The employment practice at Farrer & Co excels at pursuing and defending claims in the High Court, Employment Tribunal and appeal courts involving discrimination, whistleblowing and contractual obligations. The firm offers a specialist Workplace Investigations Practice, and acts on significant appointments and departures. Eleanor Rowswell specialises in High Court litigation and leads the team with Anna Birtwistle who advises clients in the financial and legal sectors. Widely recognised in the senior executive space, David Smellie has advised on crisis management as well as significant departures. David Hunt is an expert on restrictive covenant cases, whilst Kathleen Heycock advises senior partners moving between the Big Four accountancy firms. Alice Yandle represents clients in highly regulated sectors, and associate Alice Cave regularly negotiates high-value exit packages.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Eleanor Rowswell has provided me with absolutely exceptional service. She is a top tier strategic thinker on complex issues, a very clear communicator, and she always makes herself available to clients no matter how tight the deadline. Even though she consistently demonstrates herself as a broad and deep subject matter expert, she consistently looks to collaborate with other in-house experts to make sure coverage is always as complete with expertise as possible. She is a pleasure to interact with, and I always feel like she is genuinely looking out for my best interests. She deserves to be recognized as a leading practitioner in her field, and I cannot recommend her services more highly.’
‘The individuals I dealt with were Alice Yandle (partner), Alice Cave (of Counsel) and Charlie Court (Senior Associate). All three were stand out in their performance, and in the structured and calm manner which they dealt with what otherwise could become quite a difficult situation. Key attributes conmmon to all threee were sharp critical solutions focused thinking combined with a welcoming and engaging manner, which made dealing with them very easy and straightforward.’
‘Eleanor Rowswell is phenomenally bright and hard working. She has a gift for handling challenging clients. I found her extremely impressive. I would unhesitatingly advise any senior executive to instruct her.’
‘Anna Birtwistle is exceptional. She is clear, strategic and decisive as well as being extremely engaging and charming. She is never pushed around and is well able to hold her own against even the most aggressive opponents. Anna is also able take control of fast-moving, complex multi-party litigation such as team moves.'
- 'Charmaine Pollock is excellent and brings a calm and level-headed approach to even the most stressful situations. She also has an incredibly engaging manner and puts clients completely at ease.'
‘Farrer & Co has great strength in depth on employment matters. It has wide experience of acting for senior executive clients especially in highly regulated sectors, such as legal, financial services, private equity, hedge funds, investment managers, both in relation to contentious and non-contentious matters.'
Work highlights
Successfully represented Stephen Soliman, a senior oil trader, in defending an injunctive relief application and a multi-million pound damages claim in a three-week speedy trial in the High Court.
Successfully acted for 30 pilot members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) in Morais & Ors v Ryanair DAC, a landmark Court of Appeal ruling concerning blacklisting and discrimination.
Advising a senior executive on joining a hedge fund manager in a deal worth in excess of $135 million, including advising on his contractual arrangements and developing strategies to mitigate potential competition risks.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
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Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Practice head
Eleanor Rowswell; Anna Birtwistle
Other key lawyers
David Smellie; David Hunt; Kathleen Heycock; Alice Yandle; Alice Cave; Charlie Court