Donna is a Senior Consultant Solicitor who has worked in law since 1997. A firm believer in justice for all, particularly for the underdog, her specialism is Employment Law, Mediation, and Personal Injury. Donna also has extensive experience in Debt Recovery and Commercial Contracts.
Donna qualified as a Solicitor in 2004, having first qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. In 2006, Donna joined an AIM listed public limited company in Hampshire, where she is Head of Employment/Human Resources and advises on Commercial contracts. Donna also sits on the board as Company Secretary to ensure compliance with corporate governance.
Prior to this, Donna worked for two legal 500 law firms in Bristol, where she specialised in employer liability cases, personal injury, sexual abuse cases and cases involving the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Donna is a qualified and accredited mediator who encourages a non-adversarial route (where possible), focussing on early dispute resolution, including mediation. With experience in negotiations of contracts, employment disputes in both a legal and commercial capacity, and using expansive negotiation skills acquired during service in the police, Donna has a wide range of strong capabilities and skill sets that have proven beneficial in her career to date.
Donna is described as a people person, a caring but firm lawyer with a genuine determination for justice, as evidenced by her 15 years of voluntary work as a Special Constable for Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Donna is down to earth and approachable. She removes legal jargon when discussing a case to help her clients fully understand the details of their situation. Donna is happy to travel any distance to meet her clients and support them through their cases, which she understands can very often be a daunting and emotional time for them. She is also happy to discuss a case without charge before taking it on and has undertaken pro-bono work.
She prides herself on her client care, and having worked both in private practice and in-house, she possesses a diverse and unique skill set that is highly beneficial to clients. A successful commercial career in a number of industries means that Donna is very much in touch with the real world and has hands-on experience in dealing with disputes.
Donna advises on all areas of employment law, but has particular experience in the following areas:
- Redundancy
- Poor Performance/Capability
- Grievance and Disciplinary
- Unfair Dismissal/Wrongful Dismissal
- Data Protection/Subject Access Requests
- Settlement Agreements
- Change to terms and conditions of employment
- Restructuring
In her spare time, Donna enjoys HIIT/dance classes and running, as well as cooking. She also completed a position as a co-opted governor at a local primary school.
Testimonial
"Donna was a pleasure to work with, very professional and always spot on with her information. It was nice to know I could trust her and work with someone who was fantastic, an expert in her field, clear, concise, helpful and really worked with me at every step.
I found Setfords and Donna by chance via a search and I was really happy I did. I would recommend Donna to anyone who needs an employment law expert and wants someone who will fight for them until the end. Working with Donna restored my faith in solicitors."