Join us for this lunchtime webinar dedicated to all things parental leave, for anyone who has questions about their rights and what options are available – or has experiences of their own to share. We will be talking about legal rights, different types of parental leave, handovers, return to work issues, promotion, KIT days, moving jobs while on leave and more.

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We have legal experts in employment law, as well as lawyers who have first hand experience of taking various types of parental leave, with us to walk you through the issues, challenges and benefits.

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Chair:
Anna Ward, Commercial, IP and Data Protection Lawyer, Biztech Lawyers

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Speakers:
Fiona Campbell, Global Privacy Counsel, Informa
Anna Ward, Commercial, IP and Data Protection Lawyer, Biztech Lawyers
Ben Packer, Partner, Linklaters LLP
Sophie Rees, Senior Associate, Bristows
Anthony Purvis, Head of Employment Law, Waterfront Law

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Why attend:
This is an essential session for anyone who has questions or is interested in discussing parental leave, or who would like to hear from those with personal experience, from an employee or an employer perspective.

SCL webinars provide an excellent opportunity to explore all sorts of interesting topics from the comfort of your own desk, without having to take time out of work (or family!) to attend. We are hosting this webinar at lunchtime for added convenience!

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Speaker bios:

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Anthony Purvis
Anthony is the head of Employment Law at Waterfront Law, a firm specialising in technology, employment, IP, commercial and corporate law.

Anthony has extensive experience in advising both employers and employees on all aspects of employment law, from drafting contracts and restrictive covenants to disciplinary issues and grievances, dismissals, TUPE,  and parental leave. Anthony has worked with employee parents, as well as employers, on return to work issues, shared parental leave, KIT days, and many other related topics.

Anthony also has young children and has taken parental leave himself, so he has first hand experience of what it involves and the sorts of issues that can arise.

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Anna Ward
Anna is a commercial, IP and data protection lawyer at Biztech Lawyers. She has worked at a number of different law firms in London and elsewhere including Waterfront Law and Mishcon de Reya.

Anna has taken maternity leave twice in the last few years, applied for promotion during the short 8 month period in between maternity leaves and navigated KIT days both during and after the pandemic. When she returned to work after her first maternity leave, she negotiated a different working pattern to fit around family life and is looking forward to discussing these experiences.

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Fiona Campbell
Fiona is an in-house data protection lawyer at Informa PLC. She has previously worked at both magic circle and boutique private practice firms in data protection and commercial litigation.

Fiona took shared parental leave in 2022 whilst working in private practice and will be soon be taking her second period of shared parental leave whilst working in-house. She made full use of KIT days, a staggered re-entry to work and experimented with a period of working part-time before returning to full time work. She looks forward to sharing her experiences on these varied issues.

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Ben Packer
Ben is a partner in the Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations team at Linklaters LLP, specialising in disputes in the tech, financial services and sports sectors. He was one of the first men at the firm to take shared parental leave when his second daughter was born in 2016 and can share his experiences of navigating a new type of leave for the industry, the impact on his family life and on his career.

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Sophie Rees
Sophie is a Senior Associate in the Corporate team at Bristows LLP, specialising in M&A and investment matters across the Technology and Life Sciences sectors. She sits on the Bristows Women’s Network Committee and regularly participates in mentoring schemes as both a mentor and mentee.

Sophie is currently on her second period of maternity leave and we are grateful to her for taking the time to join us to share her experiences of taking maternity leave, navigating leave-related considerations and returning to transactional work.

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This event is organised by the WiTL Group

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Administration notes:

Joining details:
For online events, we will send the Zoom link on the morning of the event.

Recording:
This event will be recorded and the recording will be available to delegates shortly afterward.

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