Starting the Seat
With the team being so large, and covering so many different aspects of employment law, it can be tricky to know get to grips who does what to begin with. Your supervisor will be there for you from the start, and speaking to them about all of the different areas of employment law that Lewis Silkin covers, and what interests you the most, is the best way to get the most out of your seat. The great thing about an employment seat at Lewis Silkin is that it really is what you make of it – you can try out many different areas of Employment law and figure out what you really enjoy doing.
Advisory
By getting involved in advisory work you’ll develop an understanding of the bread-and-butter work of employment lawyers. You will assist with research and drafting advice to clients on a wide range of issues including: dismissals, discrimination law, worker status, policies (from family to grievance), redundancy, unions, and contractual issues such as wage and annual leave queries.
In addition, you will be able to gain contractual drafting experience, ranging from employment contracts to settlement agreements. You may also have the opportunity to get involved with mediations, which are always exciting and a great opportunity to develop direct communication skills with clients.
Employment Tribunal
In addition to more general advisory queries, Lewis Silkin’s Employment team is very experienced in dealing with Tribunal Litigation.
Typical Trainee tasks in this area include reviewing documents, preparing Tribunal and disclosure bundles, drafting letters and forms, and potentially putting together a first draft of witness statements. You’ll also gain experience in discussions relating to negotiation, which are a brilliant opportunity to develop this SRA key competency. The cases range from small-scale unfair dismissal claims all the way to large claims disputing worker status, such as the landmark Deliveroo case.
You may also be able to attend the Tribunal where a case goes all the way to trial, which is exciting and very rewarding – particularly when you have been involved in the case from an early stage.
High Court Litigation
Lewis Silkin has a specific team within its Employment practice which takes on High Court cases and occasionally particularly large Employment Tribunal cases. Typically, the claims they handle relate to team moves and breaches of post-termination restrictions. If this area of law is of particular interest to you, you can do a seat specifically within this team, although you may still be able to get involved if you’re in a more general Employment seat.
The cases are often complex and fast-paced, and the experience is extremely rewarding as you will get to know the cases you are on very well! Some cases also test interesting areas of law, or are particularly high-profile – for instance, the High Court team was nominated this year for LexisNexis’ Case of the Year for its work on Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd and another company v Passi.
Investigations
Similarly to the High Court team, you are also able to request a seat which focuses on investigations.
Lewis Silkin’s investigations lawyers are appointed as external investigators into matters raised within an organisation, such as allegations of bullying, sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination. This can include allegations regarding individual occurrences or broader systemic issues, such as Lewis Silkin’s recent investigation into allegations of racism at the Barbican. As a Trainee you will attend interviews and take notes, look after documentation and other forms of evidence, and produce initial drafts of the eventual investigation outcome report. Overall, an Employment seat at Lewis Silkin is a fantastic opportunity to explore many varied and interesting areas of Employment law, gaining the opportunity to work on cutting-edge issues and cases.