CEO Monthly Sept

12 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 , A niche City lawfirmbased inMoorgate, London, Cavendish Employment Law Limited aims to be the stand out law practice in the area, providing clients with the utmost quality of service. CarolineWalker describes how it feels to have been named in the CEO of the Year Awards 2017 and also namedMost Outstanding in Legal Services 2017, as well as detailing the type of services the firmoffers. Fighting Fear With Fairness Established in 2009 by Caroline Walker, Cavendish Employment Law has recently launched an office in Malaga, Spain. Dealing mostly with senior employees and some who work at board level, most of the clients of the firm have a background in either finance or education. Something which helped Caroline develop into a successful and respected CEO was her training as a young lawyer. Starting out at Andrew Wills and Company, Caroline became a partner upon qualifying and launched Wills Walker. Moving on, Caroline joined Sheridans to head up the Employment Department before heading up and launching the Employment Department at Sprechier Grier in 2005. Within an ever evolving industry such as law, a person with Caroline’s experience will have overseen many changes since the start of her career. Caroline does explain that there have been some positives, notably an increase in compensation for unfair dismissal, but more could still be done to protect employees. “Interestingly, I have always seen employment law as a constantly evolving area and I feel it is important for the business to review the needs of the clients on an ongoing basis. Since I started my career as a trainee in 1998, there have been significant changes. At that time, compensation was limited in unfair dismissal cases to £12,000. Whilst there have been many positive changes, the current cap on unfair dismissal of approximately £80,000 still operates unfairly for senior and highly paid employees. As a result, we have had recent success in High Court claims in respect of bonus and commission claims, to ensure that justice is obtained for those individuals.” Following on from unfair dismissal claims, Caroline mentions what she would like to see change with regard to employment law. Using past cases as an example, she discusses how employees need more protection, although she is understanding of some businesses needing to be able to dismiss people. “There is obviously a need to balance the interests of businesses against those of the employees, however I believe much more can be done to protect employees. For instance, there is no protection from unfair dismissal until you have been employed for two years. I remember when this was just one year and, although an employer needs some flexibility to dismiss someone, 12 months is usually sufficient to assess their suitability to the role and the business generally. Similarly, the cap on breach of contract claims of £25,000 in the Employment Tribunal claims works against many of our clients. Although we have built a reputation with successful outcomes for substantial bonuses with High Court actions, these are more expensive and time consuming than the Tribunal. The recent change of removing the unlawful Tribunal fees was a positive step and should prevent many from being deterred from seeking justice, whilst maintaining the balance of avoiding claims with no merit with the option of imposing cost orders against them.” Attributing her passion and thirst for justice to her success, Caroline clearly believes that everyone should be treated fairly. This is integral when running a law firm, and helps Caroline and Cavendish Law to stand out amongst other similar firms. Alongside the mission to secure justice for clients, Caroline signs off by acknowledging that all staff at the firm work together in order to secure the best result for the client, and Caroline cannot emphasise enough how proud she is of her team. “Driven by the need to secure justice for my clients, I believe that this is behind the success of Cavendish Employment Law. To 1709CE08 lose your job or be discriminated against can be detrimental to your life in ways that it is difficult to imagine. There is the obvious loss of income, but also individuals can suffer from mental health issues, loss of confidence and devastating damage to a career they have spent years to build. It is important therefore that they have support at this time and are given the ability to secure justice that enables them to move on.” “Ultimately, it is essential at Cavendish Employment Law that the lawyers all share the same values and ethos. This is a very carefully selected team and I believe it is crucial to the overall success of Cavendish. We have an excellent team, some of whom I have worked with for many years now and they bring skills and experience that is hard to find elsewhere.” Contact: Caroline Walker Contact Email: [email protected] Address: 101 Finsbury Pavement, Moorgate, London, EC2A 1LS, UK Phone: 0207 167 4800 Web Address: www.cavendishlaw.co.uk