BTO Solicitors LLP

Employment Law

Partner

Dawn is an Accredited Specialist in Employment Law with over 20 years’ experience of advising employer clients across the private, public and third sectors.

Dawn has significant expertise in advising on the full spectrum of employment law matters, including issues arising from company acquisitions and sales, including workforce due diligence and TUPE matters. She is accustomed to applying her knowledge of employment law to a variety of commercial, corporate and litigation matters and regularly advises on employment status issues and how they may impact upon commercial situations.

A hands-on, practical lawyer, Dawn is often instructed to advise on the management of difficult exits, particularly from senior management/executive director and founder positions. She is also frequently engaged by departing executives and senior employees to support them and protect their interests in these situations, often (but not always) where a protected conversation has taken place and a Settlement Agreement is being offered.

Dawn is an experienced Tribunal practitioner having regularly appeared throughout her career for both respondents and claimants. Dawn has also appeared in the Edinburgh EAT.

In the last year, Dawn has appeared on a variety of radio stations, applying her specialist knowledge to a wide variety of topical news stories, including on Stephen Nolan’s Radio 5 Live Saturday night show to discuss the Gary Linekar saga.

Non-executive positions: Current board member of Edinburgh Science (formerly Edinburgh International Science Festival.

In keeping with her interest in science education, Dawn was a member of the Employment Lawyers’ Association’s Working Party responding to “Equity in the STEM workforce: Call for Evidence” – December 2020/January 2021 – where she  was part of a small working party responsible for formulating the Association’s formal response to the UK government’s call for evidence.

Legal traineeship: Bell & Scott WS, Edinburgh (1997-1999); Assistant Solicitor & Associate: Ledingham Chalmers, Edinburgh (2000-2005) Partner and Head of Employment: Balfour & Manson, Edinburgh (2005-2009) Partner and Head of Employment & Litigation: Murray Beith Murray, Edinburgh (2009-2013) Partner (various firms) (2013-2018 Partner: Rooney Nimmo, Edinburgh, London & New York (20018-2022) Partner: BTO Solicitors LLP, Edinburgh (2022-present)

Work highlights:

Reputational damage limitation: working with one of our firm’s reputational damage experts, Lynn Richmond, Dawn recently (summer 2023) supported a chief executive in their safe departure from a high profile role in the Scottish tech start up scene, avoiding publicity and minimising reputational damage by association. Securing a positive outcome for a senior executive on a six-figure salary in a novel case following his suspension due to allegations of sexual harassment of colleagues which he claimed he could not recollect and Dawn found a link between her client’s diabetes and their conduct / loss of memory. Employment status: Successfully obtaining “worker” status for a ‘self employed’ fitness instructor in her Employment Tribunal claim against The City of Edinburgh Council’s sport and leisure facilities’ provider, Edinburgh Leisure, and the President of the EAT (the now retired Sir Patrick Elias), referring to the claimant as being “ably represented” by her, notwithstanding that the respondent was represented by a leading Scottish silk, Brian Napier KC – see McGregor v. Edinburgh Leisure | [2007] UKEAT 0027_07_2908 | United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal | Judgment | Law | CaseMine; Sex discrimination: Successfully representing a well-known Grade A professional snooker referee in her sex discrimination and constructive dismissal claim against World Snooker - Michaela Tabb reaches out-of-court settlement with World Snooker | Snooker | The Guardian; Gender equality: Being a member of the Employment Lawyers’ Association’s Working Party and assisting in its formal response to the UK government’s “Equity in the STEM workforce: Call for Evidence” in January 2021. As a psychology graduate and a long-standing trustee of Edinburgh Science, most well known for the Edinburgh International Science Festival, Dawn has a particular interest in the promotion of STEM learning amongst girls and women – see ELA Response - Equity in the STEM workforce - 29 January 2021.pdf (elaweb.org.uk); Team moves: Successfully supporting an Evangelical Pastor and his team in a contentious and very public team move away from its parent ministry – see Turncoat pastor is dancing with dark forces, sect leader suggests | Scotland | The Times; Workplace stress: Dawn’s expertise in workplace stress claims has led to her being a regular trainer for CLT Scotland on Stress in the Workplace since 2014. In addition, Dawn’s article on the significant 2020 case of AB v Royal Bank of Scotland was published by the Law Journal of the Law Society of Scotland in January 2021 – see Stress: a case for the tribunal? | Law Society of Scotland (lawscot.org.uk) Dawn’s expertise in the area of employment status led to her contributing another article to the Law Journal of the Law Society of Scotland on the important 2018 case of Morrison v Aberdein Considine & Company, relating to the employment status of a salaried partner in a law firm – see https://www.lawscot.org.uk/members/journal/issues/vol-63-issue-12/salaried-but-not-employed/

English

Employment Lawyers Association; Graduate Member of British Psychological Society

University of Edinburgh -  LL B (Hons); University of Edinburgh Dip LP;  Open University – BSc (Hons) (Psych)