Upcoming Seminars

  • Long Vacation 2024

    The Employment Lawyers Group Northern Ireland thanks you for your support in the 2023/2024 legal year. We will be in contact in relation to our forthcoming events in early September 2024.

  • 8th March 2024 – Dinner at The Merchant Hotel

    The Employment Lawyers Group NI invites you to join us for a night of dinner, drinks, entertainment and networking with special guest, The Honourable Mrs Justice Eady, President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal of England and Wales.

    Date:                8 March 2024 at 6pm

    Location:         The Merchant Hotel Belfast (16 Skipper St, Belfast BT1 2DZ)

    Cost:                 £85 per ticket

    Dress Code:    Cocktail Attire

  • 28th November 2023 – Employment Related Litigation

    Tuesday 28th November 2023 – 4:00pm-5:00pm
    Hybrid event – in-person at Law Society House, Belfast, and remote via Microsoft Teams
    Register here
    £10 for members, £20 for non-members

    About the Event
    Welcome to our November Employers Lawyers Group NI (ELG NI) Event where Adrian Colmer KC will be discussing Employment Related Litigation .
    You have the option to attend in person at Law Society House Belfast (4th Floor Lecture Room tickets limited) or join us online via Zoom.
    For those attending in person tea/coffee and refreshments will be available after the meeting at 5pm.

    About the Speaker
    Adrian Colmer KC was called to the Bar in 1994 .
    His practice is predominantly in the Chancery Court and the Commercial Court. His main practice areas in these courts include banking, corporate insolvency, personal insolvency, professional negligence and property.
    He has also appeared in the Judicial Review Court, acting on behalf of Government Departments and other public bodies.

    Questions
    Whilst there will be a live Q&A function during the meeting, we would welcome questions in advance. Please email any questions by midday on 27th November to employmentlawyersgroupni@gmail.com.

    Membership
    In order to avail of the membership rate, you will be required to sign up for ELGNI membership. Details of how to join are set out on our membership page.

  • 18th October 2023 – Takeaways from the Agnew Supreme Court Decision

    Wednesday 18th October 2023 – 4:00pm-5:00pm
    Hybrid event – in-person at Law Society House, Belfast, and remote via Microsoft Teams
    Register here
    FREE

    About the Event
    Welcome to our October Employers Lawyers Group NI (ELG NI) Event where David McMillen KC and Peter Hopkins BL will be giving us their takeaways from the Agnew decision recently published by the Supreme Court.

    You have the option to attend in person at Law Society House Belfast (4th Floor Lecture Room -tickets limited) or join us online via Microsoft Teams.

    For those attending in person tea/coffee and refreshments will be available after the meeting at 5pm.

    About the Speakers
    David McMillen KC
    David McMillen KC was called to the Bar in 1985. He has been involved in a broad range of high-profile civil actions. In over seven years as Junior Counsel to the Attorney General he acted for Government Departments and other public bodies in major judicial review applications. These included a broad spectrum of Human Rights issues, from adoption to prisoners’ rights and freedom of the press. He also advised Ministers and Government Departments on the lawfulness of proposed actions and legislation. In addition, he acted in many procurement cases of great complexity and very high value. Further he has appeared for public bodies and private clients in a variety of commercial and construction cases. Since taking Silk he has continued to act in these areas for a broader range of clients. His practice has expanded to encompass personal injury actions, particularly those with a high value or particular complexity.

    Peter Hopkins BL
    Peter Hopkins BL was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2007; Bar of the Republic of Ireland in 2016; Bar of England and Wales in 2017. He previously worked as a Solicitor for seven years both in London (Gouldens; Jones Day) and Northern Ireland (L’Estrange & Brett). A General civil practitioner with a particular focus on Commercial and Chancery actions. Ongoing representation of Facebook Inc. in interim and final proceedings as to privacy/defamation/data protection claims. He has significant experience in the Fair Employment and Industrial Tribunals, as well as having appeared before the Information Tribunal in matters relating to Freedom of Information and Data Protection. Particular interest in insolvency-related proceedings, intellectual property claims and construction disputes.

    Questions
    Whilst there will be a live Q&A function during the meeting, we would welcome questions in advance. Please email any questions by midday on 17th October to employmentlawyersgroupni@gmail.com.

  • 28th September 2023 – Notice of Annual General Meeting

    See below link for the notice of the ELG Annual General Meeting to take place on Thursday 28th September 2023 at 4pm at Law Society House, Belfast. This event is in-person only.

    The notice includes details of how to nominate committee members.

  • 28th February 2023 – Reasonable Adjustments/Capacity Issues within an Employment Law context

    Tuesday 28th February 2023 – 4:00pm-5:00pm
    Hybrid event – in-person at Law Society House, Belfast, and remote via Microsoft Teams
    Register here
    FREE

    About the Event
    Welcome to our February Employers Lawyers Group NI (ELG NI) Event where we will have a panel discussion on ‘Reasonable Adjustments/Capacity issues’ within an Employment context.
    You have the option to attend in person at Law Society House Belfast -Tribunal Room (tickets limited) or join us online via Microsoft Teams.
    For those attending in person tea/coffee and refreshments will be available after the meeting at 5pm.
    Please indicate which ticket type you prefer when choosing your ticket. The online video link will be emailed to you before the meeting if you chose to attend this way.
    This will be a panel discussion and the three panelists are Dr Victoria Bratten, Jenny Humphreys and Emma McIlveen.

    About the Speakers
    Dr Victoria Bratten
    Dr Victoria Bratten is a Senior Specialist Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychologist. She specialises in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, trauma and attachment, Specific Learning Difficulties and associated Mental Health Conditions). Her specialist age group is from the ages of 0-25 years. However, part of her training the “educational” aspect allows her skills to be applied to Adults. She is currently employed as a Senior Specialist Psychologist with Sensations Learning Support.

    She has an undergraduate Applied Psychology degree (BSc Hons) from the University of Ulster (2004), Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from Stranmillis University College (2005), Doctor of Philosophy (2008) from the University of Ulster and a Doctorate in Developmental, Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology (DECAP).

    She has previous experience as an Employee of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Therapeutic Support Services (TSS) supporting children, families, and professionals involved with children who are Looked After and within their Child and Adolescent Autism Assessment Service. She also has experience in Child Health Psychology and in Children and Young People’s Learning Disability Services. Regarding her work with adults for the past 10 years she has conducted Cognitive /Educational assessments across all age groups including identifying Specific Learning Difficulties and Generalised Learning Difficulties. She also previously worked for the NI Prison Service (HMP Maghaberry).

    Throughout her career she has been involved in supporting individuals with neurodiversity. She has lectured across Further Education Colleges, the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast. She assesses for academic access arrangements and reasonable adjustments across all educational environments. She also assesses for those in employment and how best employers can meet the client’s neurodiversity. Her role as an expert witness has been to advise courts on a client’s capacity, how behaviour can be understood in the context of their neurodevelopment profile, how adjustments can be made to accommodate the client neurodiversity and also in educating Jurys as to what it means to have neurodiversity.

    Jenny Humphreys
    Jenny Humphreys is a Speech & Language Therapist (BSc Hons RCSLT HCP) graduated from Speech & Language Pathology in 2004. After working for 12 years in the NHS, she qualified as a Registered Intermediary in 2016.

    As a Speech and Language Therapist, she worked with adult and paediatric caseloads across a variety of settings including hospital, community, domiciliary and special schools. She specialised in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders, and laterally managed adults with swallowing disorders i.e., dysphagia. She has also worked in a private capacity with neurological and voice disorders.

    As an Intermediary she has almost 7 years’ experience in assessing adults and children with communication difficulties within the Criminal Justice System. The role includes facilitating communication at the investigative stages and at court to enable children and vulnerable adults’ access to a fair trial and to assist them in giving evidence in a clear, complete, and coherent manner.

    She routinely provides training to the PSNI, PPS and NHS on the RI role and she has recently co-authored a journal for the International Journal of Communication Disorders. She is a Facilitator and Mentor for the Peer Group Support Network and in 2023 agreed to become a guest lecturer at the University of Limerick, on their Intermediary training course.

    Emma McIlveen
    Emma is a specialist employment disputes barrister, providing strategic advisory and advocacy services to respondents and claimants.

    Questions
    At the end of the meeting, we will host a Q&A session, where the panelists will take questions from attendees. We would welcome questions in advance. Please email any questions by midday on 27th February to employmentlawyersgroupni@gmail.com

  • 12th January 2023 – Assessing Loss in Employment Tribunals

    Thursday 12th January 2023 – 1:00pm-2:00pm
    Hybrid event – in person at Law Society House, Belfast and Microsoft Teams
    Register here
    FREE

    About the Event
    Welcome to our January Employers Lawyers Group NI (ELG NI) event ‘Assessing Loss within an Employment Context’ with guest speaker Stephen Burns from ASM Accounting. You have the option to attend in person at Law Society House Belfast -Tribunal Room (tickets limited) or join us online via Microsoft Teams. For those attending in person tea/coffee and refreshments will be available before the meeting from 12:30pm.

    About the Speaker
    Stephen Burns is a Director of ASM Accountants. He graduated from The Queen’s University of Belfast in 2001 with an Honours Degree in Accountancy and subsequently completed a Masters in Accountancy at the University of Ulster in 2002. He joined ASM’s Forensic Services team in 2014 and specialises in commercial and contractual disputes and the quantification of financial losses. Stephen has also undertaken fraud and accounting irregularity investigations.

    Questions
    At the end of the session, we will host a Q&A session, where Ian will take questions from attendees. Whilst there will be a live Q&A function during the meeting, we would welcome questions in advance. Please email any questions by midday on 11th January 2023 to employmentlawyersgroupni@gmail.com.

  • 15th December 2022 – Injunctions within an Employment Context

    Thursday 15th December 2022 – 1:00pm-2:00pm
    Hybrid event – in person at Law Society House, Belfast and Microsoft Teams
    Register here
    FREE

    About the Event
    Welcome to our December Employers Lawyers Group NI (ELG NI) Event where Ian Skelt KC will give a talk on ‘Injunctions within an Employment Context’. You have the option to attend in person at Law Society House Belfast -Tribunal Room (tickets limited) or join us online via Microsoft Teams. For those attending in person tea/coffee and refreshments will be available before the meeting from 12:30pm.

    About the Speaker
    Ian is a highly experienced silk with extensive experience in police law, all aspects of inquest law, administrative law, employment law and regulatory work. A member of the Government’s ‘A’ Panel for civil work (NI), he is well known for his compelling advocacy and comprehensive knowledge of his brief. He represented West Yorkshire Police in the Supreme Court in a review of civil liability of the police for operational activity and was Counsel to the Coroner in the Jordan Inquest.

    Questions
    At the end of the session, we will host a Q&A session, where Ian will take questions from attendees. Whilst there will be a live Q&A function during the meeting, we would welcome questions in advance. Please email any questions by midday on 14th December 2022 to employmentlawyersgroupni@gmail.com.

  • 8th November 2022 – Basics of Discrimination Law

    Tuesday 8th November 2022 – 4:00pm-5:00pm
    Hybrid event – in person at Law Society House, Belfast and Microsoft Teams
    Register here
    FREE

    About the Event
    This is an event hosted in collaboration with the Young Bar Association and Northern Ireland Young Solicitor’s Association. Timothy Warnock BL will be covering the basics of discrimination law in Northern Ireland.

    About the Speaker
    Timothy Warnock was called in 2004 and is a barrister specialising in civil and commercial litigation. He has a particular interest and experience in commercial litigation; employment law; personal injury litigation and liquor licensing. Tim is a committee member of the Employment Lawyers Group.

    Questions
    At the end of the session, we will host a Q&A session, where Tim will take questions from attendees. Whilst there will be a live Q&A function during the meeting, we would welcome questions in advance. Please email any questions by midday on 7th November 2022 to employmentlawyersgroupni@gmail.com.

  • 5th October 2022 – Roadmap for NI Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal

    Wednesday 5th October 2022 – 4:00pm-5:00pm
    Hybrid event – in person at Law Society House, Belfast and Microsoft Teams
    Register here
    FREE

    About the Event
    Welcome to our October Employers Lawyers Group NI (ELG NI) Event where recently appointed President of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal in Northern Ireland, Mr Noel Kelly will give a talk on the ‘Roadmap for NI Industrial and Fair Employment Tribunals’.

    For those attending the event in person refreshments will be provided after the event.

    About the Speaker
    Mr Noel Kelly graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Law in June 1976. He was admitted as a Solicitor in July 1979. Mr Kelly first entered the judiciary as a fee paid Employment Judge. Having been appointed as a full time Employment Judge he was subsequently appointed Vice President of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal (ITFET) in October 2010. He was appointed President of the ITFET in April 2022.

    Questions
    At the end of the Microsoft Teams meeting, we will host a Q&A session, where Mr Kelly will take questions from attendees. Whilst there will be a live Q&A function during the meeting, we would welcome questions in advance. Please email any questions by midday on Wednesday 5th October 2022 to employmentlawyersgroupni@gmail.com.