The Case-Ready Pack: when people issues have gone legal (or are about to)
There’s a moment in people management where everything changes.
ACAS makes contact.
An ET1 lands.
Solicitors are instructed.
Or a grievance, dismissal, or exit starts to feel inevitable — and challengeable.
At that point, the issue isn’t just “HR”.
It’s risk, evidence, and decision quality.
That’s where the Case-Ready Pack comes in.
This isn’t legal advice — and it isn’t HR admin
When situations escalate, most organisations fall into one of two traps:
They rely on internal HR processes that were never designed for scrutiny.
Or they hand everything to lawyers in a state of chaos and hope for the best.
Both approaches are expensive — financially and emotionally.
The Case-Ready Pack exists to sit between those two worlds.
Most HR reacts. I design decisions that stand up later.
When the Case-Ready Pack is the right move
The Case-Ready Pack is designed for situations where:
An ET1 has been received
ACAS Early Conciliation is underway
Solicitors are already involved
A dismissal, grievance outcome, or exit is likely to be challenged
Leaders feel exposed, rushed, or unclear on the strength of their position
This is the point where structure matters more than speed.
What usually goes wrong at this stage
By the time legal support is engaged, the underlying problem is rarely the law itself.
It’s usually:
unclear timelines
inconsistent manager accounts
evidence gathered after decisions were made
emails written under pressure
rationales that don’t quite align with the process followed
Legal advice can’t fix that after the fact.
It can only work with what already exists.
The Case-Ready Pack is about organising the reality before it hardens into liability.
What the Case-Ready Pack actually does
The Case-Ready Pack is a focused intervention that brings order, clarity, and defensibility to high-risk people situations.
1. Stabilises the situation
The first priority is containment:
what has already happened
what must not happen next
where exposure is quietly increasing
This stops well-intentioned actions making things worse.
2. Builds a clear chronology
I consolidate:
key events
decisions taken
communications issued
documentation relied on
Everything is pulled into a single, coherent timeline that can be understood by leadership and external advisers.
3. Tests decision logic
Decisions are pressure-tested for:
fairness
proportionality
consistency
procedural soundness
This is about identifying what stands up — and where the weaknesses really are.
4. Aligns leaders and managers
In high-risk cases, inconsistency between managers is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility.
I work with leaders to:
align on the narrative
tighten explanations
prepare for difficult conversations
reduce emotional leakage
This is where many cases quietly fall apart if it’s ignored.
5. Produces a lawyer-ready pack
You receive a structured case pack that:
sets out the employer’s position clearly
identifies strengths and vulnerabilities
reduces duplication and re-work
This allows solicitors to focus on strategy, not untangling facts — reducing contact time and cost.
What the Case-Ready Pack is not
It’s important to be clear about boundaries.
The Case-Ready Pack is not:
legal advice or representation
ongoing ER case management
policy drafting
a substitute for solicitors
It is the organising intelligence that makes everything else work better.
The outcome this creates
Organisations typically leave this process with:
clearer risk visibility
calmer, more confident leadership
a defensible decision narrative
reduced legal noise
improved settlement posture
In some cases, escalation is avoided altogether.
Where it isn’t, the organisation enters the next stage prepared rather than reactive.
How this fits with Risk Triage
Risk Triage and the Case-Ready Pack work as a system.
Risk Triage is used when something feels off and decisions haven’t yet hardened.
The Case-Ready Pack is used when escalation has already occurred, or is imminent.
Both exist to do the same thing:
reduce exposure by improving decision quality.
Is the Case-Ready Pack right for you?
Ask yourself:
Has this moved beyond normal HR?
Are lawyers already involved, or likely to be?
Does the situation feel messy, emotionally charged, or difficult to explain cleanly?
If so, this is the point where a Case-Ready Pack adds the most value.
