Fox

Fox is a specialist employment and partnership law firm based in the heart of the City of London, led by Ronnie Fox.  The firm frequently acts in high-value and sensitive City disputes (including employment, shareholder and general commercial disputes) and senior executive and partner moves.

Our team acts for both employers and executives, and for both professional firms and individual partners; that is a real advantage for our clients.  We understand the tactics, psychology, and motives of both sides.  Highly contentious matters are often settled discreetly and efficiently; when that is not possible Fox litigates aggressively in the Employment Tribunals and High Court.

Employment law

We advise employers on the full range of employment law issues, from drafting new employment contracts and updating staff handbooks to advising on grievances, tribunal claims, redundancies and dismissals.

We also act for many senior executives and directors, regularly reviewing job offers and advising on exit arrangements (including compromise agreements).  We have particular experience advising executives with complicated remuneration structures, including bonuses, deferred compensation and carried interest.

Partnership law

Many of our clients are in the professional (e.g. solicitors, accountants, doctors) or financial services (e.g. private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, investment banks) sectors.

Fox acts for individual partners and groups of partners leaving one firm and joining another.  We advise partnerships on every aspect of partnership law. 

In the current economic environment professional firms are actively “managing” their equity.  Some partners are being de-equitized and others asked to leave.  Firms reluctant to face up to this issue are losing their rainmakers – often to US-based firms – together with teams of associates.  The team at Fox offers solutions based on years of practical experience.

Ronnie Fox, the Principal of Fox, founded and was the first Chairman of the multi-disciplinary Association of Partnership Practitioners (www.app.org.uk), secured recognition for partnership law as a separate area of expertise and is widely regarded as the guru of partnership law.  Chambers UK (a client’s guide to the legal profession) ranks Ronnie as the sole ‘Star Individual’ at the top of the list of leading individuals for contentious partnership law in London, and Anne Hughes is ranked as an “associate to watch” in this area of practice.

Discrimination law

Under the Equality Act 2010, both employees and partners are protected against direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation and harassment on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

We advise employers on complying with the discrimination legislation; we draft appropriate policies and offer equal opportunities training.

As well as acting for employers defending discrimination claims, we also act for individual employees and partners bringing complaints of discrimination in the Employment Tribunals.

Commercial disputes

Fox advises on a broad range of commercial disputes. Such disputes often arise from the fall-out between partners, company shareholders and directors.

We act for a wide range of clients, including companies, partnerships and individuals. That is an advantage for our clients: the breadth of experience helps us to devise strategies to manage and resolve complex disputes. As a specialist firm, we are in a good position to take on cases with minimal risk of conflict issues.

Well-known for our expertise in employment and partnership disputes, we have also experience of fighting disputes relating to commercial contracts, corporate issues, negligence claims, private equity,  fiduciary duties and breach of trust.  We spend more time focused on our clients’ commercial objectives. Our aim is always to deliver clear, straightforward advice in plain English. In the course of litigation we establish budgets and constantly evaluate the legal merits and cost implications of a case.

Clients rarely want to end up in lengthy and expensive tribunal proceedings or Court battles. Our focus is on providing pragmatic solutions. Our team has extensive experience of alternative dispute resolution ,including negotiation, mediation, expert determination and arbitration.  When litigation cannot be avoided, we will fight hard to achieve our client’s desired outcomes. Members of our team have obtained and defended injunctions in employee competition and misuse of confidential information cases and have worked on applications for freezing injunctions, search and seize injunctions and harassment orders.

Regulation of the legal profession

The regulation of the legal profession in the UK is currently going through significant changes, with the introduction of Alternative Business Structures and successive new editions of the SRA Handbook.  We have a close interest in this area.

We have often advised lawyers on setting up new law firms, and firms converting into LLPs.