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Luke Menzies

Director, Barrister and Solicitor

Our firm is led by our Director, Luke Menzies, a dual-qualified Barrister and Solicitor and a leading employment lawyer in the South West.  He is also an Executive Coach and brings a considerable understanding of the psychology of workplace disputes into his work.

Luke has a great deal of experience working with CEOs, HR Directors, Finance Directors and their colleagues. He delivers pragmatic, commercial solutions to their employment law and people-related challenges.  He does this in a very collaborative style, with a lot of respect for his clients and a good listening ear, using his coaching skills to ensure that his clients feel fully listened to.

Luke uses his extensive experience as a Barrister handling Employment Tribunal and court claims to offer bold and creative advice with a high degree of authority and confidence.  He spends much of his time with clients handling the exits of senior executives and high-level strategic issues such as restructuring, pay & reward, trade unions and industrial action.

Style & skills

Luke is not your average lawyer.  As a business owner and entrepreneur as well as a lawyer, he fully realises what it takes to build and run a successful business.  And as an Executive Coach, which he weaves into his legal practice, Luke intuitively tunes into his clients’ aims, strategy and concerns around risk.

Luke can quickly spot when a difficult decision needs to be made and he is not shy in ‘telling it as it is’ or inviting clients to be properly clear with themselves about what they really want.  As well as setting out the various risks and options involved, Luke is quite ready – when appropriate – to share with you exactly what he feels you should do, and why.

Sitting on the fence is not something you will find Luke doing.  His many years as a Barrister and experience in the City of London give him the confidence to understand the implications in the courtroom and in terms of business strategy, and therefore to quickly suggest the best options for you and why he feels it is so.

In addition to handling Employment Tribunal claims, Luke tends to focus on exiting senior executives, trade unions/industrial action and equalities law.  He has developed a reputation as the region’s leading expert on Equal Pay and the Gender Pay Gap, having developed our unique Gender Pay Gap Audit & Advice service.

Sought-after expertise

Luke has appeared as a studio guest on BBC TV News as an employment law expert and is regularly invited to speak at national and regional conferences such as the CIPD,  Association of Colleges, the E-Rewards Annual Conference and the Sheet Plant Association.  He also writes articles for leading HR publications, such as The HR Director and HR News.  He is regularly asked for comments and quotes as a gender pay gap/equal pay expert by publications, which have included national newspapers, such as The Telegraph, the Evening StandardBloomberg and The Sun.

In 2017 Luke was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) for his work in promoting gender equality both within our firm and through his work with our clients.  He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and very active in the IoD’s South West region.

Luke is invited to speak to business people at a range of events each year and provides occasional lectures on employment law at UWE’s Bristol Law School and the University of Bristol Law School.  He is also a Business Fellow within Bristol Business School at UWE Bristol.

As an executive coach, Luke works with business leaders, executives and professionals to develop their true potential, provide powerful leadership and significantly increase their personal/emotional insight and awareness.

Background

Starting his career as a barrister, Luke then worked for a leading South West regional firm, a leading City of London firm, a leading Welsh firm and the EEF.  He went on to form Menzies Law as a specialist employment law firm in January 2009.  From the start, he has been advising an impressive list of leading employers in the region, including several household names, members of global industrial groups and a considerable number of educational institutions.

Luke has degrees in History and in Commercial Law, both from the University of Bristol, and the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching & Mentoring from UWE.   He is currently completing advanced coach training with CTI, with particular interests in self-awareness, self-management and the psychology of workplace disputes.  He has NED and trustee positions on the boards of a number of charities and associations and has been a governor of a large FE college and a large secondary school.  He has served as a Disciplinary panel member for the Bar Council.

Away from work and meetings, Luke loves spaniels, castles, chopping logs, running and a good single malt.

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