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Colin Leckey

Colin LeckeyPartner

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I am a partner specialising in employment law. I draw my clients from all industry sectors, but have a particular focus on financial services, professional services and technology. I also act on occasion for senior executives and partners.

I became a partner in Lewis Silkin’s employment team in April 2012, before that spending nearly eleven years at Baker & McKenzie. I act for many large, multinational employers on the full range of employment litigation and advisory matters. I have a particular expertise in the platform or “gig” economy, working on high profile employment status disputes. I advise regularly on trade union and collective rights matters and also have a keen interest in cross-border work, co-organising our annual Managing an International Workforce conference. I speak regularly at internal and external conferences, and contribute to a wide range of publications on employment law issues. I lead our work on equal pay, gender pay gap and other types of pay reporting, working from home overseas, and modern slavery.

I was voted the Lexology Client Choice UK Employment Lawyer of the Year 2020 by in house counsel. Who’s Who Legal has listed me as a leading employment lawyer every year since 2016.

Employment

My practice is diverse: while I advise regularly on the employment lawyer “bread and butter” of redundancies, disciplinaries, grievances and so on, I also specialise in:

  • high value litigation (High Court and Tribunal)
  • industrial relations and collective rights issues, particularly in the “gig economy”
  • TUPE and transactions
  • equal pay
  • cross-border and international employment advice

I also advise on key emerging issues for employers, including aspects of the ESG agenda such as pay gap reporting and the Modern Slavery Act. I helped Deliveroo defend the independent contractor status of its riders in a matter that has proceeded from the Central Arbitration Committee to the Court of Appeal. Other recent career highlights include advising on a multi-party High Court equal pay claim, assisting a leading technology company defend a substantial whistleblowing and discrimination claim, and helping an investment bank to recover a substantial sum of money from a departing executive.

Financial Services

I advise a number of banks, asset managers, hedge funds and private equity firms on employment and partnership / LLP law issues.

I have wide experience of supporting clients in handling sensitive disputes involving senior staff, including where FCA and other regulatory issues at stake. I have expertise in the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.

Technology

I act for a wide range of clients in the technology sector on employment law issues. I have particular expertise in advising platform or “gig” economy clients on employment status disputes, but I work with everyone from Silicon Valley giants to small start-ups. My experience ranges from cross-border restructurings and global contract and policy reviews for the giants, to actions restraining misuse of confidential information and breach of covenants for much smaller players. I also act on technology acquisitions.

Professional Services

I advise a number of partnerships and LLPs, particularly in the financial services and professional services sectors, on employment and partnership / LLP law issues which are relevant to them. My practice includes advising law firm clients on their own internal personnel issues.

I have wide experience of supporting clients in handling sensitive disputes involving senior staff, including partners and their equivalents. I also on occasion advise senior individuals and partners on their own legal position.

Awards and Recognition

  • Chambers 2024 (Employment: Employer – London) - "Colin is great. He is my go-to person for UK employment issues."
  • Legal 500 2024 (Employment: Employers) - ‘Colin Leckey is an outstanding technical lawyer and a magnificent coordinator of the team, with an excellent appreciation of client sensibilities and client-handling skills.’
  • Legal 500 2023 (Employment: Employers) ‘Colin Leckey – Fantastically knowledgeable and insightful. Colin is always fast to respond with practical advice. He is a trusted adviser, able to recognise when I need quick, off the cuff advice, rather than in depth analysis’.
  • Chambers 2023 (Employment: Employer – London (Firms) "Colin has a strong understanding of our business and its needs. I would not hesitate to go to him for any advice that the company needs." "He is a brilliant technical lawyer, who is very hard-working and committed to his clients."
  • Who's Who Legal 2022 - 'Peers commend Colin Leckey as "a leader in the field" thanks to his first-rate practice'
  • Legal 500 2022 - ‘Always on top of his cases in cutting edge law’, especially in relation to employment status issues in the gig economy
  • Chambers 2022 (Employment) - 'He is super responsive, he is a trusted adviser and he is very good at strategising on cases'
  • Chambers 2022 (Employment) - 'I could not do my job without him on speed dial as he is knowledgeable, responsive, supportive and looks at the broader business purposes of a matter'
  • Chambers 2021 (Employment: Employer) - "A standout choice for employment law; he's great"
  • Chambers 2021 (Employment: Employer) - "He really understands our objectives as a client and helps us to achieve our goals with legal advice tailored to our strengths and what we need"
  • Legal 500 2021 (Employers) - ‘Colin Leckey is extremely responsive, practical and instinctively understands the key underlying commercial issues behind a question. I value his common sense and collaborative stance, as well as his expertise’
  • Who's Who Legal Global Leader - Labour & Employment (England) 2021
  • Lexology Client Choice UK Employment Lawyer of the Year 2020
  • Chambers 2020 - an incredibly hard-working and incredibly bright lawyer who invests a lot of understanding in the client's business
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