Ex-KWM staff to receive £1m in compensation

You will recall that in our August 2017 update we reported on the ongoing dispute involving former employees of defunct law firm King & Wood Malleson (KWM) regarding KWM’s alleged failure to properly consult with them on a collective basis before the firm entered administration. Following our article, reports had suggested that the former employees and KWM’s administrators Quantuma were close to settling the dispute for the sum of £800,000 but the discussions concluded without a settlement being reached.

The claim has now been heard by the Employment Tribunal who ruled in favour of KWM’s former employees.  The 288 employees who brought the claim have now been awarded a total of £1m in compensation. The amount represented 8 weeks’ pay per claimant. Once again this judgment highlights the importance of specialist employment and insolvency advice when dealing with employees in an insolvency or restructuring situation.

Louise Attrup and Michael Kerrigan advise both insolvency practitioners and other stakeholders involved in insolvency and restructuring processes where redundancies, including large scale collective redundancies are involved. Often things move quickly in these circumstances and so our team are able to advise at short notice including out of hours. Contact Louise on 01727 735 663 or at la@debenhamsottaway.co.uk.