James Tamm, Director of Legal Services

Tell us more about your background?

For the most part, I have a purely legal background; I’ve always known what I wanted to do. However, the employment law side of things is something that developed slightly further down the line. I developed a taste for the subject during my time as a trainee solicitor at a private practice law firm in Liverpool, with it being one of the four types of law I studied during this period. I found it to be by far the most varied, interesting and challenging of the areas, and so I was keen to pursue it from this point onwards. The firm where I completed my training was a claimant trade union firm, so I feel I’ve seen most things from the other side of the fence, which gives me a unique insight now. From there, I went on to various employment law roles before joining Ellis Whittam as an Employment Law Adviser in 2011. In my nine years at the company, I’ve been lucky enough to undertake five different roles, with the most recent being as Director of Legal Services. I’m extremely proud of how far I’ve come professionally during my time at Ellis Whittam. Though I consider myself to be an all-rounder, I possess particularly extensive experience in dealing with litigations. Trade union issues and industrial action, complex TUPE, discrimination, redundancies and restructures, and board level disputes are all examples that immediately come to mind.

What does your role at Ellis Whittam entail?

In my capacity as Director of Legal Services, I am responsible for delivering the Legal Team’s strategic objectives and have direct line management responsibility for a team of around 45 lawyers. It’s a big job but I thoroughly enjoy it. In terms of my day-to-day, it’s pretty varied. Being in charge of such a big department, I am constantly attending to a series of small, short-term tasks whilst also delivering on big-picture strategic projects that add value to the department in the long-term. Because of the responsibilities I’ve taken on since moving into my latest role, I’m less hands-on with clients than I used to be, outside of a couple of our larger key accounts. The various demands on my time make it difficult to actually advise on a daily basis!

Which aspect of the role do you enjoy the most, and which do you find most challenging?

Employment law can be complex and challenging, but I feel that I thrive off this. COVID-19 in particular has meant that things are now changing more frequently and quickly than ever before, and keeping on top of the new regulations and translating them into readily digestible content for our clients has been very rewarding. However, the flipside of that is of course the workload, and trying to keep all the plates spinning has been a major challenge to overcome. There’s usually a number of different things ongoing at the same time and there never quite seems to be enough hours in the day.