Sophie Clifford

If you can resolve workplace issues before lawyers get involved, you should. I know this from practicing as an Employment Lawyer since 1998, advising and litigating, having worked for the UN, government, SMEs and start-ups, looking after employers and employees.

Resolving workplace issues takes many forms. I love delivering the byrne·dean training – getting people to meaningfully reflect and improve on the dynamics at work – I see it as my preventative work. Then there is my mediation/ facilitated conversation work: a tailored intervention for when there is an apparently intractable issue in working relationships. And if need be, there is always the resolution work, informed by my knowledge and skills as a practicing Lawyer for the harder edge advice, in particular conducting disciplinary investigations.

At the heart of all the work I do is my desire, in simple terms, to help sort out the difficult situations people find themselves in. To help them find the way forward and do it with empathy and care. There is little I love more than feeling my intervention has made a genuine positive impact in people’s lives.