Management Committee

The ELA Management Committee has oversight of all ELA's work. It decides on key matters in relation to the Association's strategy and policy. For example, the Committee decides on the direction of its membership service development, oversees the Association's finances and constitution, and has overall responsibility for ELA's administrative function.

The Management Committee gives guidance to each of ELA's sub-committees, all of whom report back to the Committee. All new initiatives undertaken by the sub-committees are authorised by the Committee.

ELA Management Committee 2008-9

Chair
Suzanne McKie

Suzanne is a barrister of 1991 call specialising wholly in the area of employment law. She is based in London and practises throughout Great Britain, for employers and employees. She is highly recommended in the current and in past editions of the Legal 500 and the Chambers and Partners Directories. She is dual qualified as a Solicitor (and practised for 3 years). She lectures widely and is co-author of a number of legal text-books. She has extensive committee experience, including with the Diversity Committee of the Bar Council and as a trustee of Redress, a human rights charity.

Suzanne has been on the ELA Management Committee for 8 years; Editor of ELA Briefing (2001-2004) and Deputy Chair of ELA (2004-2008). She co-created the Litigation Weekend and Advocacy courses. In the last 4 years she has helped develop the new website, ensured changes to the constitution (to allow one vote and copies of ELA Briefing for all) and assisted in the increase in reserve funds for ELA’s future development.

Deputy Chair
Joanne Owers

Joanne is currently a Partner at Fox Williams, having trained at Lovells and worked at both Baker & McKenzie and Charles Russell. She has been an employment specialist since she qualified back in 1995. She enjoys a diverse practice acting for a wide variety of primarily employer clients from multi-nationals to public sector organisations, as well as senior executives.

Joanne has a particular interest in discrimination work and writes and lectures widely in the area of age discrimination in particular.

She has been an active member of ELA’s Training Committee since 2001, during which time she has devised, planned and chaired numerous London evening sessions, breakout sessions at the Annual Conferences, and has chaired and spoken at many ELA courses. She was a member of the ELA working party on age discrimination and for the past year have served as one of the London and South-East Regional Representatives on the Management Committee.

Treasurer
Jane Amphlett

Jane Amphlett is a Partner in the 40-strong Employment Team of Addleshaw Goddard LLP and is based in London.

Jane has specialised in employment law since qualifying in 1993 and has been a member and regular attendee at ELA training and events since then! She trained with Eversheds in Norwich and remained there until 1996 when she moved to Manches in London. She became a Partner and Head of Employment at Manches in 2000.

Since moving to Addleshaw Goddard in 2004, she has acted mainly for employers, but also advises individuals, on all aspects of employment law.

Richard's practice as a partner with Dawsons LLP encompasses the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment work, acting for both employers and employees at all levels. Regularly advising both sides in employment disputes (not at the same time!) puts him in an ideal position to represent the perspective of both respondent and claimant lawyers.

He has acted in a number of reported cases, including Whitehouse v Blatchford & Sons (CA), and has extensive advocacy experience in Employment Tribunals and the EAT. He regularly contributes articles to ELA Briefing and other journals.

Richard has been on the Management Committee for five years. Over the last year, he has overseen a fundamental review of the ELA constitution. He is also on the Editorial Board of ELA Briefing.

Editor, ELA Briefing
Alex Lock

Alex was called to the Bar in 1996, but did not practise as a barrister, and worked for a company providing employment law services to businesses. Throughout the next 3 years he appeared in employment tribunals throughout the UK defending all manner of employment claims, as well as providing advice and assistance