Jo Keddie

Partner and head of Employment, Jo specialises in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment and partnership law. She has a wealth of experience in providing strategic, pragmatic and commercial advice to a wide range of UK businesses, partnerships and individuals. In Chambers UK 2018, she has been individually ranked in Band One in the ‘Partnerships – Contentious’ category and is described by sources as both a “no-nonsense, really forceful and effective” litigator and as a “well-trusted business adviser.”

She has also been described as someone who “goes the extra mile” and “stands her ground to do all she can for the client,” according to impressed sources. Clients consider her to be “very pragmatic and to the point. “With the amount of confidence she commands, she’s a force to be reckoned with.” She is recognised as an “extremely tactically good” lawyer with great client-handling skill, as well as being “assertive and robust” while remaining sensitive to her clients’ concerns and is acknowledged as a committed and responsive advocate, one who “sees both sides of a dispute.”

Jo focuses on providing solutions driven and incisive advice to her clients within clear timescales. She maintains a focussed and realistic approach to her clients’ objectives and has a strong reputation for achieving the best outcome for clients through perseverance and skill in a broad range of complex and contentious workplace issues

She has substantial experience of representing clients in the High Court and Employment Tribunals where she works closely with clients to devise litigation strategies to meet their aims and objectives.

Jo acts for a number of corporate employers and professional partnerships covering all of their employment and partnership needs. She regularly advises on boardroom disputes; restructuring and redundancies; performance, discrimination and departure issues; and employment policies and procedures.

She also has considerable experience in acting for executives and partners in financial institutions, professional partnerships, private equity funds and insurance firms with a particular focus on handling high value discrimination claims; senior executive and partner severances; directors service agreements; team departures; whistleblowing; bonus claims; restrictive covenants; wrongful and unfair dismissal; and changing terms and conditions of employment.

Recent Experience

• Acting for a number of FTSE 100 directors in the last year in respect of their departure terms (often seven figures)
• Acting for a number of City law firms in successfully defending claims for unfair dismissal, race and religious discrimination, sex discrimination and age discrimination
• Acting on behalf of the successful Claimant in a highly publicised £multi-million claim sex discrimination, victimisation and equal pay claim against a global bank

Professional Memberships

• Law Society of England and Wales
• Employment Lawyers’ Association
• Association of Partnership Practitioners
• London Solicitors Litigation Association