Laura joined Stephens Scown in 2007 and is a Partner in the Employment team.

She specialises in HR and employment law, with a particular focus on the employment aspects of corporate transactions, insolvency, and healthcare sector deals. She works closely with employers to reduce complexity, manage risk, and support smooth transitions — whether through restructuring, acquisitions, or day-to-day HR challenges.

Laura qualified as a solicitor in 2000, after attending Durham University, completing her Graduate Diploma in Law at Exeter University, and her Legal Practice Course at the College of Law, Guildford.

Laura provides clear, commercially focused advice across:

• Business sales, mergers, and acquisitions
• Buying and selling care homes and merging GP practices
• Insolvency-related employment issues
• Executive terminations and settlement agreements
• TUPE transfers and restructuring
• Training and strategic planning for upcoming legislative changes, including the Employment Rights Bill

She enjoys working with clients who are thinking about the bigger picture, whether that’s acting ethically, aligning employment strategy with organisational values, or preparing for future legislative change. Her approach is collaborative, pragmatic, and tailored to each client’s needs.

Recent work includes:

• Advising on the share sale of a large care home business, including employment due diligence, complex indemnities and warranties, and issues around holiday pay, minimum wage compliance, and employment status
• Supporting a local authority and care provider through a complex TUPE transfer of domiciliary care services, following changes in service provision
• Working with a distribution business on a unionised workforce TUPE transfer, advising on navigating sensitive industrial relations and contractual obligations
• Advising on the acquisition of a catering company, including senior exits, consultancy agreements, and post-completion restructuring
• Supporting a GP practice merger, including post-completion advice on changes to terms and conditions of employment and restructuring
• Advising on employment risks and obligations in a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, including responding to a challenge by the Redundancy Payments Service regarding a potential TUPE transfer
• Providing day-to-day employment law support to an education sector client, including advice on disciplinary matters, contracts, and ethical employment practices
• Advising a large employee-owned employer on staff exits, performance management, sickness absence, and proactive support for employees experiencing menopause
• Providing training and thought leadership on the Employment Rights Bill, with a focus on ethical approaches to redundancy, consultation, and workplace culture

Laura works extensively with clients in the charity, healthcare, hospitality, and education sectors, and is known for her pragmatic, collaborative, and solutions-focused advice.

She also hosts Ethical HR breakfast events, bringing together HR professionals and business leaders to share ideas and explore best practice in values-led employment.

Laura is a trustee of the RAMM Development Trust, supporting the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter.

Outside of work, she enjoys travel, culture, running, skiing, and spending time with her son.