Claire Gilbert

Claire Gilbert is a Legal Director in our London office, and is a barrister who has specialised in employment law for many years, and works with the full range of Weightmans clients from tech and transport to pharma and health, including emergency services and local government.

Claire is a Legal Director in our employment law team, advising employers and employees on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law. She is qualified as a barrister, and has specialised in employment law since the early days of her career, spending the majority of her career in City law firms including nine years at a Magic Circle firm advising on UK and international matters, and several years leading on employment law at two global brands.

Claire enjoys advising clients on the full range of employment law matters, including drafting and negotiating employment contracts, disciplinary and grievance procedures, dismissal and redundancy, whistleblowing claims, discrimination claims, and managing sensitive and high-value disputes.

She has extensive experience in conducting litigation in the Employment Tribunal, in particular in the area of discrimination, having been involved in high profile litigation around the Equality Act 2010 and rights in the workplace relating to sex and gender.

Claire also has significant experience in non-contentious matters, including advising on senior hires and exits, enforcement of restrictive covenants and confidentiality obligations, supporting clients with disciplinary and grievance procedures, advising on dismissals and redundancy consultations, and advising in relation to transactions.

Claire also works closely with our Tax and Private Client team, providing employment advice to high net worth clients in relation to employment issues, including but not limited to negotiating severance packages.

Claire enjoys running training events, round tables and workshops for legal teams, heads of HR, HR professionals and senior managers, for example on management of reasonable adjustments, tips and insights on management of employment disputes and claims, disciplinary and grievance issues and all equality issues.

Experience and notable cases:

• Hutchison & Others v County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

• Parker v Chief Constable of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police

• Supporting a global fund manager through a senior team move to a competitor

• Advising a global brand on contentious multi-union pay negotiations and industrial action

• Advising a large hospitality brand on difficulties with its gender pay gap report

• Advising a hotel group on its whistleblowing and compliance procedures

• Advising individual senior staff members from financial services to the public sector on exits, grievances, and conduct issues

• Advising a tech-focused recruiter on its restrictive covenants.

• Conducting investigations for local authorities on standards and conduct concerns

• Supporting a global brand with a multi-jurisdiction anti-corruption investigation

• Advising a third sector organisation with complex international employment claims