Emma Butterworth

Emma has practised as an employment lawyer since qualifying as a Solicitor in 2009. She covers all aspects of employment law, from tribunal disputes to day-to-day HR advice.

Emma acts for major corporate and public sector clients  across a wide range of sectors, including retail, media, logistics, aviation and financial services. This breadth of experience gives her a strong commercial perspective and helps her deliver practical, tailored advice to high-profile organisations.

Emma has vast experience of Employment Tribunal litigation and has handled heavyweight, high-value litigation and has acted on matters involving potential PR and reputational issues. She has particular expertise in acting in complex, high-profile and sensitive discrimination and whistleblowing claims on behalf of household-name clients.

Away from litigation, Emma advises on the full range of employee relations issues, including drafting contractual documentation, bonus arrangements, executive exits, enforceability of post-termination restrictions, grievances and investigations, disciplinary processes, workplace policies, individual and collective redundancies, TUPE, large-scale restructures, and changes to terms and conditions.

Emma also supports clients on the employment aspects of corporate transactions, including acquisitions, disposals and management buy-outs.

Her work has been widely recognised and she has been regularly named in the Legal 500 including as a Next Generation Partner.

Additional sector specific expertise

Retail - worked for a number of leading retailers particularly during my time with Halliwells and then Gateley including an international clothing retailer and those working in the betting sector.

Sport - again predominantly from Gateley and including acting for professional football clubs and acting on all employment related matters including Tribunal claims.

Logistics - acted for a leading logistics company and this encompassed providing industrial relations advice.

Media - acted for household name media organisations and this included carrying out a part time secondment as an in house lawyer in 2019.

Jurisdiction: England & Wales

• Advising on industrial relations law and supporting clients who recognise trade unions.
• Representing parties in complex discrimination and whistleblowing matters.
• Advising on strategic senior exits and employment issues arising from corporate transactions.
• Advising on TUPE and large-scale restructures.
• Delivering training sessions on all aspects of employment law.
• Carrying out a number of secondments to client organisations throughout her career.