Kathleen is a top-ranked employment partner in our global People and Reward practice and is based in London. She 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, contract reviews and culture and governance surveys.
Kathleen has served in a number of senior roles at the firm, including co-chairing our partner recommendation committee, leading our London People and Reward practice and most recently as the firm's Global People Partner.
Kathleen is passionate about her pro-bono work and has a wide range of pro bono clients, including GOSH, Save the Children and Working Families. She is also an ambassador for the firm’s black affinity network. She has recently worked with the firm's Enabled Network to help launch its Neurodiversity Working Group.
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 Tesco on the employment aspects of a variety of disposals and acquisitions, including on its public takeover of Booker, its disposal of its Korean business and the carve-out of Tesco Bank from RBS;
- 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.
- Advising Saint-Gobain on the employment aspects of its €850m sale of its UK distribution business to Stark Group;
- Advising the Rugby Football Union on its independant review of the RFU's long-term incentive arrangement structures;
- Advising Teneo on the mass employment tribual litigation brought by over 2000 former Arcadia employees in connection with the insolvency of the Arcadia Group.
- Advising a number of professional services partnerships, including law firms and accounting firms on a variety of complex sensitive partnership matters.
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