Lawyers

Sophie Vanhegan

GQ | LITTLER, London

Work Department

GQ|Littler is the leading employment law firm for employers in the UK and Ireland. We offer risk-based advice and litigation services on employment, immigration, employee tax and incentives issues. We work globally as part of Littler, the world's largest employment law firm with over 1,800 lawyers in 100 offices worldwide. Being part of Littler enables the firm to seamlessly provide high-quality advice and support across a wide range of international markets and benefit from cutting-edge technology, research and knowledge management resources.

Career

Before joining GQ|Littler as a Senior Associate in 2012, Sophie trained and worked at Linklaters where she undertook a five-month secondment to global investment bank RBS, to assist with restructuring issues following RBS's acquisition of ABN AMRO. Sophie was promoted to Partner in 2015 and Equity Partner in 2020.

Memberships

Member of the Employment Lawyers Association.

Position

Sophie is a Partner at GQ|Littler and has extensive experience in both High Court employment litigation and cross-border M&A transactions.

Sophie is experienced in all aspects of employment law and specialises in complex employment litigation. She regularly advises on restrictive covenant, breach of confidentiality and team move matters which involve High Court injunctions and subsequent trials, as well as bonus disputes and high-value discrimination claims. Many of the cases she works on have cross-jurisdictional elements. She has worked on some of the most complex employment litigation matters and specialises in tailoring a strategic approach to her clients’ risk and litigation appetite.

Her clients include businesses in the financial services, technology, partnership and LLP sectors.

Sophie’s recent client experience includes advising a FinTech company on enforcing a non-compete restriction against a former senior employee who had joined a competitor; defending a financial services firm in a multi-million pound discrimination dispute with a former employee; advising a bank on a protracted financial misconduct investigation involving a regulated person; and advising a major financial services client on a restructuring of its bonus deferral arrangements. She has also advised a range of clients on reopening their workplaces following the COVID-19 lockdown.

Sophie is also a co-founder of the firm's Women's Leadership Initiative.

Education

2001 - 2004: Master of Arts (MA) - Cambridge University

2004 - 2005: Nottingham Law School

Mentions