Sarah MacLarty

Sarah is an experienced Senior Associate in the Employment team and has specialist expertise in professional sport employment law. Sarah has a sporting background herself and has represented England in rowing. She is identified as a Leading Associate in the Legal 500, 2024 and Clarke Willmott’s top tier Sport team is identified as Tier 1.

Sarah has acted for high profile professional sports players including premier league managers, footballers and rugby players, including internationals. She provides advice to a global sports agency.

Sarah’s work is frequently at board level and includes international clients. She provides commercial employment law support to the firm’s corporate and commercial clients, across the full range of their employment law support needs and including cross border transactions.

Described in legal directory commentary as a “standout litigator”, Sarah has extensive employment tribunal litigation experience and regularly represents clients including in the education, manufacturing and hospitality sectors to defend claims.  She has favourably concluded multiple claims involving complex discrimination and whistleblowing issues and has experience in the Employment Appeals Tribunals.

Experience

• Sarah represents clients defending the full spectrum of employment claims including unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing and employment status issues. Her work includes advocacy for clients at pre-hearing review which results in strike-out of claims at an early stage.
• Sarah provides on-going, strategic advice to a range of higher and further education organisations in the region. She has particular expertise in managing long-term sickness absence and work-related stress situations, which reach swift and successful conclusions for clients.
• Advising on employment issues arising in corporate acquisitions, business reorganisations, harmonisation projects, collective redundancy consultation, and TUPE compliance. Advising on commercial employer compliance issues for their workforce and right to work in the UK matters.
• Sarah advises on equal opportunities matters and provides executives and HR Directors with training on employment law.
• Sarah contributes to seminars, press articles and employment newsletters, providing updates on changes to employment legislation and how they can be implemented into the workplace. She is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association.