Richard Fox

Richard Fox  is a senior partner within the Employment team. He has been at Kingsley Napley throughout his career and until October 2019, led the Employment team since its inception more than 25 years ago.

 He graduated from Manchester University in 1983, qualified with the firm in 1986, became a partner four years later and in 1997 established Kingsley Napley’s Employment Department. 

Richard acts for corporates, organisations and senior individuals in relation to employment matters of all kinds.  These include confidentiality and restrictive covenants, executive pay, bonus and severance arrangements, unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing and redundancy programmes.  He is frequently asked to advise in situations involving allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace following the rise of the #MeToo movement, and the cases that have followed.

After having been President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (2000 to 2002) Richard became an active member of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA).  He was Chair of ELA’s Legislative and Policy Committee (the committee responsible for responding to Government on all consultations proposing new legislation on employment matters) between 2008 and 2010 and he remains an active member.

Richard was appointed Deputy Chair of ELA in 2010 and served as ELA Chair from 2012 until 2014.

Richard continues to be very much involved in many ELA teams responding to Government and bodies such as the Law Commission and the Solicitors Regulation Authority in relation to proposals for employment law change.

In 2013, Richard was invited to sit on an Independent Advisory Panel at the Cabinet Office. Chaired by Oliver Letwin MP, it was tasked with examining the Government's approach to consultations.  It reported in 2013.

Richard has published numerous articles on employment topics of all kinds, including employment tribunal reform, employee/worker status, and allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace.

Richard is a well known commentator on employment law issues, appearing often in the Press (The Times, The Financial Times, People Management, HR Magazine etc) and on TV/ Radio (BBC, ITV, Sky and Radio 4).

WHAT CLIENTS AND DIRECTORIES SAY

"Acts for both senior executives and employers, particularly in the financial services sector. Sources say he is "sensible, commercial and gets things done without letting ego get in the way," and that "he is somebody you could trust to act in your best interests.""

Chambers UK 2018, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession

Clients single out group head Richard Fox, who has significant experience representing senior individuals in the banking and financial services sectors, as well as media and sport. On the employer side, Fox acts for professional partnerships, as well as corporates and not-for-profit organisations. 

Legal 500 UK

"...particularly gifted in dealing with highly sensitive issues'..."

Legal 500 UK

"commercially minded and switched-on" 

Chambers UK

"possesses wide-ranging employment expertise, although he has a particular talent for dealing with employment fraud issues"

Chambers UK

"gave far more than was required to assisting [us] and we really appreciated your understanding of our position"

Client

"He seems to know everything"

Chambers UK

"is lauded for his "commitment and speedy, commercial solutions."

Chambers UK

PUBLICATIONS

Richard has been quoted extensively in the national and employment press over many years, particularly in relation to employment law reform and the role of ACAS and the Employment Tribunals in the resolution of disputes in the workplace.

Some of the numerous articles published in legal and human resources journals, and the National Press, are set out below: 

• Post-pandemic pay-cuts on the horizon bosses warn - quoted in HR Magazine, June 2020
• Potential penalties for not going back to the office - Financial News (print), May 2020
• The astonishing rise of remote hearings before the Employment Tribunal - People Management, May 2020
• COVID-19: partners’ future under spotlight during crisis - Accountancy Daily, April 2020
• Beware the hidden cost of furlough abuse - SME magazine, April 2020
• How Can Partners Prepare For a Post COVID-19 Firm Cull? - Legal Week, April 2020
• Coronavirus crisis accelerates digitisation of employment tribunals - Personnel Today, March 2020
• Rules of engagement - The Journal, March 2020
• Veganism is belief worthy of legal protection, judge rules - Financial Times, March 2020
• Forbidden love: fund firms clamp down on office romances - Ignites Europe, November 2019
• Political beliefs in the workplace: what does the law say? - Personnel Today, October 2019
• Hot Topic: Political conversations at work - HR Magazine, October 2019
• What has the government committed to on NDAs? -  People Management, September 2019
• The City wanting to redeem itself is a virtue - quoted in L'Agefi, July 2019
• Is it ever ok to hug your colleagues in the workplace - quoted in Huff Post, April 2019
• A year after the President’s Club dinner, has anything changed? People Management, January 2019
• What will 2019 hold? Brexit is not the only problem - quoted in The Times, January 2019
• Ted Baker's ‘forced hugs policy’: Lessons for other employers, HR Magazine, December 2018
• UK should reinstate sexual harassment law, Letter in Financial Times, September 2018
• Employment tribunals: ELA survey results revealed, ELA Briefing, May 2018
• Government must act to avoid a tribunals meltdown, quoted in The Times, May 2018
• Surprise at low uptake of employment tribunal refunds, quoted in People Management, January 2018
• The pitfalls of employee immigration status, People Management, December 2017
• Fair investigation of sexual harassment claims, People Management, November 2017
• Don’t regulate the gig economy, urges Matthew Taylor, People Management, November 2017
• We ARE the law - Legal roundtable by People Management, September 2017
• Employment tribunal fees - what took them so long? Employment Law Journal, September 2017
• Where now for tribunal fees? HR Magazine, July 2017
• What the employment tribunal fees ruling means for business. Article in Management Today, July 2017
• ‘A triumph for access to justice’: Supreme Court rules employment tribunal fees unlawful. Quoted in Legal Business, July 2017
• Unison wins landmark employment rights case. Quoted in Economia, July 2017
• What the Taylor review says about tax and employment. Co-written article with Graham Farquhar at RSM in People Management Daily, July 2017
• Litigation Reforms arrive on our shores. Article co-written with Joanne Owers of DAC Beechcroft LLP,  March 2017
• Is it all change for employment litigation? Article co-written with Joanne Owers of DAC Beechcroft LLP, February 2017
• Tribunal reform – handle with care.  Article co-written with Joanne Owers of DAC Beechcroft LLP, January 2017
• Richard was filmed by ITN on the Uber case in relation to the employment status of Uber drivers. Appeared in the Guardian among others, October 2016
• How to respond to the tougher regime on illegal working, People Management, September 2016
• Proposals for a single employment court, ELA Briefing, June 2016
• A single employment court could be made to work, says legal profession, People Management, May 2016
• Online employment court could hear claims in future, People Management, January 2016
• Early Conciliation through Acas proves its worth, The Times, July 2015
• Early Conciliation proving ‘helpful’ for employers, People Management, July 2015
• Tribunal fees question moves from court to politics, People Management, January 2015
• Important days for Early Conciliation, Law Society Gazette, July 2014
• Partnership members blowing the whistle gain employment protection, PM Daily, May 2014
• Employee dishonesty: do you know your staff?, HR Magazine, May 2014
• 'Making Acas early conciliation work for you', PM Daily, April 2014
• 'Early Conciliation heralds employment law overhaul', The Lawyer, March 2014
• ‘Employers should embrace new early conciliation rules’, The Times, March 2014
• 'Shoesmith case an important lesson for employers', HR Magazine, October 2013
• Interviewed on BBC news discussing the payout in the Sharon Shoesmith case, October 2013
• 'Dispute Resolution may have just got easier', People Management, July 2013
• Interviewed on Sky News in relation to the introduction of fees into the Employment Tribunal in the context of other changes being brought in at this time, July 2013
• 'Employment Law Policy “wide of the mark”', The Times, May 2013
• Appeared as a panellist in BBC Radio 4’s Unreliable Evidence chaired by Clive Anderson on "Employment Law – The Red Tape Debate", December 2012
• 'Labour and Relations - Maternity leave change will revolutionise the workplace', The Lawyer Magazine, November 2012
• 'Osborne's employee plan is flawed', Law Society Gazette, October 2012
• 'HR Talk: Age discrimination', People Management, May 2012
• 'Corporate manslaughter cases increase', People Management, Co-authored in April 2013
• 'Supreme Court rules compulsory retirement may be justified in UK', various publications, April 2012
• 'Employment Law changes 2012', BBC (news and radio), April 2012
• "Legislation should not be blamed for restricting growth", Personnel Today, November 2011
• "Boutiques step in where mid-tier fears to tread" (quoted), The Lawyer, October 2011
• "Accountability: Lessons from the Sharon Shoesmith case", Personnel Today, July 2011
• "Tackling dishonesty amongst partners", Law Society Gazette, June 2011
• Interviewed on BBC News, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC1's Breakfast Programme about Sharon Shoesmith winning her sacking appeal, May 2011
• "Work it Out", commenting on the government's plans to cut red tape in employment tribunals, Solicitors' Journal, May 2011
• "Resolving Workplace Disputes: ELA Responds", reporting on ELA's detailed response to the government's consultation paper on resolving workplace disputes, ELA Briefing, May 2011
• Interviewed on the BBC by Clive Coleman, Legal Affairs analyst for the BBC about the government's decision to abolish the Default Retirement Age, April 2011
• New laws will 'damage job creation', warn business chiefs, Daily Telegraph, April 2011
• Richard Fox comments again on the ECJ ruling regarding preferential insurance premiums for women, The Lawyer, March 2011
• Interviewed in the Times commenting on legal regulations on behalf of the ELA, February 2011
• Interviewed on ITV’s News at Ten discussing age discrimination in light of the case brought by Miriam O’Reilly against the BBC in relation to the programme Countryfile, January 2011

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND MEMBERSHIPS

• Employment Lawyers Association (Former Chair)
• Association of Partnership Practitioners 
• The Law Society
• City of London Solicitors Company
• Industrial Law Society
• London Solicitors Litigation Association (Former President)

FURTHER INFORMATION

• Chair of the Employment Lawyers Association
• Former Chair of the Legislative and Policy Sub-Committee of the Employment Lawyers Association and Chair of many working groups on issues such as Employment Tribunal monitoring, the new ACAS Code of Practice on Dispute Resolution Procedures, Age Discrimination and Illegal Working
• Former President of the London Solicitors Litigation Association (2000 to 2002)
• Articles published, and has lectured on employment and litigation topics of all kinds including Employment Tribunal Reform and the law on dispute resolution, Anton Pillar/Search Orders, conditional/contingency fees, Race Discrimination, Blogging and Parental Leave.
• In 2016, Richard was included in the Fourth Edition of The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom for Employment Law.