Malcolm is an experienced all-round contentious and non-contentious employment and labour lawyer with over 40 years’ experience. He is dual-qualified with significant legal practice experience in both England & Wales as a solicitor and also in the State of New York as an attorney and counsellor-at-law.
Malcolm represents individuals and businesses of all sizes from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies on a complete range of employment and labour issues. He also has extensive experience of advising on UK and EU matters involving US parties or parent corporations.
Expertise
- Employment, labour, human resources and termination documentation
- Agreements involving senior and executive management
- Dismissals, claims and other employment issues
- Conducting/managing sensitive high-level internal investigations for employers and representation of employees under investigation
- Discrimination and equal opportunity claims
- Classification of workers
- Covenants – confidentiality, IP, non-compete and solicitation
- Working time issues including holiday pay, commission and overtime
- Industrial disputes
- Hearings before employment tribunals, civil courts and government agencies
- Employee participation – UK and European works councils and UK representative bodies
- UK redundancies (RIFs) and strategic advice on Pan-European reductions
- Transfers of undertakings
- Data protection relating to HR
- Employment and labour conflict instructions from major UK and US law firms
Experience
Discrimination & Terminations
- Reputational sex discrimination claim – Successfully defending and settling unfair constructive dismissal claim by consultant alleging employment relationship, with sexual harassment claims involving delicate reputational issues and working with a multinational board of directors. (2013-14)
- Mental disability claim – Defence and settlement of difficult and delicate constructive unfair dismissal involving containment for reputation reasons. Advising on and managing a long and careful process and procedure involving an employee with mental disabilities. (2013)
- Claim with sensitive regulatory issues – Advising foreign employer on a complex and delicate termination of senior country manager which involved reputational regulatory issues and a lengthy investigation followed by dismissal and appeals. Defended successfully before full employment tribunal (6 days) and subsequent EAT appeal (denied). (2012-13)
Media
- Sony Pictures EntertainmentInc. – Managing employment and labour issues on various international transactions and joint ventures, providing general UK, EU and other international employment advice and high-level international terminations. (1989-2007)
- Major US Media Companies – Providing general UK and EU employment advice to their New York corporate headquarters and London offices encompassing, for example, conducting high-level investigations with management team panel relating to 80 employees on expense fraud during the Gulf War, defending employment claims and advising on status of numerous “freelance” workers. (1993–2007)
Pharmaceutical & Medical
- Pfizer Inc. – Working on a portfolio of various cross-border corporate transactions, acting as lead outside-EU employment and labour counsel on broad restructuring projects and coordinating advice from multiple EU jurisdictions. (2001-2010)
- Medical whistleblower claim – Pursuing complex claim against prestigious private London hospital involving constructive dismissal, numerous allegations of protected disclosures, discrimination and unfair dismissal with extensive employee covert audio recordings. Multiple lengthy interlocutory applications and six-figure settlement before scheduled 4-week hearing. (2012-14)
Other
- The Talbots Inc. – Responsible for all UK employment, commercial and consumer credit legal work associated with the start-up of the company in the UK in 1993 and all subsequent expansion, including day-to-day legal issues and the ultimate closure of all stores including redundancies. (1993-2008)
- Complex working time holiday pay issues –Advising employer with large commission-only workforce on holiday pay issues and claims relating to commission and overtime. (2014-15)
- High-level aggressive internal UK bank investigation – Advising and counselling team of high-level US/UK bankers involving 10-month-long internal investigation, including extensive audio recordings by employer followed by full multi-day hearings. All clients successfully acquitted on all grounds. (2011-12)
- Northrop Grumman – Managing and completing a multi-year assignment on the $6.6bn acquisition of TRW and the subsequent $4.725bn part sale of the TRW auto business involving 57,000 employees, numerous works councils and unions and across 30 jurisdictions and subsequent UK employment projects. (2002-12)
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
- Honorary Legal Advisor to the British Consul-General in New York (2000-2001)
- The Lawyer – Employment Team of the Year Award – Honorary mention (2003)
- Courts Admitted: 1984
- State of New York:
- All New York State Courts
- US Federal Courts:
- District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
- United States Court of International Trade
- United States Supreme Court
- State of New York:
Career
Malcolm qualified as a solicitor in 1975. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2015, he worked at the following firms:
- Eversheds
- Morgan, Lewis, Bockius
- Mason Bickler & Co