Susan Battye

Susan Battye

Partner

T +353 1 863 8541
M +353 86 014 3449

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Practice Areas

Susan Battye is based in our Ireland office where she is a partner and head of the employment practice.

Susan has over two decades' experience advising employers on the full life cycle of employment.  Her advisory experience includes: corporate restructuring and redundancies, employment support in M&A transactions, outsourcing and transfers of undertakings, secondment arrangements, executive remuneration requirements, harmonising employee benefits and entitlements, compliance projects, drafting employment contracts for regulated functions, grievance and disciplinary procedures, updating staff handbooks, HR policies and codes of conduct, hybrid and flexible arrangements, working time and right to disconnect projects, managing whistleblowing claims, internal investigations, and providing employment law training.

She has significant experience in resolving complex disputes, including bonus claims, breach of confidentiality clauses, enforcement of post-termination restrictions.  Susan has represented clients before the Workplace Relations Commission, including defending unfair dismissals, constructive dismissals, discrimination claims, whistleblowing and penalisation claims, workplace bullying and stress-related claims, industrial relations disputes and employment injunctions before the High Court.  Susan also provides strategic advice on managing the legal, commercial and reputational risks of implementing senior executive terminations, severance negotiations, and drafting settlement agreements.

Prior to joining Walkers, Susan was a partner in a leading Dublin law firm.

Admitted in:
Ireland

Qualifications:
BCL, University College Dublin
LLM in Computers and Law, Queen's University of Belfast
Law Society of Ireland
Diploma in Employment Law, University College Dublin

2021 Legal 500  - ‘Susan Battye is outstanding, strong listening skills and reactive. She also deploys very good interpersonal skills in tough matters requiring a high level of confidentiality. She demonstrated her trustworthy personality on many occasions.’

2021 Chambers Europe Guide - Band 4 (Employment) - Sources say that Susan Battye "has the ability to explain things very clearly, even to people who don't have a legal background." Her broad practice covers collective redundancies, outsourcings, senior executive dismissals and employment compliance topics. She heads the employment practice at Walkers.

2020 Legal 500 - Recommended Lawyer (Employment) - "Susan Battye has been a superb adviser for us on any and all employment matters. She takes a pragmatic, rational and reasoned approach which means we can assess a situation from all perspectives before we make a decision on how we move forward."

2020 Chambers Europe Guide - Band 4 - Susan "is extremely dedicated, responsive and capable of thinking outside the box," reports one client. Another source adds: "Her advice is practical and sensible, and she has a positive and reassuring approach."

2019 Recommended for Employment - Chambers Europe - A notable practitioner - "The "efficient" Susan Battye provides employment law advice relating to acquisitions, including TUPE and redundancy processes. She also has experience handling contentious proceedings involving bonus entitlements and unfair dismissal claims."

2018 Recommended for IFLR1000 - "Commercially focused and concise advice provided on often short deadlines."

2018 Recommended for Employment - Legal 500 Susan Battye provides "excellent advice and guidance"

2018 Recommended for Employment - Chambers Europe

2017 Recommended for Employment - Chambers Europe - "Very knowledgeable, responsible and pragmatic"

2016 Recommended for Employment - Chambers Europe

2015 Recommended for Chambers Europe - Susan Battye is "helpful and intuitive. She puts herself in our shoes and gives the kind of advice that really helps, rather than just going by the book".

Susan is a member of the Law Society’s Employment & Equality Law Committee and has tutored employment law on the Law Society’s Professional Practice Course.

Susan is also a member of the Employment Law Association of Ireland, European Employment Lawyers Association and the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association.

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