Michael Chattle

Michael Chattle is a Legal Director and an England and Wales qualified lawyer within the Employment & Incentives practice. His primary practice area is Employment Law.

He advises clients on all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law both onshore, across the UAE's free zones and the wider Gulf region, with a particular speciality in the DIFC and ADGM free zones.

This includes advising clients on the entire employment lifecycle, including recruitment, employee onboarding (together with immigration considerations), contract drafting, company policies, performance management, investigations, disciplinary proceedings, mutual separation, termination, restrictive covenants, Emiratisation and defending various employee claims such as discrimination, whistleblowing and bonus entitlements. He has extensive experience providing HR advisory services both onshore, across the UAE's free zones and the wider Gulf region.

His recent experience includes successfully defending a claim in the DIFC SCT and dismissal of a subsequent appeal application; advising a financial services firm on the resignation of a key employee and subsequent claims for constructive dismissal; advising an international consultancy firm on the establishment of an entity and workforce in the UAE; and advising an international bank on the structure of its UAE workforce and subsequent employee transfers.

He holds a Legal Practice Course from BPP University (2014), a Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP University (2013) and a BA (Hons) from Royal Holloway College, University of London (2012). He was admitted as a Solicitor in England & Wales in 2016 and speaks English.