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We are a team of more than 600 professionals, with the depth of experience which makes us genuine experts in our fields. Together, gunnercooke’s people have strength across just about every corporate discipline and sector. We provide legal, commercial and strategic advice that delivers real value to the clients we work with, which span from multinational enterprises through to not-for-profit organisations. Our breadth of expertise covers some of the most interesting emerging disciplines such as charity, crypto, sports and competition law.
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International Offices
The gunnercooke group has 16 main global offices across England, Scotland, the US, Germany and Austria, with further plans for growth in the coming years. These offices enhance the existing in-house capability of our dedicated international teams and dual-qualified experts that cover Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, China, India, Poland and Hungary. Our team have clients across 123 jurisdictions, speak 46 languages and are dual-qualified in 21 jurisdictions. Our expertise means we can offer large teams to carry out complex cross-border matters for major international clients.
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Our story
gunnercooke is a Top 75 law firm. We comprise a rapidly growing number of experts spanning legal and other disciplines. Clients benefit from flexible options on fees to suit their needs, access to a wider network of senior experts throughout the relationship, and legal advice which is complemented by an understanding of the commercial aspects of running a business.
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Partner
Employment Law
Accolades
Expertise
Paul is an experienced and creative employment lawyer, with considerable experience in defending discrimination claims. He works for a number of public and private sector clients and has a particular focus on the education sector.
He enjoys strategic project work, including collective redundancy exercises and restructures. Paul regularly advises on the employment implications of TUPE transfers, and is an experienced advocate and regularly represent clients in the employment tribunal and (when required) the EAT.
Paul is a well-regarded speaker, who is regularly invited to speak at external conferences and events. He has been ranked on a number of occasions by both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 in education and employment law.
Paul Advises
- Major plcs through to SMEs
- Significant expertise in schools and education law
Experience Highlights
- Acted for major UK construction giant Sir Robert McAlpine Limited as its sole employment adviser for a number of years.
- Successfully defended a large FE college against a well publicised sex discrimination claim by an X-Factor contestant.
- Successfully represented a Christian college in a claim of religion and belief discrimination from a tutor who tweeted offensively regarding homosexuality and the church.
- Defended a Croydon secondary school against numerous claims of discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair dismissal by a high profile headteacher. All claims dismissed by the tribunal and the EAT.
- Successfully challenged the DfE in respect of an Islamic girls school’s all female teacher policy.
- Successfully defended a £400,000 claim for collective consultation by the UK’s largest trade union against a leading aviation business.
- Defended strike action by a trade union against a large transport client.
- Successfully represented a large FE college in the first reported appellate case on the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002.
Webinars
Career History
Previous Law Firms
- DWF LLP
- Gordons LLP
- Denison Till LLP
Education
- University of Huddersfield (LLM)
- University of Huddersfield (LLB)
Expertise
Back to top
Paul is an experienced and creative employment lawyer, with considerable experience in defending discrimination claims. He works for a number of public and private sector clients and has a particular focus on the education sector.
He enjoys strategic project work, including collective redundancy exercises and restructures. Paul regularly advises on the employment implications of TUPE transfers, and is an experienced advocate and regularly represent clients in the employment tribunal and (when required) the EAT.
Paul is a well-regarded speaker, who is regularly invited to speak at external conferences and events. He has been ranked on a number of occasions by both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 in education and employment law.
Paul Advises
Back to top
- Major plcs through to SMEs
- Significant expertise in schools and education law
Experience Highlights
Back to top
- Acted for major UK construction giant Sir Robert McAlpine Limited as its sole employment adviser for a number of years.
- Successfully defended a large FE college against a well publicised sex discrimination claim by an X-Factor contestant.
- Successfully represented a Christian college in a claim of religion and belief discrimination from a tutor who tweeted offensively regarding homosexuality and the church.
- Defended a Croydon secondary school against numerous claims of discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair dismissal by a high profile headteacher. All claims dismissed by the tribunal and the EAT.
- Successfully challenged the DfE in respect of an Islamic girls school’s all female teacher policy.
- Successfully defended a £400,000 claim for collective consultation by the UK’s largest trade union against a leading aviation business.
- Defended strike action by a trade union against a large transport client.
- Successfully represented a large FE college in the first reported appellate case on the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002.
Career History
Back to top
Previous Law Firms
- DWF LLP
- Gordons LLP
- Denison Till LLP
Education
- University of Huddersfield (LLM)
- University of Huddersfield (LLB)
Testimonials
"Paul Menham is a no nonsense lawyer, he takes a very pragmatic approach and gives clear advice. He’s great with clients and has built up long standing relationships with clients across different sectors. He has a loyal client base which reflects his success and down to earth nature."
Legal 500, 2026
"Paul is great. He provides clarity and works in a very straightforward way. He thinks commercially."
WYG plc
HR Director"Paul has a great appreciation of the social and business background to legal problems. He is a lawyer who doesn’t act like a lawyer, in that his advice is straightforward, he makes my team and our clients feel at ease and takes the stress out of what can often be rather difficult employment matters."
Fusion Business Solutions Limited
Managing Director