Katie is an employment lawyer with 25 years’ experience representing businesses from a wide range of sectors on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment matters.
Katie has particular experience litigating employment disputes in the Employment Tribunal and High Court, including relating to team moves, restrictive covenants, discrimination and whistleblowing.
She has significant experience advising clients on their most challenging and sensitive employment issues, on all aspects of crisis management, internal investigations and grievance/disciplinary processes, including conducting workplace investigations as an independent investigator.
Katie also advises on the employment aspects of corporate transactions, including outsourcing deals and private equity acquisitions, as well as advising clients on restructuring and business change.
Katie is exceptional. She is pragmatic and solution-driven. She always explains the process without the legal jargon and is very commercially focused. Her approach is personal but very sophisticated.
Employment: Employer client | Chambers UK testimonial 2023
She is a highly commercial lawyer and a great communicator. Katie clearly understands the law in great detail and is able to explain it in plain terms.
Employment: Employer client | Chambers UK testimonial 2023
Katie is quick to identify key issues, as well as being knowledgeable and pragmatic. She thinks outside the box to offer her clients creative and effective solutions.
Employment: Employer client | Chambers UK testimonial 2023
Expertise
- Day-to-day employee relations
- Business restructuring
- Employment disputes and litigation
- Team moves
- Restrictive covenants
- Employment litigation
- Business change
- Internal HR processes and investigations including disciplinary and grievances
- Breach of contract and disguised restraint claims.
- Injunction applications
- Collective redundancy and TUPE processes
- Grievance and disciplinary investigations
- Board and C-suite changes
- Impact of termination on equity and incentive participation
- Investigation into workplace culture
- Investigation into serious allegation of sexual assault
- Unfair dismissal and discrimination claims, including on grounds of religion and belief; race and sex.
- Whistleblowing interim relief applications
- Challenging protected disclosure status at preliminary hearing stage
Experience
Employment Tribunal Litigation
- Acted on behalf of a well-known high-street retailer to defend claims of alleged failure to comply with TUPE consultation requirements.
- Acted on behalf of an asset investment firm to defend allegations of race discrimination and harassment.
- Defended a whistleblowing and unfair dismissal claim against a high-profile family office brought by its General Counsel.
- Conducted the defence of race discrimination and unfair dismissal claims for an investment bank.
- Conducted the advocacy in a whistleblowing interim relief application against a high-profile engineering business.
High Court Litigation and Restraint of Trade
- Acted in one of the most high-profile team moves cases there has been for an inter-dealer broking firm.
- Acted in the successful defence of interim injunction proceedings against an investment bank.
- Managed the commercially advantageous settlement of inducement to breach proceedings made against a video game developer arising from a team move.
- Acted for a number of employees accused of breach of post-termination restrictions and confidentiality obligations.
- Worked with a property investment company to protect its business assets from a team of departing employees through negotiated undertakings.
Advisory
- Guided a care provider through the separation of the majority of its leadership team.
- Worked with a global supplier of packaging materials to exit its UK CEO.
- Advised a private equity firm on exiting the UK CEO of one of its portfolio company and on managing the associated business disruption.
- Worked with a senior fund manager to project-manage his exit from his employer with least impact on equity participation rights.
- Worked with a professional services firm to re-think and modernise its policies and procedures and roll out to its workforce.
- Advised a high-profile engineering company on salary reduction for over 8,000 employees during COVID.
Transactions
- Acted on the private equity acquisition of a number of UK business, including in relation to senior management change and retention.
- Advised the acquirer on the purchase of a well-known UK snack manufacturer and related TUPE transfer.
- Worked in partnership with a facilities management company. throughout the outsourcing of services from a well-known telecoms company.
- Managed the multi-jurisdictional aspects of the acquisition of a global target by a private equity firm.
Investigations
- Conducted an investigation on behalf of a PLC into a serious allegation of sexual misconduct at a work event.
- Carried out an investigation into general workplace culture for a healthcare supplier.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised by Chambers and Partners Global Guide 2024 for Employment
Ranked for 12+ years by Chambers and Partners for Employment: employers
“Katie Clark is noted for her expertise in advising employers from a broad range of industries on all aspects of employment work. Her areas of expertise include transactional support work, TUPE and discrimination claims.”
Chambers UK 2023
Recognised as a leading employment lawyer for advising employers by The Legal 500 2023:
“An expert on contentious employment matters including team moves, restrictive covenants, discrimination and whistleblowing.”
Career
Katie qualified as a solicitor in 1998. Prior to joining Keystone Law, she worked at:
- McDermott, Will and Emery UK
- Warner Cranston
- Baker & McKenzie