Emma has 20 years’ experience advising a broad range of employers from start-ups to multinationals on day-to-day employment matters which may include advice on employment agreements, senior executive exits, restrictive covenants, redundancies and employee relations matters. She is frequently involved in global projects, such as cross-border reorganisations and HR initiatives, coordinating advice with overseas lawyers and ensuring consistency and compliance.
Emma also advises on the employment aspects of corporate transactions such as private equity transactions, mergers, acquisitions and outsourcing (including TUPE transfers).
Emma has advised employers across a variety of sectors including clients in the finance industry, media, hospitality, recruitment and central government, but with a particular specialism in advising technology companies.
Expertise
General Employment
- Employment contracts
- Redundancies
- Senior executive exits
- Restrictive covenants
- Garden leave
- Bonuses
- Negotiation of settlement agreements
- Employee handbooks and policy updates
- Employee relations issues including dismissal
- Employment disputes
- Contractors and employee classification
- TUPE transfers
- Redundancies and business closures
- Global employment strategy
- Advice on expansion into new jurisdictions
- Working with overseas lawyers
- Acting as in-house employment resource
Corporate transactions
- Dealing with the employment aspects of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and outsourcing, including those involving multi-jurisdictional aspects
- Drafting the employment provisions (including TUPE) for share and asset purchase agreements, outsourcing and services agreements
- Cross-border restructuring
Experience
General
- Advised on a cross-border redundancy exercise involving 20 countries including communication and execution strategy.
- Strategic advice on the dismissal of the CEO of a high-profile private-equity backed company and the immediate appointment of a replacement, including managing potential reputational risk and interpreting the leaver provisions of the investment agreement.
- Coordinated global employment projects for a publicly listed manufacturing company including employment agreement updates and diversity strategy.
- Defended a complex discrimination claim against a life sciences company.
- Advised a household-name retail brand on the recruitment of a new CEO, her remuneration package including bonus and equity and her relocation to the UK.
- Advised a private equity investor on the employment aspects of their acquisition of a UK-wide restaurant chain including advice on restrictive covenants post-closing conflicts of interest.
- Advised News UK on a TUPE transfer/redundancy exercise.
- Advised a global investment bank on the employment aspects of the termination of its office lease.
- Advised Carlsberg UK on its day-to-day employment matters including a collective redundancy exercise with trade union involvement.
- Advised a luxury hotel chain on a multi-site collective redundancy process.
Technology
- Acted as in-house counsel at technology companies including Synopsys, PayPal and Cloudflare, advising on all day-to-day employment matters such as employee relations, absence management, grievances and disciplinary issues and harmonising terms and conditions.
- Advised one of the world’s largest telecommunications company on day-to-day employee relations matters.
- Coordinated the implementation of a hybrid working strategy across EMEA for a global tech company.
- Negotiated and handled a sensitive senior executive exit from a private equity-backed tech company including advice on the settlement agreement, departure package, garden leave, equity and restrictive covenants.
- Assisted an Asia-based tech company with closing down its UK operations and defending subsequent claims for discrimination and unfair dismissal.
- Advised a media/tech company on a cross-border restructure including coordinating the timing and announcement issues that flow from involving a number of different European countries with different rules.
- Advised a private equity investor on the employment aspects of the acquisition of a laser light technology company including drafting and negotiating new employment agreements for the senior management team.
- Advised a software and supply chain management company on its purchase of a delivery storage solutions company as a carve-out of a public company seller, including extensive advice, negotiation and drafting around the TUPE implications.
- General day to day employment advice to Silicon Frontline Technology (UK) Limited, known as Black Duck
- Advising Synopsys on day to day UK employment matters. Synopsys is a tech company headquartered in California with over 13,000 employees.
- Advising ThoughtSpot, an AI powered data analytics company on their day to day UK employment matters.
Financial Services
- Advised an investment bank on investigating and responding to a complex employee grievance.
- Assisted British Business Bank with its HR strategy.
- Worked for PayPal to draft and implement family leave policies across EMEA.
- Advised an insurance company on a disciplinary issue including bullying and harassment and the regulatory implications arising from this.
- Advised a financial services group on a performance dismissal and subsequent claim for discrimination.
Career
Emma qualified as a solicitor in 2004. Prior to joining Keystone Law, she worked at the following organisations:
- Taylor Wessing
- Mayer Brown
- Squire Patton Boggs
- Latham & Watkins
- Slaughter & May
- In-house at UK Government, Synopsys, Cloudflare and Carlsberg