Suzanne is an employment law solicitor with 10 years of private practice experience, both contentious and non-contentious (approximately five years in the United Kingdom (“UK“) and approximately five years in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE“)).

In the UAE, Suzanne provides the full range of employment advice to employers including: advising on regulations in free zones, compliance with UAE laws including the Federal Civil Service Law, Federal Labour Law, ADGM Employment Regulations and DIFC Employment Law, employment of UAE/GCC nationals, international secondments and assignments, drafting and reviewing employment contracts and HR policies for local law compliance, recruitment, transfers, terminations, redundancies, post-termination restrictions, end of service gratuity and terminable benefits as well as structuring employment contracts and arrangements across multiple jurisdictions. Suzanne also regularly advises on the employment aspects of corporate transactions including business and share purchases or sales and re-organisation of businesses for local and multi-national clients.

Suzanne has contentious employment law experience and works closely with the firm’s litigation department in respect of local labour court disputes.

Prior to joining the firm, Suzanne worked in the employment departments in DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary UK LLP and Irwin Mitchell’s respective Birmingham (UK) offices.

• Preparing a draft HR Manual/Staff Handbook for a semi-governmental organisation in compliance with the Federal Civil Service Law.
• Advising a semi-governmental organisation in relation to the disciplinary and grievance procedures under the Federal Civil Service Law.
• Co-ordinating a regional compliance exercise for a global IT company seeking to localise its employment contracts and employee handbooks. Amending the UAE employment contracts and handbook for compliance with Federal Labour Law.
• Advising a multi-national insurance company on its day to day employment queries, including preparing employment contracts, secondment agreements and tri-partite agreements for the transfer of its employees between onshore and offshore companies, preparing termination documentation (including settlement agreements) and advising on termination benefits and entitlements.
• Regularly advising a global tobacco company on its operations within several free zones and with particular regard to benefits, commissions and bonuses.
• Advising an international hospital on the termination of a key employee and preparing a settlement agreement. Also advising on the amendments to employment contracts with respect to restructuring of the bonus scheme for Dubai based employees.
• Advising an international automotive brand on the transfer of employees between onshore and offshore. Preparing the relevant transfer documentation.
• Advising a global pharmaceutical company following its merger with another pharmaceutical company in relation to redundancy and restructuring its operations in Dubai and across the Middle East. Preparing the relevant termination documentation.
• Advising a DIFC (Dutch based) asset management firm in relation to the transfer of its employees from Bahrain to the DIFC. Preparing employment contracts, and advising on ongoing matters including consultancy arrangements, bonus and incentive schemes in the DIFC, enforcement of restrictive covenants in the DIFC.
• Advising a German luxury automotive company on the application of restrictive covenants (outside of the DIFC).
• Advising several international law firms in respect of redundancies in the ADGM and the DIFC.
• Advising on the employment aspects of corporate transactions including advising on all types of M&A and transactional work (both due diligence work as well as drafting relevant provisions in sale and purchase agreements), employee transfer issues arising from company acquisitions in the UAE and re-organisation of businesses for local and multi-national clients

• English

2009 – Qualified Lawyers Transfers Test (QLTT), Central Law Training Birmingham

2004 – Bar Vocational Course, Nottingham Law School

2003 – Law LLB (Hons), University of Warwick

2009 – Admitted as a Solicitor by the Law Society     of England & Wales

2004 – Called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn