ANALYSIS LEGAL - Key Persons


Alison Close

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant Employment Solicitor
Since qualifying in 1999 Alison has specialised exclusively in employment law. She has previously worked at DLA Piper and Averta Employment Lawyers. Alison joined Analysis Legal in November 2019 as a Senior Consultant Employment Lawyer. Alison advises both employers and employees on the full spectrum of employment law matters. On the employee side Alison has particular experience advising senior executives and directors on exit packages and negotiating terms. Alison has also acted a number of times as the recommended advisor where a large number of employees are exiting a business by settlement agreement.

Andrea Paxton

Job Titles:
  • Employment Partner
Andrea has been practising employment law since she qualified as a solicitor in 2003. Having trained and then worked at Pinsent Masons LLP for 11 years, Andrea set up Analysis Legal with Anna Lees in 2015. Andrea is consistently listed as a leading employment lawyer in the Legal 500 directory. Andrea acts for companies of all sizes and has particular expertise in advising on redundancies, employment status (including IR35 advice to contractors) and employment tribunal claims. Andrea also has extensive experience of advising individuals including senior executives on settlement agreements and exit package negotiations. In addition, Andrea advises on TUPE and the employment law issues relating to business sales and acquisitions.

Anna Lees

Job Titles:
  • Employment Partner
Anna has specialised exclusively in employment law since qualifying as a solicitor in 2002. Having trained at "magic circle" firm Freshfields, Anna worked at Addleshaw Goddard in Manchester for ten years. Anna then set up her own employment law practice before founding Analysis Legal with Andrea in March 2015. Anna acts for individuals (including senior executives) and companies, from small local businesses to FTSE 100 companies. Anna has significant experience of advising on employment tribunals, including complex discrimination claims, injunctions and strategic exits. Anna also runs training courses for businesses, training managers on all aspects of employment law. Anna is listed as a leading individual in the current edition of the Legal 500.

Catherine Parkinson

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant Employment Solicitor
Catherine qualified as a Solicitor in 2001 after training with corporate law firm Gateley Wareing. Catherine has specialised in employment law since qualifying and worked at Addleshaw Goddard before spending 12 years in the HR & Legal team at EEF's Warrington office. She joined Analysis Legal in May 2017. Catherine provides advice on a wide range of employment law and HR issues and has experience across a wide range of different sectors including manufacturing, engineering, retail, media and public sector. Catherine provides practical commercial solutions to human resources issues for employers ranging from ad hoc advice on daily employment issues to management of ongoing restructuring projects, Trade Union issues and complex Employment Tribunal claims. Catherine is an experienced advocate in the Employment Tribunal. She also provides pragmatic, accessible advice for individuals. Catherine is an experienced trainer in employment law and provides bespoke training in-company for all levels of employees from shop floor to Director level both in person and remotely.

Emma Patterson

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant Employment Solicitor
Emma trained at Brabners, Liverpool before joining Wragge & Co Birmingham where she worked for 4 years. From there Emma made the transition to an in-house role within the public sector before setting up her own business as a HR Consultant. Emma joined Analysis Legal in October 2017. Emma has extensive experience of advising both employers and employees on all aspects of employment law and has worked in both the public and private sector. On a daily basis, she enjoys closely supporting HR on general employment issues including disciplinaries, grievances and long-term sickness absence cases. Within the public sector she has assisted the employer in managing large-scale collective consultation exercises, redundancy and regularly deals with TUPE queries with a focus on service provision changes. She has also advised on the exits of a number of senior members of staff within Local Government organisations and their consequential settlement agreements. She has significant experience of employment litigation including drafting tribunal documents, pleadings and witness statements. Emma prides herself on her practical, client-focussed and friendly advice and her ability to develop strong working relationships with clients.

Fiona Jeffers

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant Employment Solicitor
Fiona originally qualified in Scotland in 1999. She became dual qualified in 2001 having joined Halliwell Landau's Manchester office in 2000. Previously a partner at both Halliwells and Gateley Plc she has acted for many household names, with multi-site operations both north and south of the border. She has experience across a wide range of sectors but has particular expertise in managing HR sensitive issues (through all parts of any process, both internal and external) in retail, logistics manufacturing and healthcare. Owing to this she has significant experience in advising on Trade Union issues and collective claims (both from a respondent and claimant perspective), particularly with regard to protective awards under TULCRA and TUPE and multi-party Wages actions. Through her time at both Gateley and Halliwells she has advised extensively across many factors of the healthcare sector, with a particular emphasis on individual Claimant work and/ or private practices in all areas of healthcare. She has an in-depth knowledge of national terms and conditions applicable within this sector. She has also written and delivered a wide range of training courses to both clients and at public seminars. She has advised both employers and individuals at board level in relation to appropriate terms and conditions, including restrictive covenants, pay and bonus structures and where appropriate negotiated exits/ settlement agreements.

Fiona Miller

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant Employment Solicitor
Fiona trained in London with Trowers & Hamlins before joining Elliotts in Manchester, becoming a partner in 1993. Fiona moved to national law firm DWF LLP in 2007, before joining Analysis Legal in May 2017. Fiona provides practical, solutions-focused advice on a wide range of employment issues for both employers and employees. Fiona supports employers on the management of day-to-day issues, such as disciplinary, grievance, performance and absence, and on projects involving TUPE/outsourcing, collective consultation, large scale redundancies and changing terms of employment. She also runs bespoke training sessions for management and HR teams on a stand-alone basis or to support wider projects.

Jessica Jones

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant Employment Solicitor
Jessica joined Analysis Legal in 2022, having previously trained at Eversheds and then worked at DWF Law for 15 years. Jessica prides herself in providing pragmatic and straight forward advice. She has worked across various sectors including retail, social care, local government, technology and finance.

Kate Oberg

Job Titles:
  • Senior Employment Solicitor
Kate is an experienced employment lawyer, whose expertise includes advising employers and individuals on a range of issues, including unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing and TUPE. After qualifying at DWF in 2009, Kate spent over 11 years acting for employers at national practice, Hill Dickinson, including an extensive non-legal secondment leading internal compliance investigations at a global pharmaceutical company. Kate enjoys working closely with senior leaders and HR professionals to provide practical advice on everything from disciplinaries and grievances to large scale reorganisations. She also has significant experience of acting for clients in Employment Tribunal proceedings. Outside of work, Kate enjoys spending time with her two young children and travelling.

Louise Burn

Job Titles:
  • Employment Support Lawyer
Louise qualified as a solicitor in 2002, at which point she specialised exclusively in employment law. Louise has previously worked for DLA Piper LLP and also with Andrea at Pinsent Masons LLP. She has joined the Analysis Legal team of employment lawyers as a professional support consultant. Louise specialises in drafting and advising clients on the terms of contracts of employment; employment policies and procedures; and settlement agreements. Louise also has considerable experience of carrying out due diligence and advising on employment law issues in relation to business sales and acquisitions.

Sheila Shaw

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant Employment Solicitor
Sheila qualified as a Solicitor in 2000, specialising in employment law. Sheila spent 15 years at EEF before joining Analysis Legal's team in 2017. Sheila works with both employers and individual clients, with whom she enjoys building a strong rapport. Sheila's significant knowledge and expertise enables her to provide clear, pragmatic advice both in day to day matters (including HR issues and settlement agreements) and in more complex issues (such as restructures and discrimination). Sheila also has extensive experience of conducting Employment Tribunal proceedings, including advocacy at full hearings. Sheila enjoys working with companies to identify their training requirements and to deliver bespoke training courses on all aspects of employment law such as discipline and grievance, dignity at work and topical issues.