Marie is an employment lawyer with over 30 years’ experience, advising on both contentious and non-contentious employment matters, principally working with employers, senior executives, charities, LLPs, partnerships, and a chamber of commerce. Marie deals with senior exits, terminations and restructuring across a number of sectors including legal, retail, advertising, financial, education, construction, religious institutions and charities, and leisure.
Marie has expertise in complex discrimination claims involving race, sex, disability and religion, and in relation to diversity issues in the workplace. In addition, Marie is a leading adviser when it comes to gig economy and IR35, having been involved in several leading cases.
Marie also specialises in team moves and restrictive covenants and is a trusted advisor on day-to-day employment matters and performance management.
Marie is a well-known public speaker on TV and radio including on Question Time, Newsnight and the Today Programme and, was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List 2023.
Marie has a fantastic work ethic and provides exceptional service to her clients. Her breadth of employment law knowledge and particularly in retail is outstanding and she is also super commercial. I can always rely on Marie to provide sensible solutions to problems or to help us negotiate the best results, particularly for difficult / tricky cases.
Laura Keane,
Group People Director,
Theo Paphitis Retail Group
Expertise
- Employment law
- Senior exits
- Business restructures
- Reorganisations
- Large-scale redundancy
- Outsourcing
- TUPE
- Unfair dismissal and discrimination claims
- Gig economy claims
- Team moves
- Enforcing restrictive covenants
- Diversity in the workplace
- Dismissals
- Settlement agreements
- Breach of contract
- Disciplinary and grievances
- Managing performance
- Sickness absence
- Directors’ service agreements
- Consultancy agreements
- General workplace contracts
- Compensation for long-term incentive plans and benefits
- Termination packages including compensation for long-term incentive plans and benefits
- Tribunal claims with restrictive reporting and confidential information
Experience
General
- Advised partnerships and LLPs in respect of partnership disputes in the legal, financial and accountancy sector including whistleblowing, discrimination and exits.
- Advised doctors in relation to GP partner disputes and exits and removing a GP partner.
- Acted for private members clubs / individuals in gig economy cases involving worker status, self-employed and employee status and unfair dismissal.
- Acted for a restaurant chain for all aspects of employment advice including day-to-day employment issues including minimum wage, tips, layoff, restructuring and collective redundancy.
- Acted for construction clients advising on all workplace issues including IR35, tribunal claims, policies and procedures.
- Acted for charities and a local authority to defend complex discrimination / unfair dismissal claims, restructurings, trade union advice, and advisory including disciplinary and grievance and equality law.
- Acted for a department store to obtain an injunction in relation to an individual setting up in competition in breach of post-termination restrictions and negotiated a settlement.
- Advised advertising, construction and SME clients in respect of restructuring, TUPE and collective consultation including trade union involvement, employment advisory and investigation.
- Advised a national retail chain with several well-known high-street brands, on all aspects of day-to-day employment advisory, disciplinary and grievance, employment status, minimum wage, on call, defending tribunal claims, exits and restructurings.
- Advised synagogues, Catholic dioceses and religious institutions on all aspects of employment law including day-to-day advisory, defending tribunal claims, exits and restructurings.
- Advised a senior executive in the sporting world facing public investigation to obtain the best settlement and management of reputation.
- Acted for a charity for actors involving a trustee dispute and day-to-day employment issues, exits and a defending tribunal for failure to appoint an individual for a promotion.
- Acted for an individual with disabilities and facing investigation for misconduct, in the financial sector, to obtain permanent health insurance claim.
- Acted for a statutory market authority for its employment work including unusual working practices, trade unions, advisory including disciplinary and grievance, investigations, exits and claims and, when the market was being redeveloped, drafting senior contracts with performance-based targets and objectives.
- Acted for a senior jewellery designer who worked in a renowned jewellers, who was suspended pending investigation for gross misconduct.
- Acted for an independent gold trader in respect of day-to-day employment issues, performance management and workplace contracts and procedures.
- Acted for an international chamber of commerce, drafting complex senior and workplace contracts and procedures, advisory, disciplinary and grievance, investigations and exits.
- President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, involving dealing with Jewish care and other homes around the country.
- Carried out employment day-to-day work for a Jewish care home.
Discrimination
- Acted for a senior male employee of a hedge fund accused of bullying and harassment.
- Acted for associates and partners in law firm exits, and discrimination claims including, harassment and religious discrimination.
- Acted for a senior individual employed by a financial regulator in a disability discrimination claim.
- Defended claims in the engineering sector for discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy and sensitive allegations.
- Defended a discrimination claim on the grounds of disability and unfair dismissal for a high-street retailer.
Retail
- Defended a claim for sex discrimination brought by a man against a lingerie chain.
- General advice including disciplinary, grievance and managing performance for several high-street retail brands.
- Advised on changes in minimum wage and ‘on call’ implications for a well-known high-street retailer.
- Advised on restructurings and exits, bank holiday working, family-friendly policies, and salaried and hourly workers for many well-known high-street retailers.
- Advised a cutlery retailer on all aspects of employment law in the UK and defending a claim in Northern Ireland.
Hotels, Hospitality & Leisure
- Acted for a restaurant chain on all aspects of employment advice including day-to-day employment issues including minimum wage, tips, layoff, restructuring and collective redundancy.
- Acted for private members clubs / individuals in gig economy cases involving worker status, self-employed and employee status and unfair dismissal.
- Defended a claim for a private members club for unfair dismissal involving a preliminary finding as to whether a lap dancer was employed or self-employed.
- Defended multiple claims for unfair dismissal for an online cross-border adult entertainment site involving different jurisdictions and employment status issues.
- Represented 27 individuals engaged at a national art gallery to obtain worker status when they had paid PAYE and NI but told they were self-employed.
- Advised a polo club on terms and conditions for employees, service occupancy and TUPE issues.
- Advised a hospitality trade association in respect of day-to-day staffing issues.
Charities
- Advised a religious institution in relation to staff disciplinary and grievances, trade union issues, exits, defending employment tribunal claims, volunteers, and safeguarding issues.
- Advised a charity for actors in relation to day-to-day employment issues, defending claims in relation to unfair dismissal and sex discrimination following the failure to give a promotion.
- Acted for a synagogue in relation to the dismissal of a rabbi, grievance proceedings and exit.
- Acted for a Catholic diocese in relation to various day-to-day employment issues, considering aspects of canon law and defending claims including for unfair dismissal.
- Acted for a rabbinical team in relation to exit negotiations from their synagogue involving vacating the house provided during their employment.
Professional Practices, LLPs & Partnerships
- Acted for an accountancy partnership in a complex dispute under the 1890 Partnership Act and dissolution of the partnership.
- Acted for doctors in relation to NHS partnership disputes and negotiating the most favourable exit.
- Acted for LLP members and partners in law firms in disputes and negotiated exits.
- Acted for a senior associate in a law firm in a case for religious discrimination.
- Acted for a senior associate in a law firm which wanted her to move on as she was not going to be promoted to partner.
Reported cases
- Acted for Stringfellows in the leading 2012 case Quashie v Stringfellows at the Court of Appeal where it was held that a lap dancer was self-employed, not an employee.
- Acted for 27 artists and art lecturers engaged at the National Gallery in 2018 who were recognised as workers in a widely reported preliminary hearing (they had been classed as self-employed despite paying PAYE and national insurance).
Recognition
Recognised in The Legal 500 (2024-2025) for Employment: Employers
“A real passion and love for what they do, including getting the best commercial result for us. I work closely with Marie Van der Zyl who is a credit to any firm she works for and is a first class solicitor.” The Legal 500 2025
Recognised in The Legal 500 2024 for Employment: Senior Executives
48th President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
OBE awarded in the 2023 New Year Honours List
Trustee for the Holocaust Memorial Trust, and a Vice President of the World Jewish Congress and their Commissioner for Gender Equality and Inclusion
Regular speaker on radio and television including Question Time, Newsnight and the Today Programme
Career
Marie qualified as a solicitor in 1991. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2023, she worked at the following firms:
- Ince
- Gordon Dadds
- Davenport Lyons