HBJ Gateley has bolstered its employment law team with the appointment of David Hughes as partner.
David, who re-joins the firm from international law firm Clyde & Co, brings 25 years of dispute resolution and employment law experience to the practice. Over the course of his career he has acted for a wide range of clients in the public and private sectors in the Employment Tribunal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Sheriff Court and Court of Session.
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The appointment comes just weeks ahead of the firm’s merger with Addleshaw Goddard on 1 June, and will see David build on the combined presence in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, with a strong focus on the offshore oil and gas sector in particular.
Joining a team of seven employment specialists and splitting his time between the firm’s Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices, David will oversee a range of employment law issues facing clients, including unfair dismissals, discrimination, TUPE, senior executive exits and redundancy programmes.
Qualifying in 1992, David became a partner at Alan McDougall & Co. in 1995, before moving to lead Henderson Boyd Jackson’s (latterly HBJ Gateley’s) employment team in Scotland in 2000. In 2009 he became a partner at Simpson & Marwick, latterly Clyde & Co. In 2008 he was accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in employment law, and in 2012 he qualified as a Solicitor Advocate, with rights of audience in the Court of Session and Supreme Court.
David said: “I’m re-joining HBJ Gateley at a very exciting time for the firm. The merger with Addleshaw Goddard puts us in a strong position to develop our employment law practice across Scotland, especially in the oil and gas sector at a crucial time for the industry and the Scottish economy.”
Malcolm McPherson, senior partner at HBJ Gateley, said: “David is a tremendous addition to the team. He brings with him a wealth of technical expertise and a prolific reputation. His appointment marks part of our wider strategy to continue to invest in industry knowledge to better serve clients and grow our portfolio across sectors.”
