header-logo header-logo

17 June 2020
Issue: 7891 / Categories: Movers & Shakers , Profession
printer mail-detail

Steele Raymond—Deborah West

Firm appoints new head of employment team
South coast solicitors Steele Raymond has announced that Deborah West, a specialist employment lawyer, has joined to head up its employment team.

With more than twenty years’ experience, Deborah has significant employment law knowledge acting for employers ranging in size from international corporates and FTSE 100 companies through to SMEs, across a variety of both private and public industry sectors.

Deborah is often called upon to give significant HR as well as employment law input at both strategic and practical levels, working alongside Boards, senior management, HR teams and owner-managers to achieve commercial, cultural and legal objectives across the full life cycle of the employment relationship.

Speaking on her appointment, Deborah said: ‘Steele Raymond has an excellent reputation in employment law, so the move was an obvious choice for me. I’m excited to have joined such an experienced team. The growth of the firm in recent years has been exceptional and I’m looking forward to playing a part in the vision and expansion going forward.

‘Employers are experiencing challenges to their businesses like never before. Business owners will need to be taking pragmatic steps to evolve the way they operate in the future and the impact this will have on their employees.

‘Many businesses will not return to the way they were before the pandemic and must therefore prepare themselves to support their employees’ needs and establish flexible business structures for a new way of working in the future.

‘Employees are increasingly aware of their rights (which are constantly evolving and often at real speed), so it is now more important than ever to manage these carefully and efficiently.’

Peter Rolph, managing partner at Steele Raymond, said: ‘Deborah is a valuable addition to head up our employment law team and we are delighted to have her on board. Her track-record of handling complex employment law issues and disputes in a commercially astute manner will provide much-needed reassurance to our clients in these turbulent times. Her appointment very much supports our delivery of first-class legal services of the highest calibre to our clients.’

Issue: 7891 / Categories: Movers & Shakers , Profession
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
back-to-top-scroll