About Kathleen Healy

Kathleen is the Head of our London People & Reward practice and also co-leads the firm’s People & Reward practice in Asia.

Kathleen's practice is focussed on assisting multinational clients with complex employment law matters.

In particular, she has detailed experience of helping clients navigate the employment and industrial relations issues arising on acquisitions, disposals and restructurings. She also advises on developing and implementing innovative incentives and remuneration arrangements.

Kathleen also has a broad advisory and contentious practice, assisting clients in recent years with employment litigation and with the employment aspects of a number of highly sensitive investigations. Kathleen's team co-ordinates and executes a wide range of HR projects, including global policy and contract reviews.

From 2019 to 2021 Kathleen was the firm’s Global People Partner. In that role she supported the firm through the full range of people challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kathleen is passionate about her pro-bono work and has a wide range of pro bono clients, including Amnesty, GOSH and Save the Children. She is also an ambassador for the firm’s black affinity network.

Recent work

On contentious matters:

• Advising Deloitte on a variety of complex partnership matters and disputes;
• Advising on various employment tribunal litigation in relation to discrimination and whistleblowing and on high court disputes in respect of team moves and the enforcement of restrictive covenants;
• Advising a global professional services firm on a highly sensitive cross-border partner investigation

On transactional matters:

• Advising the joint administrators of Arcadia on all employment aspects of the administration, including on the sale of its Topshop, Topman and other clothing brands to ASOS, Boohoo and City Chic;
• Advising Tesco Bank on the employment and industrial relations aspects of its proposed buyout of Tesco Underwriting joint venture from Ageas;
• Advising Neptune Energy (backed by funds managed or advised by Caryle, CVC and CIC) on the employment aspects of its $3.9bn acquisition of ENGIE E&P Petroleum International from ENGIE S.A;
• Advising Tesco on the employment aspects of a variety of disposals and acquisitions, including on its merger with Booker;
• Advising SSE on the employment incentives issues on the proposed spin off and merger of its retail business with Innogy’s retail business, nPower and its subsequent sale to Ovo.