Nicole Adams

Nicole joined Harper James in January 2026 and qualified in 2010. She trained at a regional firm before working at a consultancy firm for nearly three years. Nicole later returned to private practice at a national law firm, Clarke Willmott LLP, in 2016 and worked there for over nine years. Here, Nicole worked with both SMEs and larger businesses.

Nicole prides herself on building good relationships with her clients and providing them with prompt, commercial and clear advice to assist them with achieving the desired outcome in relation to all aspects of the employment relationship. She has experience of advising employers in respect of both contentious and non-contentious employment matters, including recruitment, employment status, disciplinary and grievance procedures, restructures and redundancy, sickness absence management, performance management processes, negotiated exits and settlement agreements, TUPE, subject access requests and employment tribunal proceedings.

Nicole is particularly passionate about defending employers in tribunal proceedings, having successfully represented a wide range of clients at the Employment Tribunal over the years in unfair dismissal, employment status, discrimination and whistleblowing claims. She also has experience acting as the investigating officer during sensitive investigations.

Nicole advises clients in a number of different sectors, including marine, professional services, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, technology and not-for-profit. She also trains and presents on employment law topics.

Outside of work, Nicole enjoys spending time with her husband and son, running and cycling with their dog and riding and competing her young horse.