Deborah qualified in 2020 and has over 11 years of legal experience. She practices Employment and Corporate Law, with some commercial experience.
Areas of Expertise:
Employment Law
- Individual claims against employers (previous work has included finance and legal professionals and C-suite in tech; company clients include fashion and retail businesses, food and beverage)
- Redundancies (employer and employee)
- Negotiated exits
- Settlement agreement advice and negotiation (employer and employees)
- Business proofing against changes in law (e.g. Employment Rights Bill)
- Employment support for corporate transactions, including due diligence, ancillary documents, and board changes
- Day-to-day employment and HR support
- Company culture guidance, staff handbook preparation, and external recruitment materials (with associated advice)
- Drafting of internal policies
- Drafting of precedent onboarding documents and suites of director engagement paperwork
- Guidance and advice to, and in relation to, global umbrella employment companies, international employment agencies, and payroll facilities
Corporate Law:
- M&A
- Investment rounds (full service, from incorporation of company to unicorn raises and exits)
- Assisting various consumer companies with B Corp certification
- Restructures, including Delaware switches
- Finance transactions, including intra-group loans
- Corporate governance and full-service company secretarial work
Document Review
Deborah has worked as a freelance document review lawyer on large-scale document review projects for end-clients.
Projects have included:
- A document review exercise for a defendant client to meet their court disclosure obligations on a complex litigation case, reviewing at 1LR and 2LR for relevance, issue and privilege, succeeding at a target review rate of 30 documents per hour.
- A review of a company client's communications and systems to meet their DSAR obligations and accurately applying exemptions and redactions of sensitive personal data.
Deborah has a background in supporting start-ups, entrepreneurs, and forward-thinking businesses in employment and corporate law. With experience working for businesses and individuals across tech, media, fintech, and emerging industries, Deborah thrives at the intersection of legal strategy and business innovation. She has a particular interest in working with lifestyle consumer brands, sustainable businesses, and value-led corporations.
Deborah is passionate about empowering women in the workplace, particularly in high-stakes or sensitive scenarios. In this niche, she has successfully guided senior female executives through complex disputes and difficult discrimination claims, negotiated meaningful settlements, and consistently prioritised the impact on clients behind the legal issues.
Most recently, she was a legal consultant in-house at an international media group within the People, Inclusion and Culture team. She worked on an international restructure and day-to-day employment and commercial issues, working with individuals across all levels of the business. This included drafting and negotiating senior executive contracts, incentive plans, and consultancy arrangements, as well as providing guidance on supplier and other commercial transactions.
Deborah also has extensive experience as a corporate lawyer, having worked as a consultant, a corporate generalist, and a Counsel at a City firm, specialising in start-up and scaling businesses. She is highly organised and adept at working with a dispersed team.
Deborah's employment work in private practice has included:
- Advising one of the first FCA-approved, UK-based crypto custodian entities on its day-to-day employment law and HR needs
- Preparing contractor agreements for the remote-based workforce of a large, multi-jurisdictional software business
- Preparing and advising on ancillary employment documents for various M7A transactions, including service agreements, board changes, and settlement agreements
- Advising a PLC client on a high-profile, multi-million-pound value exit of a key director
- Working with specialist commercial lawyers to prepare contracts for a company specialising in placing interns in the creative industry
- Securing costs and a successful outcome at Tribunal for a long-standing client in a vexatious discrimination claim
- Achieving a high-value settlement for a senior executive whose case (against an international finance institution) included equal pay, discrimination, personal injury, and whistleblowing
- Rebutting a case against a doctor client facing a misconduct dismissal by creating a successful appeal based on company policy and case law
Throughout her career, Deborah has taken an entrepreneurial approach to legal practice, building client relationships from the ground up, managing complex transactions and employment issues independently, and stepping beyond traditional legal roles to lead recruitment, mentoring, and operational projects.
Utilising experience gained at two boutique City firms, she qualified through the rigorous Equivalent Means route, a reflection of her self-driven nature and commitment to shaping her practice through experience. She has experience as a first employee in a start-up, which lends a unique insight and understanding of her start-up clients, allowing her to provide clear and realistic advice when helping businesses to build their team from foundation to scaled teams, utilising the best of their talent.
Deborah has always aimed to shape a legal career outside the confines of constricting and outdated conventional practice. She believes in delivering legal services with agility, empathy and precision, and finds inspiration in working alongside clients and colleagues who value innovation, autonomy and support.
Whether assisting with high-level employment restructuring for large international corporations or advising early-stage ventures on governance, Deborah brings an approachable attitude, clarity, strategic thinking, and a collaborative spirit. Her work reflects a deep commitment to helping people and businesses.
Outside of work
Deborah can be found outside enjoying nature, by or in a Swedish lake, or hiking with her hyper-active cocker spaniel. Her interests include travel, fitness, theatre, wellbeing, and literature. She takes full advantage of her opportunity to keep learning, having recently completed a gender psychology module at the University of Stockholm, and battles daily with Swedish language classes.