
I joined the University in 2014, initially in the Legal Team as an employment specialist. There is rarely a dull moment and I think I just about have enough anecdotes for a several volume memoir. It’s one of the few areas where you do contentious work (mainly employment tribunals) and also non-contentious advisory work. I did, and still do, love the variety and problem solving involved in day-to-day employment work. I also worked with a range of other clients from large supermarkets, to banks to manufacturers.

As I’d come from a firm representing NHS clients, I was an obvious choice for HE clients which was about 60% of my workload. I trained at a niche firm which specialised in representing the NHS, health sector clients and charities, doing my first and last ‘seats’ in employment law.Ī year after qualification I moved to a large international firm, to experience a broader base of clients. Solicitors do a two-year training contract at a law firm before they qualify into their preferred area of practice. I finished my studies with the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in York, which required a walk past the Terry’s Chocolate factory each day – I can still smell the chocolate.

It turns out European Law wasn’t as future proof as I thought! I focused on European Law because I had an inkling that my heart belonged in employment law and, back in 2000, European Law was the solid foundation of most UK employment law such as equality rights and working time. What now seems like many moons ago, I studied law as an undergraduate and then moved to Durham to do an LLM in International and European Law.

Meet Nic Johnston, Deputy Director of HR and Employment Lawyer Where did it all start?
