Sofia is a pragmatic employment and reputation management lawyer, predominantly working with ultra-high net worth clients.

She has extensive experience in advising on all matters relating to personal staffing. Her advice ranges from advising on recruitment and management to termination and post termination of staff engaged in the household or in the family/private office or engaged as part of an entourage. Due to the nature of Sofia’s clients and her practice, reputation management and privacy protection are integral to her work.

Her legal experience includes all aspects of contract drafting, including bespoke contracts of employment and non-disclosure agreements to protect the privacy of her clients as well as contentious work; she defends her clients’ position and reputation if they are faced with employment claims or unreasonable demands from ex-employees. Sofia has dealt with post-employment extortion demands from ex-employees and sought anonymity orders and restricted reporting orders to protect the privacy of her clients and their families. Her work involves negotiating as well as defending in the tribunal.

Sofia brings her previous corporate and commercial expertise into her role as personal adviser, her advice is commercial and practical. Sofia is also often called to advise upon or signpost clients on other personal and business matters. As a trusted adviser to a number of her private clients, Sofia assists with the selection and instruction of other key advisers.

“Sofia Syed is thoroughly professional and knowledgeable. creative and pragmatic. She has always made things incredibly simple for someone like me who has no legal background to follow.”

The Legal 500 2022

“Sofia is definitely an expert in this niche and sensitive area of employment law. She is a real go-to person for private household HR – there’s no doubt!”

Angus Harley, Country House Consultancy Partner, Knight Frank

“I would like to sincerely thank Sofia Syed for her hard work, expertise and support during my case. Sofia understood immediately that I was going through a very distressing time. From the outset, and at every interaction she listened attentively to what I was saying, always checking she had understood correctly. This meant she grasped the key issues and facts quickly and I did not need to repeat my story. She dealt with my case with efficiency and calmness, which meant I felt immediately reassured and was able to focus on giving and receiving information. She was always responsive, honest in her advice and took time to check my understanding. I had every confidence in her, and got the outcome I wanted.”

Nikia Tava

“Returning from one of Sofia’s sessions, I learnt an incredible amount of useful information and had 3 pages of notes to take back to the office!Sofia is a lively presenter, delivering really well throughout. Her content, is relevant and jam packed with useful legal tips and insights. Delivered in a way that is totally understandable, commercially savvy and at times very thought provoking. Sofia is such an engaging speaker that there is no need for the typical boring power point presentations – Sofia can engage an audience just by speaking, given her wealth of knowledge and expertise. Her style is relaxed and informal, whilst encouraging the audience to give their thoughts, feedback and sharing of experiences. This makes you feel very confident in her advice and that you could easily approach her with questions.”

Sophie Sheppard People Experience Lead, Unilever