Email: PracticeStaff_TeamM@matrixlaw.co.uk
Few areas of legal practice have developed as rapidly as employment law. Important and contentious legislation has been, and will continue to be, introduced both at EU level and by the UK Government. The growth of the flexible labour market, globalisation and the prevailing economic conditions all present fundamental challenges for employers and employees alike. The Human Rights Act will also continue to have an impact on industrial relations.
Members of Matrix are particularly well-placed to meet these challenges and the rapid expansion of our caseload is testimony to the fact that this is recognised in the marketplace. We are ranked as a leading set in Employment Law in both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500, and many of our members are individually recommended at the highest levels.
We have a track record of presenting cases in every conceivable forum, from the Employment Tribunal (across the UK), and all levels of the High Court, to the European Court of Justice and the Court of Human Rights. In a survey of reported employment cases since 2000, Matrix practitioners occupy 3 of the top 10 places. These include cases with a European dimension (such as equal pay, working time, transfer of undertakings), discrimination law (including some of the first reported cases of age and religious discrimination), commercial employment law (restraint of trade, the law of confidence, executive terminations and bonus/share option disputes), individual employment protection, data protection, trade union and collective labour law (industrial action, statutory recognition and Rule book disputes), and free movement of workers under Article 45 (ex 39 and 48) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Many of our cases are at the cutting edge of employment law, and recent reported cases include:
Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher & others [2011] UKSC 41
R (on the application of G) v Governors of X School [2011] UKSC 30
Brownbill & others v St Helens & Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust [2011] EWCA Civ 903
Parkwood Leisure Limited v Alamo Herron [2011] UKSC 26; [2011] IRLR 696
HSBC Asia Holdings BV and another v Gillespie [2011] IRLR 209
Locke v Candy & Candy Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 1350; [2011] IRLR 163
Tiffin v Lester Aldridge LLP [2011] IRLR 105
Russell & others v Transocean International Resources Ltd & others [2010] CSIH 82; [2011] IRLR 24
Ravat v Halliburton Manufacturing & Services Ltd [2010] CSIH 52; [2010] IRLR 1053
J v DLA Piper UK LLP [2010] IRLR 936
Eweida v British Airways plc [2010] EWCA Civ 80; [2010] IRLR 322
Gibson & others v Sheffield City Council [2010] EWCA Civ 63; [2010] IRLR 311
Ladele v London Borough of Islington [2009] EWCA Civ 1357; [2010] IRLR 211
In addition to representing clients in the Employment Tribunal/Court forum, our expertise also extends to advice and representation at the Central Arbitration Committee, internal disciplinary hearings, and before professional disciplinary bodies.
Particular strengths of the Matrix employment law team:
- We represent a full range of clients and are aware of the perspectives of both sides of the industrial fence, across various sectors of the economy. We appear for individual applicants and claimants, and are instructed by the EHRC and trade unions on strategic issues as well as contentious work. We undertake work for a wide variety of employers and employers’ associations. For example, we act on behalf of small businesses, national companies, local authorities and city institutions; the latter often in high-value and high profile disputes. A number of our members are Treasury Counsel for whom the government is an important client.
- We are committed to being user-friendly and accessible, and providing a prompt, good quality service at competitive rates.
- Matrix members bring other areas of expertise to bear on our employment cases; many of us have valuable expertise in other fields such as EU, commercial, public, human rights, media and international law. We also have the advantage of academic members who bring a wider perspective, either through advisory work and advocacy in their own right or through forming part of a litigation team.
- We are active in the employment law community, with strong links with the Bar Pro Bono Unit, ELAAS and professional organisations such as the Industrial Law Society. Our members are frequently invited to speak at conferences, training events and live broadcasts, and we write regularly on employment law issues.
Group coordinator: James Laddie
Downloads
By clicking the 'downloads' tab below you can:
- listen to the talks presented at the Matrix 2010 Employment Seminar 'Information in the Workplace'.
- view the seminar papers presented at the Matrix 2011 Employment Seminar ‘Clause and Effect’.
- additional papers from relevant Employment Law seminars that our members have spoken at.
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Key:* Academic + Associate # Trainee
Photography courtesy of
Sarah Booker