Serena Foulkes
Consultant
Serena Foulkes is a Consultant in the Employment Department at Stephenson Harwood LLP, based in London.
Consultant
Serena Foulkes is a Consultant in the Employment Department at Stephenson Harwood LLP, based in London.
Language - English
Jurisdiction - England & Wales
Serena Foulkes is a highly regarded employment law adviser at Stephenson Harwood LLP, offering comprehensive legal support to both employers and individuals. Her practice encompasses Employment Tribunal litigation (including unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, and harassment claims), grievance and disciplinary procedures, protection of confidential information, and the drafting and enforcement of restrictive covenants. Serena also advises on employment aspects of business sales and acquisitions, as well as real estate transactions involving UK-based staff.
She is experienced in negotiating settlement agreements and preparing a range of employment documentation. Serena’s client base spans various sectors, including rail, where she provides ongoing HR advisory services and guidance on TUPE transfers. Her reputation for fighting her clients’ corners and delivering practical, effective solutions is highlighted by client testimonials and industry recognition.
Her expertise also extends to advising boards of listed companies on contractual terms for directors and senior management, as well as assisting with board-level exits. Serena regularly collaborates with clients who have international operations and provides guidance on HR issues related to the sale and purchase of UK businesses.
UK investment fund manager
Successful defence of an Employment Tribunal claim for age discrimination. Rather than offering the claimant a settlement to avoid the nuisance of baseless litigation, the client chose to robustly defend the claim through to trial. Providing legal and commercial advice to the client for over a decade on various HR matters, including streamlined settlement agreement processes, redundancy projects, disciplinaries and grievances and investigation into misconduct.UK investment fund manager
Successful defence of an Employment Tribunal claim for whistleblowing and unfair dismissal. The Claimant sought remarkably high compensation (over £40 million) but even though a fair dismissal process had not been followed, we successfully persuaded the Tribunal to reduce compensation to zero due to the Claimant's own conduct.Trenitalia c2c Ltd
Ongoing advice work on various matters including the nationalisation of the franchise and resulting issues from TUPE. Legal and strategic advice has been provided on employee disputes including disciplinaries and grievances and Employment Tribunal litigation.Reuters Ltd
Successful defence of two Employment Tribunal claims for disability discrimination. The claimant presented a large list of alleged acts of discrimination and detriments and following a lengthy trial the Tribunal found in our client's favour on all of the issues in the claim.Sizewell C Limited
Advising the client on the arrangements for secondments between former group companies.UK investment fund manager
Advising the client and coordinating the investigation of serious allegations of wrongdoing against the CEO of a portfolio company. This involved consulting with the independent investigator and offering advice on the legal risks as well as practical options for the client both during the investigation and after the investigation completed.
