I lead on Strategy at byrne·dean. Dual qualified as a lawyer in the UK and Australia, I work out of London and Sydney.
My background is a 20+ year legal career, specialising in workplace disputes, with a particular focus on discrimination, whistleblowing and dismissal cases in financial services and law firms. I also conducted strategic media relations for reputation management. This was mainly on behalf of individual claimants, although I also acted for organisations and those accused of serious misconduct. Some of these cases were extremely high profile, making the news and occasionally even changing the law. Most, however, settled confidentially, with reputation a paramount concern. Alongside my legal career, I have also dedicated my time to campaigns and policy work aimed at improving equality, diversity, inclusion and fairness in the workplace.
Although there is satisfaction in achieving sometimes swift - and often high value - resolutions for individuals, to help put the past behind them and move forward, it can be disappointing to look back at the bigger picture. My motivation in this career has been to achieve change, so that workplaces can be kinder, fairer workplaces, where people are able to realise their potential. Yet all too often, my cases saw the same forms of discrimination, harassment or victimisation repeated, sadly sometimes in the same workplaces. Against a backdrop of bruising grievance and litigation processes, compensation was paid out. In the meantime, however, problem behaviours and systems had continued, and bright, talented individuals had left the business, and sometimes their careers.
My experiences as a lawyer, campaigner, and in communications, inform my work. Much of what we do here at byrne·dean is about solving the issues before they start - and so that they need not inevitably happen again. After all, less work for lawyers + more productive workplaces = a win-win both for individual workers and their organisations. Our strategy projects also apply deep thinking to support businesses undergoing a change in direction or ambitiously vying for top talent. I am energised about diving deep into specific challenges, one workplace at a time, to achieve meaningful, tangible change.
2019 - 2023: Practice Leader - Employment Law; Special Counsel (formerly Legal Consultant), Shine Lawyers
2018 - 2019: Partner (LLP member), CM Murray LLP
2002 - 2018: Qualified 2004, Partner/Principal Lawyer equivalent since 2011, Slater & Gordon (formerly Russell Jones & Walker)
2000 - 2002: Public Relations & Market Research roles, Russell Jones & Walker (part-time whilst at Law School)
Legal Practice Admissions Board assessed academic study, University of New England
Executive MBA (Masters in Business Administration), Hult International Business School, London
Postgraduate Diploma of Law and Legal Practice Course, College of Law, London
BA (Hons.) Classics, Trevelyan College, University of Durham, UK
Blogs & Articles by
Samantha Mangwana
HR Magazine: How to disrupt cultures of silence around sexual predators
Our Head of Strategy features with what HR can do when they think this might be happening in their workplace.
HR Zone: UK employers face regulatory pressure, a holistic response is the only answer
Samantha Mangwana outlines the actions workplaces should take on the growing legal pressure to become kinder and fairer.
People Management: How can employers prepare for their new legal duties on sexual harassment?
Our Strategy lead Samantha Mangwana outlines what business leaders should focus on ahead of October 26th.
Australasian Lawyer: byrne∙dean Strategy Lead is 'motivated by the aim of challenging injustices'
An interview with our Strategy Lead, Samantha Mangwana, about joining our team, and her role in a landmark sexual harassment appeal case.
Lawyers Weekly Podcast: The approaching enforcement powers for Respect @ Work
Our expert Samantha Mangwana breaks down the growing reforms around sexual harassment.
Personnel Today: Worker Protection Act - how should HR prepare for sexual harassment obligations?
Our Strategy lead, Samantha Mangwana, gives guidance on the new UK law coming into effect.
International employment lawyer Samantha Mangwana joins byrne∙dean to lead on workplace behaviour and culture strategy
A leading employment and discrimination lawyer joins our team.
Workplace behaviour and culture experts, byrne∙dean, have engaged leading employment and discrimination lawyer, Samantha Mangwana, to lead on their Strategy offering. Operating initially out of London and Sydney, she joins the team to use her deep, coal face experience of employment problems to provide strategic support to clients seeking cultural change.
Mangwana joins from Shine Lawyers, where she was National Head of Employment in Australia. She has advised individuals (employees, executives and partners) and organisations on contentious workplace disputes, high-value severance negotiations and managing exits smoothly. Her experience includes working on very high-profile discrimination and whistleblowing cases, in particular within the legal and financial services sectors.
In the UK, Mangwana is widely recognised as one of the leading employment lawyers and an expert on discrimination outside the workplace context, notably representing the Fawcett Society – a national charity campaigning for gender equality – in a ground-breaking judicial review challenge to the UK government’s national budget. She is recommended by the Legal 500 UK directory as “practical, to the point and personable”; rated as a Rising Star in Legal Services by Financial News; shortlisted for Solicitor of the Year by the Lawyer magazine and named by Management Today and Sunday Times as a top young women in business.
Samantha is regularly called upon by the press to commentate on employment and discrimination law issues. She has been featured on ITN, Channel 4 News and BBC in the UK, and major national broadcasters in Australia, as well as in the FT, Guardian, and Wall Street Journal amongst many more.
At byrne·dean, Sam will join a team that’s celebrating 20 years of successfully helping organisations around the world navigate challenging cultural issues and create kinder, fairer workplaces.
byrne·dean Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Matt Dean, commented: “We are very excited to have Sam join our team. She’s passionate about the work we do and wants to put her deep experience from litigation, policy and communications to work helping to create the kinder, fairer workplaces we want. Sam’s insights and creative solutions can expand what we offer clients on the Strategy side; not only UK-based clients, but Australian and global organisations - and on all areas of workplace dynamics; things like creating a genuine speak-up culture, improving how we approach conflict in teams, and rebalancing senior teams.”
Samantha Mangwana, Strategy Lead, byrne·dean, commented: “I'm delighted to be joining byrne∙dean. My motivation in this career has been to achieve change, helping workplaces to be kinder and fairer places where people can realise their potential. The problem with litigation is that it can't do that because it is after the fact. Even where successful, the problem has already happened, with bright, talented individuals losing their careers. Instead, work at byrne∙dean is about solving those issues before they start in the first place. I'm energised about diving deep into specific challenges, one workplace at a time, to achieve meaningful, tangible change.”
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