Chris Lynn

Chris has extensive experience advising clients across a wide range of industries in all aspects of employment law in the UK, including transactional support in respect of employment and human resources (HR) matters, day-to-day counselling and advice to businesses on employee-related issues, and employment litigation in tribunal and court. He also works on cross-border matters, such as international projects and cross-border employee transfers, coordinating and consolidating multijurisdictional advice. He focuses on providing clear, practical advice and pragmatic solutions to achieve the best outcome for clients’ legal and commercial needs.

Chris’s key areas of experience include:

• Advising on and representing clients in employment disputes, such as discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair dismissal
• Advising and supporting clients in settlement negotiations related to employment disputes
• Advising clients on various HR-related projects, such as redundancies, collective consultations, contract and policy reviews, and ad hoc matters relating to investigations, disciplinaries and grievances
• Carrying out due diligence and providing other employment-related support for mergers & acquisitions
• Advising clients on Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment), also known as TUPE, transfers arising from restructures, acquisitions and outsourcings
• Drafting employment contracts, consultancy agreements, settlement agreements and policies

Chris has particular experience advising and supporting startups and emerging companies on their first steps to engaging a workforce, ensuring the most commercial approach in the particular circumstances of each business.

Before joining Cooley, Chris spent time on secondment with businesses in a range of industries – including a large global retailer, a Japanese bank and a Formula 1 racing team, providing him with an in-depth practical knowledge of clients’ commercial needs and pressures.

Chris also is active in pro bono matters, both employment-related and not. He has experience advising charities and other nonprofit entities, including a globally renowned orchestra. He regularly provides advice and support through local legal advice centres and is involved in initiatives to support refugees and assist children with obtaining British citizenship.

Chris’s representative matters include:

• Advising a technology client on a significant UK restructure and reduction in force
• Providing employment advice to a technology client as part of its sale to a major international group – including on transaction documents, employment agreements, bonus agreements and settlement agreements
• Providing employment diligence and advice to a client in respect of its acquisition of software businesses from a major international group
• Providing employment diligence and advice to an artificial intelligence client in respect of its acquisition of a software business
• Advising a life sciences client in respect of a suspected breach of confidence and a proposed breach of a noncompete obligation
• Advising multiple startup clients on employment arrangements for their founders and first employees
• Advising and coordinating international advice for a pharma client in its sale of part of its business