Meet the Employment team

Wake Smith Solicitors 05 June 2017

Our employment solicitors in Sheffield provide practical and effective advice on employment law and HR best practice.

The team, led by Mark Serby, acts for individuals and SMEs as well as senior employees leaving their current employment.

It is ranked second in the region in the Legal 500 for employment law expertise confirming a well-deserved place against international law firms.

Clients recommend the ‘exceptional’ Holly Dobson, whose skills include representing employers in discrimination claims in employment tribunal litigation and data protection advice.

The team regularly shares its expertise at seminars for clients and other interested parties and runs a quarterly HR Club where they enjoy meeting clients and contacts to discuss current issues. Click here to sign up for these meetings.

What employment legal services do we offer for businesses?

  • Contracts of Employment and Staff Handbooks
  • Director’s Service Agreements
  • Business Transfers and TUPE – Expert Employment Advice for acquisitions, disposals, mergers and joint ventures.
  • Defending Employment Tribunal Claims
  • Unfair Dismissal
  • Discrimination
  • Handling Redundancies and Re-Structuring
  • Restrictive Covenants and Confidentiality
  • Settlement Agreements
  • Maternity and other “family-friendly” rights
  • Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
  • General HR Advice and Support
  • Data collection and storage advice including GDPR advice

What employment legal services do we offer for individuals?

Our clients range from senior executives to more junior employees; from those employed in government departments and national organisations to small local businesses.

We deal with all types of ending the employment relationship and also with ensuring that employment relationships continue despite a problem which has arisen.

For personal clients we offer a free case assessment either face to face, or by telephone, to assist with understanding the issues, possible solutions, information on costs and ways to fund.

As we act for employers as well as employees, we have both legal and know-how expertise on all manner of problems such as harassment; discrimination; disciplinary hearings; grievance procedures; redundancy and pay disputes including holiday pay and overtime. We also represent employees at professional standards and other disciplinary hearings.

Meet the team:

Mark Serby – Director - Employment and Dispute Resolution

Mark has 26 years ‘experience in the above area and two specialist areas of practice – employment law and intellectual property.

Mark advises employers and employees in all areas of employment law from drafting contracts to discrimination and disability claims through to dismissals. He has particular experience in drafting and enforcing confidentiality clauses and enforcing post-termination restrictions in the Courts.

He appears regularly in the Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court in London helping clients to protect their intellectual property rights and has experience in all aspects of copyright, trademarks, passing off, design rights and patents.

Holly Dobson – Director - Employment and Dispute Resolution

Holly has a wide variety of dispute resolution experience gained over 30 years.

Over the last decade she has focused on employment issues; employment related litigation and regulatory advice including professional disciplinary matters. She started her career in insurance litigation later specialising in high value defendant personal injury cases, and is still involved in advising and appearing at inquests.

Holly, a member of the Employment Lawyers Association, is an experienced advocate in a variety of courts and tribunals and has also regularly represented clients at mediations and joint settlement meetings. Her contentious and non-contentious employment law advice includes both tribunal and professional disciplinary panels with particular experience of defendant work, both for insurers and private clients.

Holly has particular expertise in data protection, collection and storage especially relevant with the General Data Protection Regulation due to come into force in early 2018.

Holly is external counsel to a number of companies in the healthcare sector providing wide ranging advice on HR issues, regulatory compliance and fraud prevention.

Her experience also includes general litigation experience in a variety of professional negligence, partnership and contract disputes, advocacy experience in a variety of courts and tribunals and inquest representation and the issues arising. She is mediator trained and experienced in mediation representation and has been a Deputy District Judge since 1998 and a Solicitor Member of Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal since 2015.

Holly is a regular presenter on employment law topics and was a visiting lecturer on litigation and employment practice at post graduate level from 2011 -2015.

Jane Turner is the secretary for the employment team.

The team can be contacted on 0114 266 6660.

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