Scheduling Autumn intake: new employment and partnership matters are being booked from 12 October. Request a consultation
Firstlight Ridge Law Offices
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A long ridgeline above a valley catching the first light of the morning.

Employment · Partnership · Contracts

Clear advice before the deadline, not after it.

Firstlight Ridge is a small office handling workplace disputes, partnership exits and the contracts sitting underneath them. You speak to the lawyer who reads your file — not a queue.

Request a consultation See how a matter runs

Consultations Monday to Thursday, by video or in chambers. Evening slots by arrangement when a deadline is close.

First step

Fixed-fee first consultation

The fee is agreed in writing before the meeting, so the cost of finding out where you stand is never a surprise.

What you get

Written advice in plain English

Every consultation ends with a written summary: your position, the realistic options, and the dates that matter.

How we meet

Remote or in person

Video, telephone or in chambers. Documents can be sent ahead so the meeting is spent on advice, not admin.

Practice lanes

Four kinds of problem, handled end to end.

If your situation is not listed here, say so in the consultation request — we will tell you plainly whether this is the right office for it.

01

Employment & workplace

For people being dismissed, managed out, or asked to sign something quickly.

Settlement agreements, grievance and disciplinary procedures, redundancy consultation, discrimination complaints, and claims brought before a tribunal. Most matters here turn on paperwork and dates rather than argument, which is why the first review happens fast.

Typical path

  1. Document review and a written note of your position
  2. Correspondence or negotiation with the other side
  3. Settlement, or preparation of a claim if talks fail

Best time to call: the day the letter or draft agreement arrives.

02

Partnership & small business

For founders, partners and shareholders whose working relationship has stopped working.

Partner exits, shareholder deadlock, disputes over drawings and valuations, and the unwinding of arrangements that were never written down properly. Where a business has to keep trading through the dispute, the sequence of steps matters as much as the outcome.

Typical path

  1. Read the agreement — or reconstruct what was actually agreed
  2. Options note covering exit, buy-out and standstill
  3. Negotiated terms, mediation, or proceedings

Best time to call: before anyone changes the bank mandate.

03

Contracts & engagement terms

For anyone who has been handed a contract and a short window to sign it.

Employment contracts, consultancy and service agreements, restrictive covenants, supplier terms and licence arrangements. Review comes back marked up with what is standard, what is unusual, and the two or three clauses actually worth negotiating.

Typical path

  1. Marked-up draft with risk flagged clause by clause
  2. A short list of realistic amendments to request
  3. Redraft or negotiation support if you want it

Best time to call: while the draft is still a draft.

04

Tribunal & appellate work

For matters already listed, or decisions you believe were wrongly made.

Case preparation, witness statements, bundles, hearing advocacy, and advice on whether an appeal has a real prospect rather than a hopeful one. If an appeal is not worth running, you will be told that in writing before any further cost is incurred.

Typical path

  1. Merits assessment against the decision and record
  2. Statements, bundle and skeleton preparation
  3. Representation at the hearing

Best time to call: as soon as a decision or listing arrives.

How a matter runs

Five stages, and you always know which one you are in.

A pen, notepad and folded correspondence laid out on a desk during a case review.
Every file opens the same way: papers read in full, dates extracted, and a note of what has to happen first.

  1. Scoping call

    A short call to establish what has happened, what has been signed, and whether there is a deadline running. No charge, and no advice given at this stage.

    Usually the same week you make contact.

  2. Papers and timeline

    You send the documents; we build the chronology and identify the dates that constrain everything else. Anything missing is requested in one list rather than piecemeal.

    Before the consultation, not during it.

  3. Consultation and written advice

    The fixed-fee meeting, followed by a written note setting out your position, the options open to you, and a recommendation with the reasoning behind it.

    Written note follows within the agreed window.

  4. Action

    Correspondence, negotiation, drafting or filing — whichever the advice pointed to. You approve anything sent in your name before it goes.

    Costs re-estimated in writing at this point.

  5. Resolution and closing note

    The matter is concluded and closed with a short note: what was agreed, what you still have to do, and anything worth keeping for the future.

    Your file stays retrievable if it reopens.

Engagement & fees

Three ways to engage the office.

Whichever applies, the basis is agreed in writing before work starts, and you are told when an estimate needs to change.

Engagement one

Advice letter

A single review of your documents and a written answer to a defined question. Suited to settlement agreements, contract review and merits questions.

Includes
Document review, consultation, written advice
Billing
Fixed fee, quoted and agreed before work begins
Best for
One decision you need to make properly
Engagement two

Matter representation

Ongoing conduct of a dispute: correspondence, negotiation, and representation through to resolution or hearing.

Includes
Full conduct of the matter and hearing attendance
Billing
Hourly, with monthly statements and a running estimate
Best for
Disputes that will not resolve in one letter
Engagement three

Standing retainer

A monthly arrangement for small businesses that need contracts checked and workplace questions answered as they arise.

Includes
Agreed monthly advice hours and document review
Billing
Monthly, reviewed every six months
Best for
Businesses with recurring contract and staffing questions

Disbursements — tribunal fees, experts, counsel where separately instructed — are always identified before they are incurred. If a matter is outside the office's practice, you will be told at the scoping call rather than after an invoice.

Counsel

Two lawyers, and you will know which one has your file.

Portrait of Marren Aday, principal of Firstlight Ridge Law Offices.

Marren Aday

Principal — employment and partnership disputes

Marren opened the office to do the kind of work that gets crowded out in larger practices: reading the whole file, writing advice people can actually act on, and saying when a claim is not worth running. Conducts every matter personally from the scoping call onwards.

  • Settlement agreements and exit negotiations
  • Partnership and shareholder disputes
  • Tribunal advocacy
Portrait of Ilse Cormack-Vane, associate counsel at Firstlight Ridge Law Offices.

Ilse Cormack-Vane

Associate counsel — drafting and hearing preparation

Ilse handles the parts of a matter where precision decides the outcome: chronologies, witness statements, bundles and contract drafting. Clients tend to meet Ilse when a matter moves from advice into preparation for a hearing.

  • Contract review and redrafting
  • Witness statements and bundles
  • Restrictive covenant questions

Field notes

Three things clients usually learn too late.

Note one · Employment

What a settlement agreement actually waives

A settlement agreement does not only end the dispute in front of you — it normally waives claims you have not identified yet. The waiver schedule is the part worth reading twice, not the payment figure at the top.

Note two · Contracts

Restrictive covenants are negotiable

Non-compete and non-solicit clauses are often presented as standard wording that cannot change. In practice the scope, duration and geography are the three levers most employers will discuss if you ask before signing.

Note three · Partnership

Exits go wrong in the paperwork

Most partnership disputes that end badly began with an undocumented change: a new profit split agreed verbally, a role that quietly shifted. Write down what changed, when, and who agreed it — that record becomes the case.

Questions

Answered before you have to ask.

What happens in the first consultation?
You will have sent documents ahead, so the meeting starts with your position rather than background. We go through what has happened, what the papers allow, what the realistic options are, and what each would cost. A written note follows.
How quickly do I need to act after a dismissal or a decision?
Employment and tribunal matters run on strict time limits that are often much shorter than people expect, and they can begin before you have finished an internal process. Make contact early even if you are undecided — protecting the deadline is separate from deciding whether to claim.
I have been given a few days to sign. Can you review it in time?
Usually yes. Say in your request that there is a signing deadline and what the date is. Short-notice contract and settlement reviews are scheduled ahead of general enquiries.
What documents do you need to get started?
Whatever you have: the contract, any letters or draft agreements, the relevant correspondence, and notes of meetings. Send it as it is — do not spend time organising it first. Anything missing will be requested in a single list.
Do you act for employers as well as employees?
Yes, for both, but never on opposing sides of the same matter. Conflicts are checked before the scoping call, which is why the call is short and collects names before facts.
I have already started talking to the other side. Is it too late?
No. It does mean the first task is establishing exactly what has been said or offered, in writing, before anything further is sent. Do not agree terms in the meantime.
How do you keep costs predictable?
Advice work is fixed-fee and quoted before it starts. Ongoing representation is hourly with a written estimate, monthly statements, and a revised estimate whenever the matter changes shape. You will not find out about a cost increase on an invoice.
Do I have to attend in person?
No. Consultations run by video or telephone as standard, and documents are exchanged electronically. In-chambers meetings are available when you would rather work through papers side by side.

Request a consultation

Tell us what has landed on your desk.

Send the outline and we will reply with whether this office can help, what the first step would cost, and the earliest slot available.

  • Replies are sent by email, normally within two working days
  • Urgent signing deadlines are prioritised — say so in the summary
  • A conflict check is run before any advice is given
Please do not send original documents with a first enquiry.