Chris Coombes advises clients on the full spectrum of employment issues and has broad experience working on global employment projects for clients with international operations. He helps clients find pragmatic, commercial solutions, especially in the context of settlement negotiations and post-termination restrictions. Chris has a particular focus on the platform economy and technology sectors, having spent the latter part of 2022 on secondment to Uber’s legal team.
Chris regularly advises clients in relation to redundancies, business transfers, grievances, misconduct, performance, data protection and trade union issues. He has experience in leading complex, sensitive settlement negotiations and has also worked on multiple high-value employment tribunal claims, with a particular focus on discrimination and whistleblowing.
Chris is recognised as a key lawyer in the Legal 500 (2025) and clients say, "Chris Coombes is a rising star, having been virtually seconded to one of our businesses for most of the year. What makes the difference is that GQ|Littler understand our business structure and the varying influences on decision making around the companies." Others say, "Philip Cameron and Chris Coombes have been supporting the Group for a number of years...They’re commercially focused, give good advice and take sensible views balancing the law with the objectives of the business. They’ve worked hard to understand us and our culture and it really shows in the advice they give."
Before joining GQ|Littler in in April 2020, Chris trained and qualified at international law firm Baker McKenzie. During his training contract at Baker McKenzie, Chris completed seats in the employment, private equity and corporate tax departments.
