A FIRM of Yorkshire solicitors is taking an unfair dismissal case to the House of Lords that could have implications for overseas workers employed by British employers. The case of Stephen Lawson, a security officer who worked on Ascension Island, is being taken by Mills Kemp & Brown, of Barnsley. Jonathan Brain, Mr Lawson’s solicitor, said the case would provide a ruling as whether employees working outside Britain for bosses based in Britain could bring employment claims in the employment tribunal under English law.
AS record profits for lawyers are reported in the recent Legal Business 100 survey of the UK’s largest law firms, a huge gender gap has emerged. The big money is shared among full equity partners at law firms. But very few are female. In 2004-05, 63 per cent of all new solicitors registered with the Law Society were women. But more and more women are leaving the profession after three or four years. Tom Freeman, Legal Business editor, said: “In the top 100 firms, the highest percentage of female equity partners, the ones who earn the serious money, barely hits one third.”