Hello, my name is Melissa Kponou (my surname is pronounced with a silent K), and I am an employment solicitor.
I have twenty years practice in employment law and HR advice.
Employees – why choose me?
Often, when it comes to workplace disputes, the majority of employment solicitors act mostly for employers; with their deeper pockets, so lack the necessary skillset required to act for employees; it’s far easier to defend a claim than to carve one out.
I act mostly for employees, and often those employees rejected by their trade union and insurer. In one instance I acted for a driver whose case was rejected by his trade union, and many high street firms refused to take his case on. I identified a strong case, albeit a complex one. His former employer is a multi-national, multi-million-pound company, which had instructed a leading law firm. The outcome of that case was that this client won on all heads of claim and had secured a six-figure tribunal award.
When choosing your employment solicitor, you want someone with a wealth of knowledge and experience to leverage the best outcome for you, be it in non-contentious matters, such as for settlement negotiations, disciplinaries and grievances, or tribunal claims, a solicitor such as myself.
No solicitor should guarantee you success, but for my part I can guarantee that I will try my best to achieve the outcome that you want.
Employers – why choose me?
Admittedly most of my clients are employees but of those employers I have worked with, early intervention and a pragmatic approach has ensured that most matters do not snowball into something bigger and expensive. Precisely because of my skillset, I often understand things from the employee perspective, both legally and factually and can utilise that to resolve matters quickly in a commercially and reputationally sensitive manner on behalf of the employer.
From my experience, a major outlay for employers is ensuring that contracts of employment are legally compliant. Most employers have contracts in place but are not updated to be legally compliant, and often do not appreciate the potential ramifications of this. I am experienced in drafting and advising upon contracts of employment in a sensible, legally compliant and pragmatic fashion.
My way of working is simply this, to nip things in the bud over days and weeks rather than months and years by offering you sensible solutions at a sensible price.
What else?
Besides being an employment solicitor, I’m a trained mediator, GDPR practitioner and qualified in financial crime prevention and investment compliance.