What can I do for you?
My role is to support HR professionals and HR teams in dealing with all kinds of staffing and employment issues. I use my specialist knowledge of employment law in many ways, but essentially I am here to solve problems. Clients can involve me as much or as little as they need, from reviewing letters before they are sent out to providing more formal legal advice to assist in strategic decision making.
Supporting my clients’ objectives
A lot of my work for clients is running employment tribunal claims, which can often deal with complex issues of law. The cases can also be distressing for those involved, especially if there have been accusations of discrimination. Sharing with my clients my experience of such court proceedings helps them to make informed decisions on how they wish to manage the claim (including the costs involved) and how to put their best foot forward in defending the claim.
These days, some employment issues can often seem insurmountable. We believe that, by being here to listen and to provide a fresh view on a situation we give our clients confidence to tackle difficult problems and achieve the desired result.
What do others say?
One of the important things about my job is ensuring that clients not only get the right advice, but advice they can understand! I was really pleased when I received comments back from a client that confirmed that I had achieved this aim: “Thank you Kathryn for your clear and comprehensive advice.”
We appreciate that often clients need advice urgently. Again, I was delighted when I received this comment from a client: “This is excellent. Many thanks for your prompt response on this.”
But my favourite feedback came following an emotionally charged employment tribunal claim that we successfully defended against a former employee of an NHS trust, which had been ongoing for several months: “Many thanks again for your hard work and support in helping us to successfully defend our case this week.”
What else should you know?
I regularly provide client training as part of our formal training programme and also give training designed specifically for our clients on their own internal policies. If you would be interested in knowing about our forthcoming training events, please see the "Events and seminars" section on the right of this page. If your organisation has any specific training needs, please call me.
We set up and run a Free Legal Advice Group (FLAG), linked to the Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau. I regularly attend sessions to offer my advice.