Hilary O’Connor

Consultant Solicitor

England & Wales

020 3319 3700

hilary.oconnor@keystonelaw.co.uk

“Hilary has deep expertise in employment law, she makes it her business to understand our business well enough so that the approach is practical and fit for purpose, manageable and delivered with empathy. What my department appreciates the most is that Hilary balances legal precision with genuine care, ensuring a successful outcome comes with peace of mind too! This makes Hilary a very valuable trusted advisor.”

- Adrienne Sahota, Vice President, HR, InterContinental Exchange

“I have worked with Hilary for the past 10 years and I and my team have found her advice, guidance and knowledge outstanding. Hilary is pragmatic, robust and really takes the time to understand the situations and the organisation. She has been invaluable, and I could not recommend her highly enough”

- Joanne Bloomfield FCIPD, Director of HR, Remuneration and Recognition, Crowe U.K. LLP

“Hilary has been an outstanding support to Colefax Group plc for almost 30 years. She has an incredible instinct for employee behaviour and has consistently helped to us to find cost effective and amicable solutions to difficult employee situations. If you are looking for a brilliant employment lawyer I could not recommend Hilary more highly”

- Rob Barker, Finance Director, Colefax Group Plc

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Hilary O’Connor

Hilary advises on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law and has wide-ranging experience in advising on people management issues, litigation, restrictive covenants, board restructures and business reorganisations. She acts for clients across all industries, with particular experience in the retail, media and finance sectors.

Expertise

Employment – non-contentious

Hilary advises on all aspects of the employment relationship, from hiring to firing and everything in between including sensitive HR issues, such as redundancy, disciplinary and grievance processes and sickness absence; managing board disputes; and navigating business protection issues (restrictive covenants, confidentiality, data protection).

Experience

Advised a technology company on the withdrawal of flexible working arrangements and implementing full-time office attendance.
Assisted a design company on a restructure including redundancies and the outsourcing of IT delivery functions.
Advised a financial institution on an acrimonious dispute at Board level and subsequent removal of its CEO.

Employment – contentious

Hilary represents clients in Employment Tribunal and High Court proceedings involving unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, and breach of contract claims. She is experienced in mediation and resolving complex workplace disputes effectively.

Experience

Acted for a project management company in an age discrimination claim concerning the provision of permanent health insurance, successfully defending the matter in both the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeals Tribunal (Pelter v Buro Four [2022] EAT 105).
Successfully defended a professional services firm in the Employment Tribunal concerning a complex claim relating to allegations of disability discrimination/failure to make adjustments, and obtained a cost award against the claimant.
Acted for a bank in the successful defence of a claim for sex discrimination, disability discrimination, victimisation, and breach of the flexible working regulations, concerning the refusal of a flexible working request.

Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.

Recognition

External endorsements

Legal Week Intelligence Client Partner of the Year 2017

Memberships

Member of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA)

Career

Hilary qualified as a solicitor in 1991. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2016, she worked at the following firms:

King & Wood Mallesons (formerly SJ Berwin)
Clifford Chance