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Helen Mortlock

Legal Director

Helen is a Legal Director in our Education Employment Group.

She leads an all-service team that acts for the majority of universities in Wales and SW England, together with a number of institutions in London and SE England. Helen has spent the last 25 years advising and assisting clients in the higher and further education sectors.

Helen is a regular speaker at external events organized by Universities in Wales and SW England, together with a number of institutions in London and SE England.

Helen's recent experience includes:

  • advising a university on its reward strategy in order to tackle a top-heavy academic cohort, to improve succession planning, to incentivize middle-ranking academics to take on more stretching activities, and to avoid equal pay claims
  • advising several universities on performance-related cases designed to address under-performance, and thereby improve the performance culture and maximize NSS scores and REF results
  • advising research-intensive universities on the strategic approach to adopt ahead of the REF
  • advising a Russell Group university on a wholesale restructuring of its Medical School, including the employment and constitutional aspects of the process, including advice on the appeal hearing under the unreformed model statute for academic staff; subsequently, she led on the successful defense of a legal challenge to the process at the Employment Tribunal in a three-week hearing
  • advising a number of chartered universities on the reform of their model statute dealing with,the discipline, dismissal and grievances of academic staff, to produce a set of modern, fit-for-purpose policies and procedures which were agreed with UCU
  • advising several universities on complex and high-value disputes with disabled employees, including assessments on the universities' position; strategic advice on how to deal with them; and resolving the disputes without having to resort to litigation
  • advising several universities on 'efficiency' type settlement agreements which enable an end-of-career academic to step down in a dignified and managed way, promoting good succession planning, while avoiding unexpected and costly contributions to the USS
  • advising a university on complex, high value, whistleblowing litigation by high profile research staff, which included dealing with regulatory bodies and research councils
  • advising several institutions on specialist issues associated with the employment of clinical academic staff, including the challenges posed by the 'Follett' contracts under which they are engaged, and the terms of the commercial relationship between the university and their NHS partners
  • advising a Welsh university on the restructuring of its entire academic leadership and management structure, up to and including the VC's executive team, advising on associated governance and privacy law issues and successfully resolving the only Tribunal claim with no monetary settlement
  • advising several universities on academic freedom and freedom of speech, and the often delicate intersection between these areas and the unlawful harassment of minority interests and groups
  • Legal 500 - "highly recommended by clients for her work with higher education institutions"
  • The Legal 500 United Kingdom Leading Individual
  • Member, Employment Lawyers Association
  • Qualified in 1993
Helen Mortlock

Legal Director

Helen Mortlock

Legal Director

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