A general insurance and defendant-side dispute-resolution firm has announced the latest addition to its workplace practice.

Sarah Wood (pictured), senior employment practices liability and workplace relations and safety expert, joins Gilchrist Connell’s Sydney office as special counsel, to help meet growing demand in NSW and boost the capacity of the firm’s national workplace team.

Wood has significant expertise acting for employers (and their insurers) in investigations and prosecutions by workplace safety regulators, and in providing strategic advice to businesses aimed at preventing claims on issues such as workplace investigations, performance and misconduct management, managing ill and injured workers, and termination of employment. She has also acted on numerous unfair dismissals, general protections applications, sexual harassment and discrimination claims, as well as complex employment contract claims.

Wood’s “arrival in our Sydney office is timely and very exciting for us, as this means we can offer high level local capability to our NSW clients as well as bringing a wealth of additional talent and experience to our national workplace team,” said Joel Zyngier, workplace team leader and accredited specialist.

As a recognised leader in her field, Wood will present the topic “#MeToo, the Sexual Harassment National Inquiry and the EPL impact” at the upcoming 2019 Annual Australian Professional Indemnity Group National Conference.