Nicola studied Law (LLB) with European Law and qualified as a solicitor in 2000 at a large City law firm where she joined the Insolvency Team set within their Banking Division. She took time out from law to run a garden design and build practice for fifteen years before returning to law in 2018 as legal counsel for a company undertaking background checks on employees recruited into areas with high compliance needs. That role covered contract negotiation and compliance with the then new GDPR legislation where she provided advice on data processing.
For the last six years, Nicola has acted as Group Solicitor and Head of Legal Services for two higher education institutions covering a wide range of work including student wellbeing issues, the Equality Act 2010, employment law, freedom of speech, contract and land law plus a variety of issues relating to compliance and governance. Nicola has experience of working with regulators such as the Office for Students and Information Commissioner’s Office.
She has worked with local councils and the NHS on contract negotiation, and she has experience in civil litigation at the High Court and at Employment Tribunals. She recently worked on the sale of a multimillion-pound piece of land and has provided university’s Board of Trustees with advice on specialist governance issues relating to unions and to procurement.