Caroline Doran Millett

Partner

Employment | Directors and Snr Execs | Settlement agreements

About Caroline

Caroline works closely with international and UK based businesses, having advised on all employment issues including redundancies and negotiated exits, dismissing CEOs, team moves, restrictive covenants, shareholder disputes, conducting whistleblowing investigations and sexual harassment.  She also advises senior employees and senior executives, including C-Suite directors for FTSE 100 companies, shareholders and founders.

Caroline is a leading employment law expert for employers and multi-national businesses and she is a recommended lawyer in Legal 500 and Chambers as a leader for employment law for senior executives, senior employees, directors and founders. (The Legal Directories award the best lawyers and best solicitors in the UK and London after recognition from clients and other lawyers.) She advises executive and non-executive directors in both listed and private companies.  She regularly advises clients in the City, Financial Services, Insurance, Technology and Professional Services industries.

Independent Client Feedback on Caroline

An experienced and commercially aware lawyer, she comes recommended by the Legal 500 UK and Chambers UK, the top ranked guide to the best UK law firms and best UK lawyers, and will negotiate hard and, if necessary, fight fiercely for her clients. Caroline clients have described her as “completely unflappable… and genuinely cares about her clients” (Legal 500, 2016), “excellent” (Legal 500, 2015) and “thinks strategically and produces good creative solutions’ (Legal 500, 2023), “She has a great combination of clarity, rationality and assertiveness but is also very caring, warm and responsive.” (Chambers, 2025) “Caroline is an excellent, experienced partner and it was a pleasure to work with her.” (Chambers, 2025), “She is always very supportive, with a strong understanding and ambition to deliver the best outcome for me in my case.” (Chambers, 2025), “Caroline Doran Millett is excellent – a very safe pair of hands and a tough defender of her clients.” (Legal 500, 2025) “Caroline Doran Millett managed my case very professionally and I felt she had a strong sense of responsibility to achieve the right outcome.” (Legal 500, 2025).

Chambers, 2025 recognises she “advises a range of senior executives on complex matters including whistle-blowing, discrimination, unfair dismissal, victimisation and sexual harassment claims. She is known for her understanding of the financial services sector”.


Caroline's expertise in senior executives, senior employees, company directors and founders.

Caroline is a key member of the Settlement Agreement team in London , advising on “without prejudice” discussions, Protected Conversations, termination negotiations and negotiating financial exit packages and Caroline leads the Senior Executive and Company Directors team.

Caroline’s expertise in senior executives includes senior employees, company directors, shareholders and founders. Caroline has expertise advising on raising sexual harassment allegations, and particular experience in defending senior executives and employees facing unfounded or false allegations of misconduct at work including been wrongly accused of sexual harassment or fraud at work. She represents individuals from the Financial Services Sector including private equity firms, investment banks, hedge funds, trading and broking. Her City clients include HSBC, Barclays, Nomura, Credit Suisse, RBS, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Rothschilds, SMBC Nikko Capital Markets on matters including exit negotiations, redundancy payments, bonuses, grievances and disciplinary allegations.  She has advised on the employment implications of UK and international regulatory issues including FCA, DOJ and HMRC investigations. She has assisted clients relating to film financing tax fraud allegations and suspected manipulation of the foreign currency markets and insider trading allegations.

Legal 500, the Directory of leading lawyers in London, Employment, Senior Executive (2023) says ‘Caroline Doran Millett leads the Employment Team and has a great reputation for seeing the big picture.’

 

 

Caroline’s expertise and advice for senior executives and employees, City professionals, directors and founders includes:

  • Contract reviews; including bonus or restrictive covenant reviews
  • Pay and bonus disputes
  • Team moves, restrictive covenants and allegations of confidential information theft or misuse
  • Unfair dismissal and redundancy
  • TUPE and mergers
  • Whistleblowing
  • sex, race, age, gender reassignment and maternity discrimination and sexual harassment
  • equal pay claims
  • without prejudice discussions, settlement agreements, “Protected Conversations” and exit negotiations and packages

Caroline's commercial expertise

Caroline assists UK and international businesses on all HR and employment matters. She often receives referrals from UK and international law firms and professional advisors as she is trusted to deliver excellent service and strategic employment legal advice.

Caroline advises on all aspects of UK employment law, including:

  • contracts reviews and drafting employee handbooks
  • HR and employment training
  • whistleblowing, misconduct and grievances investigations
  • dismissing employees
  • poor performance issues
  • misconduct allegations (including sexual harassment and fraud)
  • boardroom, bonus, contractual and shareholding disputes
  • restrictive covenants, confidential information theft and team moves
  • disciplinary and regulatory investigations in the UK and USA
  • wrongful and unfair dismissal claims
  • sex, race, age, gender reassignment and maternity discrimination and equal pay claims
  • without prejudice discussions, settlement agreements and exit negotiations and packages
  • redundancies and business restructures
  • cross border litigation and employment disputes
  • conducting and advising on complex whistleblowing investigations for FTSE 100 and high profile entities
  • helping businesses dismiss CEOs, Executive Chairmen and other board members with complex high value remuneration packages
  • TUPE, takeovers, mergers and acquisitions

Memberships and Credentials

  • International Bar Association
  • Society of English and American Lawyers

Caroline has numerous legal articles published and has been quoted in newspapers and journals including:

The Financial Times Willis Towers Watson executive to get $21m pay-off | Financial Times (ft.com), Reckless bankers face having to pay back salary | Financial Times (ft.com), Bankers seek ways round bonus clawbacks | Financial Times (ft.com)

The Times Boris and his troubles may have a lesson for us all (thetimes.co.uk),

The Guardian As working from home becomes the new normal … know your rights | Work & careers | The Guardian

cityam.com British Airways and the pilot strike: Are shared profits schemes the answer? (cityam.com), Female staff facing sexual harassment in online meetings, lawyers warn – HRreview, Learning from the Presidents Club – The Caterer and specialist industry and legal journals including the New Law Journal.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Caroline was also named as one of Britain’s Top 50 Irish Legal Professionals working in Britain, which acknowledges the contribution and excellence of leading legal minds in Britain.  Legal 50 by The Irish Post – Issuu

Caroline was invited to speak at the International Bar Association (Boston) and has spoken at other prestigious conferences.

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