Ian Abel

Ian has a unique skillset that allows him to provide commercial and pragmatic advice to his clients, primarily focusing on the impact this has on the day-to-day operations of a business.

This stems from his experience in private practice but also a stint in house for a software development company that was ultimately acquired by NEC Japan, the global conglomerate. He became the de-facto employment lawyer for the group, which consisted of over 4,000 employees. He also dealt with many other legal issues such as commercial contracts and high-level tender exercises for the company. As such, Ian has particular expertise in the technology, telecommunications and software development sectors.

His specialisms include corporate support for acquisitions and sales, large scale restructuring exercises, employment tribunal representation and the employment law-related elements of TUPE associated with acquisitions and mergers. Ian often conducts his own advocacy on behalf of his clients at the employment tribunal.

Ian will often provide training on various Employment Law related topics such as post restrictive covenants, TUPE and more recently the extensive and wide ranging impact on the New Employment Rights Bill. Ian has teach taught on an ad hoc basis at the University of Huddersfield and the Leeds City College.

Ian also has extensive experience of dealing with whistleblowing claims and works with a number of whistleblowing organisations that have been formed to assist whistleblowers and help progress legislation through Parliament to protect whistleblowers.

Examples of Ian’s recent work include:

• Overseeing the employment aspects of a large acquisition in the software sector that required approval from the Competition and Markets Authority.
• Conducting all the employment due diligence for a large acquisition in the building cladding sector, where the value of the deal was in excess of £50m.
• Assisting a client with the acquisition of competitor in the telecommunications sector and being an active member of the in-house integration team that integrated the businesses after acquisition.
• Defending an Employment Tribunal claim against one of his respondent clients, where the damages claimed were potentially over £1m and that included defending an interim relief application.
• Securing a settlement of over $2m for a whistleblower that worked in America for a UK registered company.
• Successfully defending a claim against a respondent client by 5 litigants in person that could have exposed the business to damages in excess of £750,000.