Matthew Wood

Profile

Matthew is a Partner in the Employment department. He advises employers and employees on all aspects of employment law and related commercial matters across a wide range of sectors.

Matthew frequently acts on complex, sensitive and high-value litigation and contentious matters. He has extensive experience of litigating Employment related disputes in the High Court and regularly advises on claims relating to breaches of restrictive covenants, team moves, misuse of confidential information and related matters. Matthew also regularly advises clients on Employment Tribunal claims and he has successfully brought and defended multi-million pound discrimination and whistleblowing claims.

Matthew also has extensive experience acting on complex and sensitive matters for employees, senior executives, directors (of both private and listed companies) and partners/LLP members. Matthew has acted for employees from a number of household names, including Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, M&G Investments, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Janus Henderson, PwC, Deutsche Bank, RBS, Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse, L'Oreal, HSBC, Royal Mail, Nomura, JLT, Alesco and Goldman Sachs.

Matthew also acts for a wide range of employers on the full spectrum of employment law matters including disciplinary, grievance and redundancy procedures, drafting and review of employment contracts, consultancy arrangements, settlement agreements and handbook policies.

Matthew is ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers and has been described by clients as "a seriously impressive associate who stands out as a real star", "brilliant, quick, spot on and fabulous to work with" and praised for his "tactical acumen", "his knowledge, his approach and his responsiveness" and his "excellent balance of strategy and execution". Matthew was shortlisted for Private Practice Leader of Tomorrow at the 2023 International Employment Lawyer Awards.

Matthew is a contributing author to a chapter on Employee Competition in Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law (the leading practitioners' text), and has published articles in the Employment Law Journal, Recruitment International and other publications on a range of topics. He is also a member of the Employment Lawyers Association.

More Details

Key Experience

High Court litigation

Randstad v Direction for Education Limited & ors – acting for Randstad

Guy Carpenter & Company Limited & Anr v Howden Insurance Group & Ors – acting for Howden in relation to an ongoing High Court claim involving allegations of an unlawful team move and misuse of confidential information.
CACI v Cirrus Software Solutions & Ors: Acting for CACI in a claim against a competitor and former employees involving enforcement of covenants and a claim for damages and account of profit.
Benjamin Hodgkinson v Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Limited: Acting for a high-profile client in defending expedited High Court proceedings brought by a former employee in relation to 20-month garden leave period.
Oneglobal Broking: Acted for a private equity owned insurance broker, providing advice in relation to bringing proceedings in the High Court against a competitor who hired senior employees.
Bonnier Books UK Group Holdings Limited v Richard Johnson – successful obtained a without notice injunction in relation to threatened misuse of confidential information, default judgment and an order finding the Defendant in contempt of court.

Square Global Limited v Julien Leonard – represented Square Global in relation to its successful claim to enforce an employee's notice period and post-termination restrictions, and successful defence of a counterclaim by the employee of constructive dismissal.
Leading derivatives broker v former employee: acting for a leading derivatives broker in a claim against a former employee for damages arising out of the employee's breach of a fixed-term contract.
JLT v Hyperion: Defending Hyperion against a multi-million pound claim arising out of the recruitment of 50+ employees from a competitor.
Transport International v Former Executive: acting for an international transport company in bringing a claim against a former senior executive to recover a bonus paid to him as a result of misrepresentations made to the company before the bonus was paid.
Alesco Risk Management Services Ltd & Ors v Bishopsgate Insurance Brokers Ltd & Ors – represented Nawaf Hasan through to trial in a case involving an alleged unlawful team move and various breaches of contract and fiduciary duties.

Advised the CEO of a global manufacturer on a contentious exit which involved defending allegations of breach of contract and bringing a claim for unlawful exercise of discretion. The case settled with a multi-million pound payment to the CEO.

Employment Tribunal litigation

V Zabelin v SPI Spirits UK Limited & Ors – represented the Claimant in a successful claim for automatic unfair dismissal and whistleblowing detriment.
Represented an international shipping broker and its CEO in relation to claims for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal.
Represented a tech start up and two of its directors in relation to a complex Tribunal claim from a co-founder for unfair dismissal and whistleblowing.
Acted for a leading international publishing house in relation to a highly sensitive Tribunal claim involving allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Advised a senior executive at Deutsche Bank in relation to discrimination and whistleblowing claims which resulted in a seven figure settlement sum.
Advised a multi-national travel company defending a claim for unfair dismissal, direct and indirect discrimination and harassment in the Employment Tribunal.

Other

Carried out an independent investigation into various employment law related matters within Open Banking Limited.
Advised a Championship football club on a sensitive internal investigation which resulted in the dismissal of four senior members of management.
Advised an international publishing house in relation to a large scale internal investigation regarding extensive financial fraud and employment law related matters.
Advised a financial advisory firm on an internal investigation into suspected competitive behaviour by a senior executive and co-founder.
Provided advice to a recruitment agency in relation to an investigation by the Equality and Human Rights.
Advised a number of PLCs across multiple sectors on engagement and dismissal of directors.