Charlotte
Smith

Charlotte is a Partner in our Employment & Immigration Group. She also leads the Walker Morris Employment-Sport practice and works closely with several Premier League and English Football League clubs, along with clients in the food, drink and manufacturing sectors.

Clear and commercially focused advice

Clients value Charlotte’s in depth-understanding of their industries and her ability to “balance the commercial and legal requirements” when providing advice (Legal 500). She’s ranked in Chambers and recognised as a Rising Star for both Sport and Employment in Legal 500.

Charlotte describes herself as “passionate about people” and always strives to achieve the best possible results for her clients when it comes to their workforces.  She advises on all aspects of the employment relationship, including contract negotiation, workforce management, investigations, business changes, employee exits and litigation.

Charlotte enjoys getting to know her clients and their approach to employee relations so that she can provide advice which is aligned to the business’ strategies and values.

Sport

Charlotte regularly acts for sports clubs in respect of litigation, including player and manager/coaching staff related disputes and arbitration proceedings, along with employment tribunal claims. She has extensive experience of negotiating contracts for football managers, coaching staff, and other senior sporting roles.

She also advises on sport regulatory and disciplinary matters such as release agreements, tapping up claims, governing body endorsements, safeguarding matters, anti-doping issues, player disciplinaries and equality and diversity standards.

Embracing change

In an ever-developing world of work, which is grappling with matters such as agile and flexible ways of working and the implementation of smart technology, Charlotte notes that “employees are more concerned than ever before about working for a business that aligns with their values, which is why employee engagement through innovation and sustainability is now a key part of attracting and retaining talent”.

To that end, Charlotte is part of the Walker Morris’ manufacturing sector group, which has created a dedicated Factory of the Future microsite as a hub for businesses thinking about investing in new technology or smart facilities.  She also participates in the Yorkshire Climate Action Coalition, sitting on its ‘Employee Engagement’ sub-group, which works with businesses to help them achieve their climate and sustainability goals.

“My clients know they can always pick up the phone to me”

Employers have had a huge amount to deal with in recent years, but Charlotte believes that where there are challenges, there are also opportunities – both employers and employees can benefit from a more innovative and flexible world of work.  To navigate significant and novel challenges, clients know they can use Charlotte as a sounding board – “my clients know they can pick up the phone to me whenever they want someone to sense-check their thinking”.

This proactive, commercial and practical approach fits well with life at Walker Morris; as Charlotte points out, “as an independent law firm we can be flexible and find new ways to service our clients and we have a great network of cross-departmental sector groups who work together on a day-to-day basis”.

“I love my role and am really passionate about what I do. I love a challenge and will always find a solution that works for the client.”