Having been a solicitor at Slater and Gordon UK Limited since 1985, Edward Cooper has accumulated a wealth of experience representing employees, executives, and trade unions in several disputes. 

Now, he’s currently the Head of Practice for the firm’s OMS (Organisations and Member Services) Employment. Here, his team focuses on the needs of employees per employment law standards.

However, it’s also worth noting that his experiences primarily focus on collective action and policy matters. This is why if your case requires a solicitor with extensive OMS experience, we believe he’s a great choice.

Apart from that, he’s also received dozens of recognitions and successfully headed several high-profile cases, which is why we felt no hesitations in adding him to this list.

However, initial consultation on employment advice will quickly set you back £150. In our opinion, this is quite pricey, especially since it’s only for 30 minutes.

According to many of Cooper’s former clients, he’s shown great attention to detail and works intently on each case, garnering positive results for his clients.

He’s also known to work efficiently and provide regular contact, so clients are always in the loop whenever new developments occur.

As for accessibility, it’s great that they’re open daily since this is uncommon with law firms. However, we suggest paying them a visit for any enquiries as we’ve encountered several complaints mentioning that it takes them forever to respond to calls and emails.

As an accredited employment law specialist by the Law Society of Scotland for the last 20 years, Alan Delaney acts on behalf of several leading Scottish employers for contentious and non-contentious cases.

He has a wealth of experience advising and acting for his clients in employment tribunals, high-value mediations, and dispute resolutions, among others.

His specialities include providing employment law advice to employers and employees. Based on our assessment, he regularly advises clients on their cases’ intricacies.

Aside from actively practising, Delaney also works as a lecturer at Edinburgh University to postgraduate law students. In our opinion, it’s definitely a plus that he continuously brushes up on textbook learnings.

If Delaney’s qualifications aren’t enough to win you over, many of his clients praised his sound advice and prompt responses. In our opinion, he’s quite approachable and friendly, which is why many don’t hesitate to contact him for any queries.

Nonetheless, we did receive a few complaints about poor communication from their office’s end. In particular, many claimed to have been promised a callback but have yet to receive them.

Another area we thought needed improvement would be their reminders since Delaney’s office sometimes forgets to send clients follow-ups on bill payments. 

If you’re looking for a lawyer that’s highly experienced in handling employment law cases for employers and senior-level employees, you may want to check out Bruce Caldow.

As the head of Harper Macleod LLP’s employment law team, Caldow is a Law Society of Scotland-accredited specialist that advises on contentious and non-contentious cases.

It’s worth noting that many in the industry have praised Caldow’s knowledge of employment legislation. So, it’s no surprise that his area of focus revolves around involves policy creation, risk management, and technically astute advice, to name a few.  

Based on our assessments, Caldow is also skilled in advising negotiations regarding payments  and terms of the agreement. 

We were impressed to find that Caldow’s services extend to the UK as well. We think this is great for clients whose employers are based outside of Scotland.

In our opinion, this also vouches for how well he’s sought after by his clients. Actually, several of his clients we’ve interviewed mentioned his personable character and go-getter attitude.

To be specific, clients appreciated his solution-oriented attitude, which made the case easier to deal with.  

Though, we do have to warn you that they take quite a while to get back to their clients. So, we recommend popping by their office instead to avoid experiencing a similar fate. 

We also found it quite disappointing that he mainly serves employers and high-ranking employees, which makes his services a tad inaccessible for standard employees.

Laura Macdonald has been a solicitor at Jackson Boyd since 2009, working exclusively in discrimination and employment law. Macdonald has since been promoted to a partner and lead of the employment law team, overseeing all the team’s cases. 

However, compared to the other lawyers on this list, Macdonald has the least amount of experience. 

Though, with a good-looking background in discrimination law, we think she’ll be a star in advising and representing clients in employment cases involving discrimination and inequality. 

Speaking of her practice, Macdonald specialises in contentious employment law cases throughout Scotland. These include whistleblowing, breach of contract, employment status, and unfair dismissal.

According to her clients, she provides excellent advice without any technical jargon. Furthermore, she regularly kept in touch with clients to give updates and answer queries, especially with billing. 

We think this shows how much value she puts into each case and ensures that her clients are constantly in the loop. Clients have also mentioned how this helps them feel less stressed.

It’s also great that her office is open 24 hours daily, so clients can easily drop by any day of the week to see her. If that isn’t possible, she also chats with clients over email or video. 

Though, we do have to forewarn you that the office’s receptionists can have a bit of an attitude when answering phone queries. So, we suggest paying them a visit instead. 

With over 20 years of experience handling employment law cases, Sian Clarke has proven that she provides excellent and successful representation and advisory services for her clients.

She’s also successfully led several high-profile cases involving tribunal claims on sex discrimination and harassment, unfair dismissal of an employee with a disability, and trade unions on age discrimination, to name a few.

On top of that, she was recognised by the Legal 500 as a ‘Key Lawyer’. She was also a member of the legal team that won Excellence in Equality (2017) and Employment Team of the Year (2019) in the Welsh Legal Awards. 

We were impressed to find a few more extra qualifications under her belt. Clark is a High Court Advocate, Duty Solicitor (Crown Court), and a member of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) and Law Society.

If her expertise isn’t enough to win you over, Clarke is one of the most approachable lawyers we’ve met. Because of her driven personality, she’s known to exhaust all means necessary to get the best possible outcome for her clients. 

Aside from that, she’s also known to respond promptly without troubling her clients with legal jargon. We appreciate her extensive effort to ensure her clients are aware of and understand all the progress made.

However, we did hear that the staff at her office often forget to respond to clients. So, we encourage you to visit her instead, especially since they’re open 24/7.

We were just taken aback by how pricey their initial consultation fees are. To clarify your situation, you’ll have to shell out a whopping £150 for 30 minutes of advice.