Qualifications
• BA (Econ) Manchester University
• CPE and LPC Chester College of Law
• Admitted as a solicitor in 2001
• Joined BWB July 2004
Experience
Louise acts mainly for commercial, charity and not-for-profit employer clients. She advises in relation to all aspects of the employer’s contractual, statutory and common law obligations, including:
• Managing the employee relationship
• Business restructuring/reorganisation and redundancy
• Employment issues relating to the sale, acquisition or transfer of an undertaking
• The content and drafting of contracts, policies and termination agreements
• Variation of agreed terms
• Employment issues arising when external funding reduces or ceases
• All forms of discrimination
• Recruitment issues
• Dismissal and termination payments
Louise also conducts employment litigation, including negotiating and drafting terms of settlement where appropriate. Cases have included claims for:
• TUPE related claims
• Unfair dismissal including redundancy, conduct, performance and absence dismissals and constructive dismissals
• Breach of contract
• Deductions from wages
• All forms of discrimination, including religious discrimination and substantial sex, race and disability discrimination cases
• Equal pay
Louise also advises individuals in relation to the termination of their employment, negotiating the terms of their departure
Examples of advisory work undertaken
• Advising and successfully advocating on behalf of the successful employer in one of the first 'service provision change' claims to be brought under the 2006 TUPE regulations
• Advising a group of 30+ employers in relation to the loss, following re-tender, of a Department of Health service provision contract which entailed the transfer of c.170 employees to a number of successful bidders
• Advising and successfully representing a healthcare organisation in relation to claims for whistleblowing, unfair dismissal, and race, sexual orientaton and disability discrimination
• Advising a number of commercial and not for profit organisations (including a recruitment agency, a cultural organisation and an outsourced former local authority department) in relation to the removal of senior executives
• Advising an advice centre on effectively managing the poor attendance and performance of an employee following gender reassignment surgery
• Advising on compliance with the Age Discrimination Regulations
• Advising numerous organisations on restructuring/redundancy issues, including choosing the redundancy selection pool, individual selection criteria, individual and collective consultation, dismissal procedures, termination payments
Examples of litigation cases include
• Successfully defending a Local Authority against a number of substantial claims for Race, Sex and Disability
• Successfully defending a further education college against claims brought by a former employee for unfair dismissal, breach of contract and disability discrimination
• Successfully resisting a claim of religious discrimination brought against an art gallery by a prospective exhibitor
• Successfully defending a Yorkshire-based advice centre against an equal pay (equal value) claim brought by an employee
• Successfully defending claims brought against a Liverpool-based advice agency by former employees alleging unfair dismissal and failure to consult under TUPE Regulations
Lectures/Publications
• Contributes the employment section for Jordan’s Charities Administration Service
• Has written articles on numerous aspects of employment law
• Has spoken on a number of topics, including Age Discrimination compliance, and has most recently presented a series of one-day seminars on Restructuring, Redundancy and the Transfers of Undertakings
Pro Bono Work
Louise previously acted as an adviser at a Citizens Advice Bureau and now provides employment law support to advisers at the Blackfriars Law Centre in London
