Sophie is an experienced solicitor. She qualified in 2004 and has practised as an employment lawyer since then, primarily acting for individuals. She spent 10 years at a leading trade union firm, representing trade unions and their members. She joined us in 2019.
Sophie studied Politics and Philosophy at Bristol University, graduating with a 2:1. She then undertook her PGDP and LPC at the College of Law in London, before training at a City firm.
Sophie cares deeply about the importance of individuals having access to legal advice and support. She is currently a trustee of Citizens Advice Lewisham. She has also worked as an adviser for Maternity Action and volunteered for ATLEU, a specialist law centre providing representation to victims of trafficking and labour exploitation.
She is experienced in advising in all areas of employment law and has successfully represented claimants in the Tribunal in a wide variety of claims, including discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair dismissal. She also represents individuals who are facing disciplinary proceedings brought by their professional regulatory bodies, including the NMC and HCPC.
Becki joined Pattinson & Brewer in August 2018 as an Admin and Paralegal Assistant within the Employment Department in the York office. She assists the Solicitors with their day to day admin and legal work.
Becki previously worked in Account Management however decided to leave this and join the legal sector having always been interested in Law and hopes to progress to a Paralegal.
When Becki isn’t working she looks after her daughter and enjoys catching up with friends.
Kim is a solicitor in the employment team at Pattinson & Brewer. She is also a director and trustee of the Discrimination Law Association, a registered charity committed to improving equality law, practice, education and advice for those who face discrimination.
Kim gained her degree in law from Balliol College, Oxford and studied the LPC at The University of Law where she was graded “Outstanding”. After successfully completing her training contract in 2016 with a band 1 ranked employment firm, she accepted an offer to join P&B and has quickly established herself as a talented and tenacious litigator.
She has a comprehensive knowledge of employment law and procedure and acts for both single claimants and large groups in booth tribunal and civil courts.
Kim is also a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and Industrial Law Society.
Chris is a specialist employment lawyer based in our York office.
He joined Pattinson & Brewer in 2018 from a reputable regional firm where he specialised in employment law and practice, gaining solid experience acting for both employees and employers across the whole range of employment disputes. He originally joined that firm in 2014 as an Employment Paralegal prior to commencing his period of recognised training and qualifying in 2017. Throughout that period he has specialised in employment law.
Chris studied at Northumbria University where he was enrolled on the MLaw Exempting programme which comprised of the LLB (Hons) degree, Legal Practice Course and Masters in Law qualifications and achieved an overall 2:1.
Knowledgeable, passionate and committed to his clients, Chris has proved a valuable and popular addition to Pattinson & Brewer’s expanding team of specialist claimant litigators.
Straight-talking, approachable and prepared to go the extra mile to get the job done, he consistently achieves great results for his clients.
Outside of work, Chris has a young family that keep him on his toes. He describes himself as “a very sociable person who loves a pint whilst watching the football”. He is not alone.
Alex studied Geography at the University of Leicester and graduated with a First Class Honours degree before embarking on a career in HR for a national transport organisation. This sparked her passion for employment law and gave her a unique insight into the role of trade unions and how they support workers on a wide variety of issues.
She therefore set about becoming an employment lawyer, obtaining Distinctions in both her GDL and LPC at the College of Law, York and then training with a top firm in Leeds, qualifying in 2017, before we poached her to join P&B’s employment team in early 2018. Creative, smart and client focussed, Alex regularly obtains great results for her clients and has a comprehensive knowledge of employment law and litigation.
Alex has a particular interest in discrimination (particularly disability and maternity/pregnancy), equal pay and flexible working. She also regularly acts for clients in unfair dismissal, redundancy, whistleblowing, and holiday pay claims.
When not at the office, Alex is kept busy with her young daughter and is happiest with a hot cup of coffee.
Emily Bradshaw is an experienced employment lawyer, having worked for over 12 years advising individual and trade union clients in both the private and public sectors.
Working in employment law since her qualification as a solicitor in 2006, Emily has a track record of successful employment tribunal and civil court litigation. She has considerable knowledge and expertise in unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistle-blowing, national minimum wage, TUPE and redundancy consultation claims.
Emily has a particular interest in discrimination work and represented actor, Helen Hains in her nationally reported succesful claim for sex discrimination and harassment.
Emily is passionate about improving the rights of working people, the importance of trade unions and being the best role model she can be for her two wonderful daughters.
Meesha started working at Pattinson Brewer in 2015 as a Junior Legal Secretary within the Disease department assisting with the day to day secretarial duties. Meesha quickly progressed to a more advanced role working in the Employment department having expressed an interest and passion for Employment Law.
Meesha works for both solicitors within the Employment department, performing specifically delegated substantive legal work and is the first point of contact for all Employment Claimants at the York office.
Meesha is motivated by helping others who are less fortunate and getting justice for those mistreated at work. Meesha truly understands the situations Claimants face when problems arise within the workplace and believes she can make a difference. Meesha is working towards becoming an Employment Solicitor.
When Meesha isn’t working hard all week, she likes to let off a bit of steam by going Clay Pigeon Shooting at her local shooting club. She recently won the woman’s shooting competition gaining her first every trophy (which she is very proud of.)
Adele qualified as a solicitor in September 2014 and has specialised in employment law ever since. She studied at the University of Westminster, graduating with an upper second class LLB (Hons). She spent six months working as a paralegal before joining renowned legal publisher LexisNexis Butterworths and then moving on to Sweet & Maxwell. She completed her LPC on a part-time basis at the (as it was then known) College Of Law where she obtained a distinction. She spent a year travelling and working in Australia before completing her training contract at a national claimant firm.
Adele has experience of advising on a wide range of employment matters including all types of discrimination claims, whistleblowing, settlement agreements, unfair dismissal, holiday pay, and redundancy. Adele has particular experience of advising the Police Federation and Trade Unions and delivers employment law training to officers and workplace representatives.
Adele was the 2017/18 chair of the Junior Lawyers Division of The Law Society of England and Wales (“JLD”), which represents over 70,000 members, making it the largest division of the Law Society. The JLD’s role is to support and represent members by lobbying government, the LSB and the SRA on their behalf, promoting resilience and wellbeing, and campaigning for access to the profession and access to justice.
Adele is also a Social Mobility Ambassador for The Law Society and is regularly quoted in the media on employment law issues. She has had articles published in the Lawyer, the Law Society Gazette and the Solicitors Journal.
Life as an Employment Lawyer
Employment Law in the #MeToo Era
A New Dawn for Politics and the Legal Profession
Waiting Another 50 years for Equality is not the Answer
Considering a Career in Law? Where to Start as a Mature Candidate
Saima has a degree in Law from Queen Mary University of London and completed the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law with distinction. Saima began her training contract with us in May 2018.
Saima has 3 years’ experience in employment law and has dealt with a range of disputes relating to discrimination, unfair and wrongful dismissal, whistleblowing and breach of contract. Prior to joining Pattinson & Brewer she worked in a niche employment law firm assisting both employers and employees.
Kirsty joined Pattinson & Brewer’s Bristol office in 2000 and began training as a Legal Executive in 2005 whilst continuing to work full time at Pattinson & Brewer. She qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives in 2011.
Kirsty pursues a wide variety of claims on behalf of the firm’s clients, having initially specialised in personal injury and clinical negligence claims, and now also dealing with employment related matters.
