Nick Migues (Partner)
Nick is a highly experienced employment lawyer with an exceptionally strong reputation in the City of London and beyond.
Employment disputes can be very stressful for all concerned and Nick combines both empathy and toughness as necessary. He is a tenacious litigator and a tough negotiator with particular expertise in dealing with complex issues involving any combinations of employment rights, share or other ownership-related rights and the rights and obligations of directors, officers and/or partners/LLP members.
Nick acts for executives, partners and employers across a variety of sectors including: professional services, “C-suite”, hedge funds, legal, retail, trading, insurance, technology, private equity, IT, accountancy, regulatory and banking.
Prior to joining Hanidel Jones LLP, Nick was a founding partner of Archon Solicitors Limited, a City-based niche employment law firm. He therefore has experience of running a business and the pressures which go with management. Archon Solicitors merged into the employment department at Hanidel Jones LLP in 2019, combining to create a team which we belief is even greater than the sum of the parts.
He is also a contributor to Sweet & Maxwell’s “Company Directors: Law and Liability” and a contributor and editorial board member of Sweet & Maxwell’s “Practical Commercial Precedents”.
Recent work
- Nick acted for the Chief Investment Officer of a leading investment bank whose employment had been terminated, purportedly on grounds of redundancy. Nick argued forcefully that the real reason for termination was that the CIO had expressed concerns about conflicts of interest and risk management in the context of risky products being inappropriately marketed to existing retail clients ie. whistleblowing. The matter was favourably settled, shortly after legal proceedings were issued.
- Nick acted for a firm of Lloyd’s insurance brokers defending a High Court action brought by a competitor broker. The competitor claimed that two employees of the client had been recruited (and were acting) in breach of contractual post-termination restrictions as former employees of the competitor. The arguments Nick deployed included that the restrictions were unenforceable because they were unreasonably wide and because the competitor had effectively withdrawn from the relevant market. As a result, Nick secured a deal under which the two employees were able to continue their employment with our client company and successfully migrate their portfolio of business.
- Nick acted for the Chief Executive of a start up business in the financial services sector who was sacked before share arrangements which he had been promised had been formally put in place. The factual matrix was complex and straddled several years and numerous communications and complex draft documents. Nick marshalled the arguments relating to implied contractual terms and equitable remedies and secured a resolution including payment of a 7 figure settlement sum and publicity for the separation which preserved the client’s market reputation so as to enable him to move on.
- Nick acted for a senior HR professional in a financial institution whose employment was terminated at a time when he was suffering mental health issues. In addition, there were issues relating to alleged (but unfounded) criminal charges. Proceedings were issued for disability discrimination. The case eventually settled for a significant payment and agreement relating to the reference that the individual would receive, so as to limit the potential damage to his future career in the highly regulated financial services sector where fitness and propriety is of such great importance.
Memberships
- Employment Lawyers Association
- Association of Partnership Practitioners