The Branch’s Annual Mock Tribunal Event

This event, organised in partnership with Lewis Silkin and Ulster University, will give attendees a valuable insight into the practicalities of proceedings and is a worthwhile addition to 2025 CPD plans for all People Professionals.

Participants will also receive a “bundle” in advance of the event to provide them with an overview of the facts of the case.

Speakers:

Paul Gillen, Partner, Lewis Silkin

Paul is a partner in Lewis Silkin’s Employment, Immigration and Reward division based in Belfast. He is qualified in England & Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and provides cross jurisdiction and comparative law advice to clients throughout the UK and Ireland.

He advises clients, across a wide range of sectors, on contentious and non-contentious matters, including HR support, mergers & acquisitions, restructuring, executive management, performance management, TUPE, outsourcing, discrimination law, and a full range of employment litigation, including complex discrimination cases.

Prior to training as a lawyer Paul had more than a decade of experience working in in-house HR roles, including being Head of HR, across sectors covering retail, construction, manufacturing and logistics.

He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and past-Chair of the Northern Ireland CIPD Branch. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and IoD Ambassador for Diversity and Inclusion. He is also a visiting Professor to the school of law at Ulster University.

He regularly runs cases in the Employment Tribunals, both in GB and NI and has also been involved in Alternative Dispute Resolution in employment matters.

Martin O’Brien, Barrister at Law

Martin O’Brien has been a practising barrister at the Bar of Northern Ireland for 34 years, specialising in employment and discrimination law. He has a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Emergency Law, and was an academic lecturer at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast, for 19 years. Martin is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Martin was called to the Bar of Ireland in 1998 and served as a part time Judge of Employment Tribunals from 1998-2009. He is also a part-time Judge of Appeals Tribunals, and an Adjudicator of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeal Panel. The Minister for Justice appointed Martin a Parole Commissioner in January 2017.

In addition to sitting on a number of boards and committees, Martin was the Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon, until December 2019, and was a member of the Board of Governors of St. Mary’s University College, Belfast (a College of The Queen’s University, Belfast) until 2020. He is also the Chairman of a children’s Safeguarding Advisory Panel.

Martin has been a qualified Mediator since 2010 (Mediation Institute of Ireland) and is a mediator with Concord Resolutions. He qualified as an International Arbitrator with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London in 2018, and is a member of the arbitration panel of CCODR.

Emma McIlveen, Barrister at Law

Emma graduated top of her class from Queen’s University, Belfast with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Law and Politics. During her law degree Emma completed an internship with the Office of the Lord Chief Justice for Northern Ireland.

Following graduation from Queens Emma was selected to participate in an Irish American Bar Association programme in Los Angeles. Subsequently Emma was awarded a Kennedy Scholarship to enable her to study at Harvard University. During her time there she focused on international law, human rights and conflict resolution.

While at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies Emma represented IPLS at the International Mediation Competition in Chicago and the International Negotiation Competition in Lucerne. Emma subsequently graduated as the best Bar trainee and was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2016. Emma was also admitted to the New York Bar in July 2016.

Emma is a specialist employment disputes barrister, providing strategic advisory and advocacy services to respondents and claimants. She is the current Vice Chair of the Employment Lawyers Group in Northern Ireland. She also practises across Northern Ireland, GB and the Republic of Ireland and has experience of cross border disputes. Outside of the Bar, she is a mother of 3 young children, sits on the Appeals Committee for the Irish Football Association and is an active Committee member of NI Medico Legal Society.

Emma is also an accredited mediator with the Mediation Forum Ireland and therefore brings a wealth of experience across litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Joanne Mackey, Managing Practice Development Lawyer

Joanna is a Managing Practice Development Lawyer in Lewis Silkin. She is part of a team of specialist lawyers who help keep our clients and colleagues on top of developments in employment law and who provide tools and training to ensure that our colleagues excel in their roles.

Joanna is focused on helping my colleagues deliver a first-class service to our clients. In doing so, she draws on her extensive experience as an employment lawyer, which she gained with firms in London and in Northern Ireland and in knowledge management, which she gained with a leading international law firm.

Joanna is a highly experienced employment lawyer and had a wealth of experience in employment litigation through the Tribunal system.

Michael Morris, Trainee Solicitor

Michael is a Trainee Solicitor in the Employment, Immigration and Rewards division based in Belfast.

He completed an MA in International Relations, with a focus on international human rights, at the end of 2018. After which, he joined Jones Cassidy Brett Solicitors as a paralegal, assisting the partners with all matters relating to NI/GB employment law.

At Lewis Silkin Michael assists on a diverse range of employment issues, covering both NI and GB. He is often involved in a number of varying Tribunal and Court of Appeal cases, drafting correspondence and pleadings, reviewing legal documentation and conducting research into relevant case law and publications which may assist in our arguments.

Similarly, Michael has undertaken significant research into discrimination related issues to aid in the delivery of in-house training for clients, keeping them informed and up to date with new developments. Michael has also been involved in drafting advice for clients in relation to discrimination matters, as well as employee contracts and he has a keen interest in all issues related to discrimination and equal pay, as well as disciplinary and grievance matters.

Kevin Gallagher, Managing Associate

Kevin is a Managing Associate in Lewis Silkin’s Employment, Immigration and Reward division based in Belfast. He has extensive experience of advising employers across a broad range of sectors in Northern Ireland including the insurance industry, local government, construction, the charitable sector and the manufacturing industry.

Kevin provides day to day advice and guidance to employers on a wide range of internal employment related issues including drafting of contracts and policies, the conduct of internal procedures and compliance with statutory requirements. He regularly advise clients on matters such as grievances and disciplinaries, dismissals, restructures, collective consultations and TUPE transfers.

Kevin has particular expertise of defending claims on behalf of employers in the Industrial Tribunal and Fair Employment Tribunal to include unfair dismissal claims, discrimination claims, whistleblowing and claims arising under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations/Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. Kevin also regularly act for Employers in the defence of employment related claims issued in the County Court and High Court in Northern Ireland.

Megan Kerr, Trainee Solicitor

Megan is a Trainee Solicitor at Lewis Silkin, commencing her training with the firm in September 2022. She is currently in the employment team in the firm’s Belfast office.

Megan has completed an integrated Honours and Masters Degree in Law (incorporating the Legal Practice Course) at Northumbria University in 2017. Following the completion of my degree, I gained experience as a Paralegal working primarily in dispute resolution and litigation in two leading national law firms.

She has a wealth of litigation experience and assists the team in responding to claims, discovery and document management, data protection, witness statements and in attending at hearings.

Dr Esther McGuinness, Senior Lecturer in Law, Ulster University

Dr Esther McGuinness is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Ulster University, a former Head of the Law School and founder and Co-Director of the Ulster University Law Clinic. She has 25+ years experience in the employment law field.

As Co-Director of the multi-award winning Ulster University Law Clinic, she supervises LLM Access to Justice students in providing pro-bono (free) services to claimants who might otherwise be unrepresented in the areas of social security and employment law and family law. The Clinic has offices in Belfast and at Magee.

She is currently an external examiner for ADR/Employment Law Programmes at Dublin City University and the Northern Ireland Correspondent for the Irish Year Book of International Human Rights Law.

Professional Affiliations: Member of Employment Lawyers Group; Member of the Tribunal Users group; Member of the Institute of Employment Rights; Member Committee on the Administration of Justice, Council Member Irish Association of Law Teachers.

Venue: The room number is LT2 in BC-LG-304. This is a lecture theatre on the lower ground floor (there is lift access). It is located in the main building (Mary Ann McCracken Building) on York Street.

Details of nearby parking can be found here: York Street Belfast parking - Car Parks, Street Parking, Private Garages

Please note:

1. Reminder emails will be sent to you the day before, with a further reminder on the day of the event.

2. Photography and video production may be taking place at the event, and these images may be used in the CIPD newsletters.

3. By attending the event, you are giving consent for your image to be used on any CIPD promotional materials.

4. As we are supplying refreshments, if you can no longer attend, please cancel your place either on Eventbrite, or by responding to the confirmation email.

5. This event may include an external speaker who has prepared their own presentation. Any views or opinions expressed by the speaker are their own and do not reflect those of the CIPD.

6. If you require any reasonable adjustments to enhance your experience, please get in contact with us by responding to the confirmation email and we will do our best to accommodate.