Legal advice for membership organisations

At Penningtons Manches Cooper, we have an approachable and highly experienced team of lawyers with in-depth understanding of the full spectrum of issues faced by membership organisations - including trade unions and staff associations. Whatever challenges you or your members are tackling, we are perfectly placed to deliver the optimum solution.

Our membership organisation team, led by partner Binder Bansel, advises on employment issues in the workplace, claims arising from personal injury or travel accidents affecting members and their families, the protection of privacy and reputation, and family matters.

Leading experts in the field of complex discrimination claims and class actions, our employment lawyers specialise in claims involving equality, whistleblowing and health and safety issues. With decades of experience, the team understands how best to achieve the right result, whether pursuing a claim through litigation or advising on an alternative solution. Our track record includes acting on ground-breaking claims that have pushed the boundaries of workplace rights for the members of various staff associations including police officers who belong to a police federation.

Penningtons Manches Cooper's personal injury, clinical negligence and holiday accident claims practice is one of the largest in the UK and provides nationwide coverage. Our lawyers handle a full range of claims, with particular expertise in complex and catastrophic injury cases, both in the UK and abroad. The team includes lawyers who were the first to take into account the risks injured police officers face under the Winsor reforms of medical / capacity dismissal.

We have extensive experience of issues affecting trade unions: our employment experts regularly act on matters within a unionised workplace on collective labour and trade union law and are involved in a number of high profile claims about the rights of individuals in this area. We also consider regulatory and rule book issues and complaints before the Certification Officer.

Safeguarding reputation and privacy is crucial. Our defamation and privacy lawyers take strong and effective action against publications on behalf of membership organisations and their members who are the subject of defamatory allegations: however prevention is better than cure so we often advise on press statements and how to keep defamatory stories out of the media. We increasingly assist members whose private and confidential information has been wrongly disclosed, whether by their employer, the media or another third party.