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Employment law brief: 11 April 2025

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In this month’s brief, Ian Smith pays tribute to a titan of industrial relations & applauds the brevity of judgments in days gone by
  • Summary dismissal where the offence is not specified in the contract.
  • Use of lists of issues: the role of the employment tribunal.
  • Worker: the basic requirement of a contract, but with whom?

In the 21 March issue of NLJ there was an article about this year’s LexisNexis Legal Awards, which included the news that a lifetime contribution award had been presented to Michael Rubenstein, the editor of the Industrial Relations Law Reports. I am sure that readers of this monthly column/epistle/rant would like to join me in congratulating him on this richly deserved honour. His has truly been a monumental contribution to the development of employment law since the 1970s.

As I sit here in my freezing garret, typing through fingerless mittens yet more Harvey, I have the consolation of looking at shelves worth of box files containing the reports, back to 1977 (not quite to the

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal—Jack Kelly

Gateley Legal expands Midlands residential development team

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn—Richard Surtees

Gibson Dunn adds employee benefits and executive compensation practice in London with partner Richard Surtees

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL—Alec Cameron

Laytons ETL appoints new partner and head of intellectual property disputes

NEWS
A series of recent decisions has clarified important principles across property law, from perpetuities to lease renewals and public rights over land
Employers cannot rely on wellbeing services alone to defend workplace stress claims after a High Court decision awarding almost £1m to an overworked employee
Andy Burnham's brand of 'Manchesterism' could offer fresh thinking on legal aid and access to justice if it reaches Westminster, according to Roger Smith, NLJ columnist and former director of JUSTICE
The constitutional fallout from a change of prime minister, rather than the politics, is under scrutiny as questions arise over the limits of executive authority in a leadership transition
The legal profession is undergoing a fundamental shift from selling services to creating technology-enabled products, according to Professor Luke Mason, Head of School of Law at Regent's University London
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