New employment lawyer joins BHP

Paul Hargreaves had built a reputation as one of the only employment law specialists in South Tyneside but has moved back to his native Newcastle with BHP.

 

He has joined the team led by Graeme Ritzema based at the firm’s Quayside office, part of a wider employment law division that BHP operates across the region.

 

Paul, 35, said: “BHP was recommended to me as a great firm to work for by people in the legal sector and I’m looking forward to developing my role here as the firm grows.

 

“The weight of employment law places a great burden on many businesses who cannot realistically keep up with continual changes. I act for employers to resolve any employment difficulties, most often advising them of their rights in dismissal situations, but also covering the whole range of rights under employment law for employers and employees.”

 

After graduating in history with law at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, Paul worked in reinsurance with Willis Corroon in Ipswich before spending a year in the Royal Air Force.  

 

He spent time travelling in Australia and New Zealand where he worked for a phone company before completing his law conversion at Northumbria University then joined Patterson Glenton & Stracey in South Shields, where he qualified six years ago.

 

He handled the high profile ‘whistle blowing’ case of Peter Collins, who successfully took the National Trust to an employment tribunal after he was dismissed from his position as a warden for speaking out over his concerns about a former landfill site in South Shields.

 

Through his hobby of hill walking, Paul has reached Everest base camp and also plays tennis and squash.