James Watkins
Senior Associate
James Watkins is a senior associate in the Employment, Pensions and Mobility Group specialising in UK employment law.
James advises clients across a variety of different industries and sectors on all aspects of UK employment law including the drafting and negotiating of employment contracts, settlement agreements, consultancy agreements, and Human Resources policies and procedures. James also advises on employment terminations, individual and collective redundancies and the enforceability of restrictive covenants.
James advises on the conduct and resolution of employment litigation and has extensive contentious experience in both the Employment Tribunal and the High Court. James advises and provides specialist employment advice within the context of corporate and commercial transactions including share purchases, business transfers (and relevant TUPE implications) and initial public offerings.
James is seconded for a few days each month to the Human Resources Department of a client which provides leading financial software solutions and services to institutions across the financial services industry. James encounters a very broad range of employment law issues and works very closely with the Human Resources Department to provide tailored, commercial advice to all parts of the business including the potential application of TUPE to outsourcing arrangements involving service provision changes amongst household names across the financial services industry.
James is a member of Taylor Wessing’s USA Group and regularly works with US clients who are looking to set up and establish a presence in the UK. James has been involved throughout 2016 in running a series of ”EMEA General Counsel Webinars” which have advised US companies on a broad range of UK employment law issues.
James is also involved in the Tech Focus Group and regularly provides advice to start-up companies based in London’s Tech City.
James studied French and German at The University of Durham, before studying law at BPP Law School in London.
He joined Taylor Wessing as a trainee in September 2011 and qualified as a solicitor in 2013.
