Richard Robinson (Senior Consultant)
Richard is a senior consultant within the Employment team. He has been at Hanidel Jones LLP throughout his career and until October 2019, led the Employment team since its inception more than 25 years ago.
He graduated from Manchester University in 1983, qualified with the firm in 1986, became a partner four years later and in 1997 established Hanidel Jones LLP’s Employment Department.
Richard acts for corporates, organisations and senior individuals in relation to employment matters of all kinds. These include confidentiality and restrictive covenants, executive pay, bonus and severance arrangements, unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing and redundancy programmes. He is frequently asked to advise in situations involving allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace following the rise of the #MeToo movement, and the cases that have followed. This includes conducting (as investigator) and advising on investigations into such conduct.
After having been President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (2000 to 2002) Richard became an active member of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA). He was Chair of ELA’s Legislative and Policy Committee (the committee responsible for responding to Government on all consultations proposing new legislation on employment matters) between 2008 and 2010 and he remains an active member.
Richard was appointed Deputy Chair of ELA in 2010 and served as ELA Chair from 2012 until 2014.
Richard continues to be very much involved in many ELA teams responding to Government and bodies such as the Law Commission and the Solicitors Regulation Authority in relation to proposals for employment law change.
In 2013, Richard was invited to sit on an Independent Advisory Panel at the Cabinet Office. Chaired by Oliver Letwin MP, it was tasked with examining the Government’s approach to consultations. It reported in 2013.
Richard has published numerous articles on employment topics of all kinds, including employment tribunal reform, employee/worker status, and allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace.
Richard is a well known commentator on employment law issues, appearing often in the Press (The Times, The Financial Times, People Management, HR Magazine etc) and on TV/ Radio (BBC, ITV, Sky and Radio 4).
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND MEMBERSHIPS
- Employment Lawyers Association (Former Chair)
- Association of Partnership Practitioners
- The Law Society
- City of London Solicitors Company
- Industrial Law Society
- London Solicitors Litigation Association (Former President)
FURTHER INFORMATION
- Chair of the Employment Lawyers Association
- Former Chair of the Legislative and Policy Sub-Committee of the Employment Lawyers Association and Chair of many working groups on issues such as Employment Tribunal monitoring, the new ACAS Code of Practice on Dispute Resolution Procedures, Age Discrimination and Illegal Working
- Former President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (2000 to 2002)
- Articles published, and has lectured on employment and litigation topics of all kinds including Employment Tribunal Reform and the law on dispute resolution, Anton Pillar/Search Orders, conditional/contingency fees, Race Discrimination, Blogging and Parental Leave.
- In 2016, Richard was included in the Fourth Edition of The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom for Employment Law.