A day in the life of an employment lawyer

One of the joys of my role as a Senior Associate in the Brachers Employment Law team, is that no two days are ever the same.

I have been qualified as a lawyer since 2011, and I have been part of the Employment Team at Brachers since qualification. I joined the firm in 2009 and spent my first two years undertaking my training contract, which seems a long time ago now!

I advise clients across a range of sectors, but I focus primarily on the education sector and provide employment law advice to a range of primary and secondary school clients,  including single and multi-academies and special needs provision schools. This work involves collaborating with governors and senior leadership teams to respond to employment law issues.

A typical day for me usually starts off with a cup of coffee and reviewing my inbox. Anyone who knows me, will be aware that I am a big fan of a to-do list, and I like to plan my day as much as possible by prioritising tasks on my list.

Often work will come in requiring a quick turnaround, and it will be necessary to schedule calls to discuss issues that same day, so I try and keep time clear to deal with urgent enquiries as and when needed.

My work ranges from advising on day-to-day employment law issues, including advising clients on disciplinary and grievance issues or providing advice on matters such as sickness absence or requests for statutory leave. It is not unusual for me to provide clients with advice involving safeguarding issues and considerations.  I also carry out contract reviews and assist with updating and amending policies and procedures, often to reflect changes in the law.

Sometimes my work falls outside of these areas, and I also assist schools with queries regarding data protection issues, particularly in the context of parental complaints, and freedom of information requests.

A large part of my workload involves Employment Tribunal litigation, and a typical day will often involve liaising with the Tribunal or the other party to a claim to comply with the Tribunal’s directions. This could include agreeing the documents that will be referred to at a final hearing, or agreeing a date to exchange witness statements.

When I am not advising clients or dealing with litigation matters, I will typically plan content for upcoming webinars and articles. I participate regularly in monthly Brachers Bitesize webinar series, presenting on employment law updates and other developments for clients and local businesses.  In addition, I lead the firms’ Education Matters webinar series, with recent sessions covering guidance on data subject access requests within schools and other sector specific updates. I keep up to date with case law and legal developments, as well as news which affects the education sector.

As I referred to at the start of this article, no two days are ever the same and it is the variety of work, as well as our fantastic clients, which makes my job rewarding.

If you need any employment law advice, please contact me or take advantage of our free 30-minute consultation with our team of employment law experts.

This content is correct at time of publication