Collingwood Legal Look Ahead To 2018

With a number of Employment Law changes set to take place in 2018, choosing the right legal partner has never been more important. We chat to Paul McGowan, Founder of Collingwood Legal, about what employers can expect and the boutique approach which has delivered continued success.

How has the New Year started for you?

At quite a pace! It’s been a very busy time. In particular we have seen a spike in work in dealing with Employment Tribunal claims. We have also launched our employment law masterclass events this year. These are proving hugely popular too.

What services do you provide?

We are a specialist employment law firm. What we do is focus on this single area of law and then look to do it really well. The services we offer include training, preparing bespoke contractual and policy documents and advising on HR issues. However, we are fortunate that we are trusted by our clients to deal with some of the more thornier issues in an employment context. For example, we deal with sensitive and complex whistle-blowing claims and we frequently deal with contentious issues about business protection and restraint of trade.

What would be the key change affecting the law for employers in 2018?

The scrapping of Employment Tribunal fees. The Supreme Court recently decided that the government’s introduction of fees for Claimants to pursue claims was unlawful. They decided the fees unfairly limited access to justice and removed the fees overnight. This now means that employers are now at greater risk of employees bringing claims against them. Indeed, the number of claims have broadly doubled. As a result employers need, more than ever, to act within the law when handling difficult situations in the workplace.

A second area of change is the introduction of GDPR in May 2018. This introduces important changes to the law surrounding the handling of data by employers including employee data.

What did it mean to retain Legal 500 Top Tier status?

It’s fantastic. The fact that the Legal 500 guide bases its rankings on independent research and on feedback from clients makes it feel all the more special. We had a fantastic year in 2017. Retaining our Legal 500 Top Tier status was the icing on the cake. In early 2017 we were enormously proud to win Law Firm of the Year at the Northern Law Awards. I see both accolades as recognition for the skills and hard work of the whole team at Collingwood Legal.

What are the benefits to customers using a boutique firm?

In short, top level expertise but with a personal approach. Our lawyers are all experts in employment law. The key thing is that we work closely with our clients in managing difficult and stressful issues where they need a trusted advisor working for them and in their corner. All our lawyers are advocates too and regularly defend claims in the Tribunal. It’s a simple approach but it works.

The countdown to GDPR is on, how can North East businesses prepare?

The first key step to take is one of awareness and understanding of the regulations and the data you hold and process. We are working up a planned bespoke approach for clients to do this at the moment. To help we have been hosting a series of GDPR masterclass events for employers. These events have proved really popular and due to demand we have been repeating them with our next GDPR event taking place on 22 March.

What does 2018 hold for Collingwood Legal?

We foresee an extremely busy year. Our focus remains on providing the best possible service for our clients. Fundamentally, the work we do is about people and relationships, and being passionately committed to get the best outcome for our clients.