Matthew Kelly

Matthew is a Partner in our market-leading Employment, Labor and Pensions Group.

Matthew has over 20 years’ experience advising clients in the Further and Higher Education sector on contentious and non-contentious employment-related queries. In addition, Matthew is a member of our Education governance team and advises clients on a wide variety of governance-related queries.

Matthew is also one of the key partners in the firm’s market-leading Education sector. He has worked as a dedicated employment lawyer since qualifying in 2000 and has been part of the Education team since 2003.

Whether you are a Further or Higher Education institution, Matthew can advise you across the full spectrum of employment and governance-related matters. Working with many of the UK’s educational establishments, Matthew has acquired many years of experience in dealing with complex and multi-faceted matters requiring input and advice from other areas of the firm as and when needed.

A large part of Matthew’s role is helping organizations deal with matters that require urgent attention. This may include immediate telephone helpline advice, policy reviews and queries involving data protection and safeguarding. On the contentious side, Matthew handles a large volume of Employment Tribunal and High Court litigation regularly, dealing with complex cases involving discrimination and public interest disclosures.

Matthew has acted for numerous FE and HE institutions on a large number of litigious matters. His focus area is in dealing with complex multi-day cases involving a significant number of issues. His experience in dealing with issues strategically and tactically enables clients to feel confident in the results and outcomes.

Throughout his career, Matthew has presented at hundreds of events on employment law and governance-related matters. He regularly speaks at AoC and UHR regional events. He is a key member of Eversheds Sutherlands market-leading education training events and regularly speaks on all aspects of employment law that relate to the Education sector.

Matthew enjoys travel, reading, running, and spending time with his active four-year-old in his spare time. He is passionate about diversity and inclusion and regularly delivers training to clients on equality and diversity issues.

Legal Practice Course (Distinction), College of Law, 1998

LLM (First) St Catharine's College, Cambridge, 1997

LLB (2:1) St Aidan’s College, Durham, 1996