specifically to them and their organisation.

I provide practical advice to our clients that they can implement straight away to manage the situation they are handling.  I use my previous experience to give HR managers and business owners the tools they need to identify issues which may become problematic at an early stage and to act proactively to prevent situations escalating.

As all clients have different ways they prefer to receive advice from us, I work with our clients to identify their preferences and then where possible provide advice in this way to them to make the process as seamless as possible for them; whether that be practical advice on the telephone or email, template documents for them to adapt or a detailed legal advice letter.

I use my commercial knowledge and industry expertise to help my clients achieve their aims whilst minimising their risks as much as possible.

Where a situation creates risks for our clients I explain those risks but look for solutions to reduce them as much as possible and give our clients the most straightforward approach to take.

I am a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA).