In-house Employment Lawyers Network

Welcome

The In-house Employment Lawyers Network (IHELN) was created in response to in-house employment lawyers' desire to have a network of colleagues in similar positions. Its main objectives are to:

• Provide practical and business-focused training on relevant areas of the law
• Enable members to share experience and best practice
• Put members in touch with fellow lawyers dealing with similar issues

For details of how to join the network, click on the Membership tab above. For information on the training sessions in 2012, click on the Training for 2012 tab.

Management of the network

The current chair of IHELN is Susan Henderson of GE Capital.

The following are members of the steering committee:

• Rakhi Jefferies, Disney
• Gnosoulla Tsioupra-Lewis, United Business Media
• Laura Ranaghan, Ocado
• Liza Battat, Legal counsel
• Julia Harrison, British Airways
• Rebecca Priestley, Lloyds Bank
• Stephen Moore, Specsavers
• Lillian Caller, Brent Council
• Kirsten Fox, KPMG

IHELN receives support from PLC Employment, which acts as its secretariat.

How to join IHELN

IHELN consists of in-house lawyers specialising in employment law in the UK. The network provides regular training for its members and provides them with the opportunity to network with lawyers in similar roles. Membership is free and on an individual, rather than a corporate, basis. If you are an in-house lawyer who specialises in employment law and would like to join IHELN please contact IHELN@practicallaw.com and complete http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/298788/in-house-employment-lawyers-group .

Members of IHELN should not pass on fellow members' contact details without their consent. In particular, please do not forward group emails outside the network without checking with the original sender that the information in the email can be passed outside the network and removing other members' email addresses.

Training for 2012

IHELN organises a number of training sessions over the year, which are only attended by other in-house employment lawyers. We sometimes arrange ad hoc conference calls between the main sessions if there are particular issues that members want to discuss. The training agenda for 2012 looks as follows:

• Thursday 12 January (1.30pm – 5.30pm) at Hogan Lovells offices near Chancery Lane. Sessions on employment law reforms, cases on holiday pay and sickness absence, discrimination law and tactical tips for running discrimination cases, taxation of tribunal damages and settlements, issues to consider in disciplinary matters, issues of evidence and disclosure and changing terms and conditions.
• Wednesday 28 March (4.30 p.m. – 6.30 p.m.) at Lewis Silken’s offices. Sessions on social media and what’s happening in employment law in 2012.
• June: Sessions on agency workers and immigration issues for employment lawyers.
• September: Sessions on industrial relations and TUPE and collective redundancies.
• November: Sessions on practical litigation tips and top ten issues in employment status.

If you would like copies of the materials from a session, please contact IHELN@practicallaw.com

Training sessions for 2011

IHELN organises a number of training sessions over the year, which are only attended by other in-house employment lawyers. The programme for 2011 was as follows:

• 29 March 2011 (4.30 - 6.30pm) at Beachcroft. A session on the Equality Act 2010 by David Craig of Essex Court Chambers followed by a session on the default retirement age and age discrimination by Rachel Dineley and Khurram Shamsee of Beachcroft.
• 18 May 2011 (6.30pm onwards) at PLC. A social event with junior barristers.
• 16 June 2011 (8.30 - 10.30am) at Taylor Wessing. A session on TUPE (particularly outsourcing and transfers in from public sector organisations) followed by a session on collective consultation.
• 22 September 2011 (4.30 - 6.30pm) at GE: A session on privilege followed by a session on how in-house employment lawyers organise their work.
• 16 November 2011 (4.30 - 6.30pm) at CMS Cameron McKenna. A session on managing sickness cases followed by a discussion on government proposals for reforming employment law as part of its Red Tape Challenge.